The Effect of Radio Reading Method on the Fluent Reading and Reading Comprehension Skills

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of the radio reading method on the fluent reading and reading comprehension skills of second-grade primary school students. The research was conducted using a quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test control group design, a quantitative research method. The study group consisted of a total of 54 second-grade students attending a public primary school in Keçiören district of Ankara province during the 2025–2026 academic year. The radio reading method was applied in the experimental group, while the control group continued its regular Turkish lessons in line with the curriculum, in which model reading and repeated reading appear only in some activities. The Reading Prosody Rubric and the Reading Comprehension Assessment Rubric Using Retelling were used as data collection tools. Independent samples t-tests and dependent samples t-tests were used in the analysis, and Cohen’s d effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals were reported. The research findings showed that before the application, no statistically significant baseline difference was detected between the experimental and control groups in terms of fluent reading and reading comprehension skills. After the application, it was determined that the reading prosody and reading comprehension scores of the students in the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group, with medium effect sizes (d = 0.60 and d = 0.55, respectively). Furthermore, significant differences were found between the pre-test and post-test scores within the experimental group itself. In conclusion, the findings suggest that the radio reading method can be an effective method for improving the fluent reading and reading comprehension skills of second-grade primary school students in similar contexts. Based on these findings, it is thought that the radio reading method may be considered as a supplementary classroom practice in Turkish language lessons.