Abstract:

This study aimed at finding the effects of classroom free reading hours on their ability to read fluently and understand what they read. In the framework of the study, a 8-week experiment was conducted with 32 participants at the "pre-intermediate" level. Participants were asked to choose reading books that fit their interests and levels, and 1 hour lesson each week was allocated to read these books. Reading pieces are given to their levels to measure both the beginning and the end of the experiment the fluency and understanding skills of the students. While the word counting method is used to test fluency, the question of understanding of the piece is asked to see how much they understand what they read. At the end of the 8 weeks, the "Recurrent Measures T Test" was applied to compare the obtained data and the results were meaningful, in other words, the free reading hours had a positive impact on the students' ability to read fluently and understand what they read. The results of the "Pearson Correlation" analysis also showed that there was a positive relationship between fluent reading and understanding skills that they read.

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