Reading Circle Method and Its Influence on Reading Comprehension

This study was conducted to investigate the benefits of reading circles on students’ reading comprehension skills and to determine the differences between the traditional reading method and the reading circle method. Since there is no example of such a study in Iraq, it will be a unique resource for those who will conduct studies on this subject. A mixed-method design was used in this study. At the beginning of the study, control and experimental groups were formed voluntarily. A pre-test was applied to understand the studentsʼ reading comprehension skills at the beginning of the study and a post-test was applied at the end of the 8-week study to measure the studentsʼ reading comprehension levels. At the end of the study, a semi-structured interview was applied to obtain the studentsʼ opinions about the reading circle method. The qualitative and quantitative data obtained were analyzed using SPSS-27 t-statistics. According to the obtained data, a significant difference of .001 emerged between the experimental group and the control group. While the reading comprehension level of the control group increased by 4.93%, the reading comprehension skill level of the experimental group increased by 17.73%. According to the semi-structured interview analysis, it was stated that the reading circle method improved the studentsʼ reading comprehension, social, critical thinking, collaborative and individual working skills. As a result, it was revealed that the reading circle method was more efficient than the traditional method and improved the studentsʼ reading comprehension skills.