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The aim of this study is to test the mediation of reading motivation between preservice teachers' metacognitive reading strategies and critical reading self-efficacy. For this purpose, a sample of 482 preservice teachers studying at the education faculty of a state university located in a city center in the Central Black Sea Region in the spring semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. Participants were determined by convenience sampling method. Self-efficacy Perception Questionnaire about Critical Reading Skills, Metacognitive Reading Strategies Scale and Adult Reading Motivation Inventory were used as data collection tools. In the analysis of the data, mediation analysis was performed with the Pearson Product-Moment correlation analysis using the Jamovi software. In the findings obtained, it was found that there were positive and highly significant relationships between dependent, independent and mediator variables. Metacognitive reading strategies were found to be significant predictors of reading motivation and critical reading self-efficacy. In addition, reading motivation was found to be a significant predictor of critical reading self-efficacy. According to the findings of the mediation analysis carried out as a result of provided these assumptions, it has been revealed that reading motivations have a partial mediating role between preservice teachers' metacognitive reading strategies and critical reading self-efficacy. In conclusion, reading motivation explains some of the relationship between metacognitive and critical reading.

This study examined the effect of using critical reading in scientific texts on students' academic achievement, sci-ence performance level and creativity. The study was conducted with 5th grade students in Eregli, Zonguldak during the 2017-2018 academic year. The study group consisted of a total of 34 students, 17 in the experimental group and 17 in the control group. Activities based on critical reading were carried out with the experimental group, whereas traditional activities from the 5th grade science curriculum were employed with the control group. The "Multiple Choice Academic Achievement Test", the "Science Performance Level Test" and the "Torrance Test of Creative Thinking" were administered to both groups as a pre-test prior to the study and as a post-test once the study was completed. The data were analyzed with the dependent and independent samples t-Test using the SPSS package program. The study results revealed a significant difference in science performance level and creativity between the experimental and control groups favoring the experimental group. How-ever, there was no significant difference in academic achievement between the experimental and control groups. Critical reading practices can be used in science lessons to improve students' high-level skills, and critical reading activities can be developed along-side scientific texts for multiple grade levels.

Critical thinking, trust and confirmation towards social media have become increasingly important in this period called the post-truth era when the reality has become indistinct, is reproduced, and the truth is undermined. The study aimed to examine the prospective teachers' confirmation / trust levels and critical thinking tendencies towards social media in terms of various variables. The research was conducted with the relational survey model. The critical thinking tendency scale and social media confirmation/trust scale were used in the data collection process. In the analysis of the data, Mann Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman Brown Rank-Order correlation coefficient were used. It was observed that prospective teachers' critical thinking tendency was at a good level, and their level of confirmation/trust towards social media was at a medium level. It was determined that critical thinking tendency levels did not differ by gender, but by the number of news sources followed on social media and the frequency of reading books. It was seen that their confirmation / trust level towards social media did not differ depending on gender or frequency of reading books, but the level of confirmation varied depending on the number of news sources followed on social media. Additionally, it was determined that there was a low level of positive relationship between the skill regarding critical thinking tendency and confirmation dimension.

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between critical reading skills and creative reading perceptions of fifth grade students. In the study, correlational research design was employed. The population of the study consisted of approximately 5000 fifth grade students studying at schools in the city center and at central village schools in Usak Province, Turkey in the 2019-2020 academic year. The sample of the study consisted of 446 fifth grade students selected from this population through stratified sampling. To collect the data, the "Critical Reading Skill (CRS) Scale" and the "Perception Scale of Creative Reading" (PSCR) scale were used. In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, correlation, one-way and two-way analysis of variance, regression analysis and one-way multivariate analysis of variance were used. As a result of the research, it was found that there was a positive and significant relationship between the critical reading skills and creative reading perception levels of fifth grade students (r =0.886, p<0.01). In addition, it was found that critical reading skill was a significant predictor of creative reading perception (R[superscript 2] =0.785, p<0.01). It was concluded that gender groups did not significantly affect the relationship between critical reading skill level and creative reading perception level of fifth grade students while average daily TV viewing time and the number of the books read in a month variables significantly affected this relationship. In addition, it was revealed that critical reading skill scores were significant predictor of creative reading perception scores. Lastly, our results indicated that critical reading skill level and the number of the books read in a month had common effect on the creative reading perception level of the students.

The purpose of this study is to examine secondary school students' critical reading skills and listening/watching strategies in line with different variables, and to determine whether their critical reading skills have an effect on their listening/watching strategies. The sample of the research consists of 800 students, 380 girls, and 420 boys, in the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. The data of the study were collected using the general survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, and a randomized research design. The research data were obtained with "Critical Reading Scale" and "Frequency of Using Listening/Watching Strategies Scale". For the assumption of normality, the skewness and kurtosis values of the data were examined. In the analyses, independent groups t-test, single groups ANOVA, Tukey tests, and path analysis (Path) in accordance with structural equation modeling (SEM) were used. The findings of the analyses showed that the variables of gender, class level, education level of the mother and father lead to a significant difference in the total scores of both scales and in the sub-factors of frequency of using listening/watching strategies. The findings of the path analysis showed that the established model was acceptable, and it was found that students' critical reading levels had a significant and positive effect on the level of listening/watching strategies they used.

