The usage of meaning identification technique in measuring reading comprehension skills

Abstract

In this study, it is aimed to determine at what level the Meaning Identification Technique (MIT) can measure the reading comprehension skills of the 4th grade primary school students and to test the validity and reliability of the MIT test with different types of texts. In the study carried out in the survey model, MIT and Sentence Verification Technique (SVT) tests, which were developed by the researcher and are peculiar to narrative and informative texts, were used. The readability of the texts was tested with Cloze Tests (CT) developed specifically for each type of text. The study was carried out with the participation of 87 primary school 4th grade students in two primary schools randomly selected among the public schools in the city of Ankara. The results of the study demonstrated that MIT tests measure reading comprehension skills as reliable as SVT tests. While there was a significant difference between comprehension and the numbers of reading in narrative texts, it was found that there was no significant difference with the numbers of reading in informative texts. A great majority of students (approximately 75%) felt the need to read two or more times while making sense of the text. On the other hand, MIT tests are a significant predictor of Turkish course achievements.