In today's world, where reading is rare and media is trying to influence people in many ways, individuals encounter hundreds of propagandas or persuasive speeches, texts and presentations every day. Many topics such as questioning informative texts, interpreting ideas, and evaluating dialogues in daily life, require critical thinking skills. Developing our children's critical reading and writing skills is necessary in order to prevent them from being negatively affected by the persuasion and propaganda works that we encounter every day. In this study, activities, which can be used by educators to improve reading and writing skills of secondary school students, have been prepared. Expert opinions on critical reading and writing activities were retrieved and the activities were finalized in accordance with these opinions. The activities prepared have been presented to the review of three field experts. All three of these field experts had more than fifteen years of experience in teaching and work under the Ministry of National Education, the three teachers work in an educational institution and besides, they have a doctorate in Turkish education and have received critical thinking education, all three of them are specialized academicians in Turkish education. Experts examined the characteristics of critical readers and critical writers in the literature. In literature, it has been observed that studies in on activities the field of critical thinking are limited. Therefore, it is considered that the activities prepared to improve critical reading and writing skills of secondary school students will contribute to critical thinking education.

The study aims to investigate the higher education students' and teachers' perception of using literary text in the foreign language course; to evaluate learners' progress in the foreign language communicative competence throughout the experiment period; to outline the policies and strategies of using analytical reading in the English class, which lead to increasing motivation to learn foreign languages with a focus on literature. The study involves 85 Bachelor's degree students and 35 teachers from linguistics and translation departments of three universities: Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, National Aviation University, Kütahya Dumlupinar University during the spring term in the school year 2021/2022. The students from these universities were using analytical reading in foreign language learning during this term. The quantitative research method allowed us to assess the students' progress in the development of their foreign language analytical reading skills, that included the understanding of the culture of foreign language, literary and aesthetic skills, vocabulary and foreign language skills, critical thinking and problem solving, inferential and interpretational skills. The qualitative research method was used to interpret the data of the experiment. Three questionnaires were employed as an instrument to assess teachers' and learners' perceptions of using literary texts in foreign language teaching/learning; to monitor the development of student's skills in analytical reading. The students-philologists involved in the research increased their motivation to learn English as a foreign language through literary texts and showed progress in the development of analytical reading skills up to 16%. The results obtained can be implemented into the practice of foreign language teaching as literary texts enriched the language input in the classroom and stimulated language acquisition, and analytical reading involved students-philologists emotionally challenging their imagination and creativity.

Reading comprehension questions scaffold deeper comprehension, help students to analyze texts, improve students' thinking skills, and help them realize permanent and meaningful learning. By comparing reading comprehension questions used in Turkish lessons with student-generated comprehension questions in terms of level, this study aimed to determine question resources' capacity to affect students' questions. Using a multiplecase study research method, this study examined Turkish textbooks' reading comprehension questions, teachers' questions generated during lessons and teachers' questions produced for the text provided, and student-generated questions. Data were collected using the Demographic Information Form, Teacher In-Term Question Collection Form, Teacher Questions Collection Form, and Student Question Collection Form. In addition, textbooks were used as another data source. The data were analyzed using content analysis. The results revealed that the textbook questions were mainly of a low level require remembering and understanding information. Similar results were obtained for those teachers' questions. However, it was determined that the teachers' questions produced based on the texts were at a higher level than those produced during the lessons. Comparatively, it was also revealed that the rate of low-level questions produced by students was higher than those in textbooks and teacher questions. Furthermore, high-level critical questions were found to be limited in all resources. When students' questions and questions produced by other resources were compared, the closest relationship was found between the students' questions and questions produced by teachers during lessons.

Reading and writing underpinning all university study and beyond it are two essential skills that have significant influences on students' growth in critical thinking. Students who aim to use English for academic purposes in higher education contexts need to develop their understanding of what it means to read and write critically in English with the support of critical thinking skills. While studies exist in understanding the nature and practice of critical thinking in academic writing or reading separately, studies that investigate the critical reading and writing (CRW) process from the perspectives of readers and writers are limited. The goal of this study was to explore how critical reading and writing practices Turkish ELT pre-service teachers experienced in the CRW course have contributed to their CRW skills from their own perspective. The data was obtained from the participants' reflections collected before and after the instruction enriched with criticality. Thematic analysis revealed that our participants have had a clear sense of criticality in the way of their reading and writing practices. The findings have implications for providing a pedagogical framework to foster CRW skills in higher education instructional settings.

The purpose of this research was to examine the critical reading self-efficacy (CRSE) perceptions of prospective teachers and their awareness of information pollution on the internet. A relational survey model was utilized in the research. The study sample, whose universe was prospective teachers studying at Kilis 7 Aralik University, consisted of 296 teacher candidates and was determined using the simple random sampling method. The data were collected through the "Critical Reading Self-Efficacy Perception Scale" and the "Information Pollution on the Internet Scale." The data analysis was done by calculating the arithmetic mean and standard deviation values, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analysis. The results showed that prospective teachers' self-efficacy perceptions for critical reading are high. The variables of gender and the number of books read in the previous year were not determinative in the perception of critical reading self-efficacy. It was also found that the variables of the department, year of study, and participation in online activities affect perceptions of prospective teachers' self-efficacy. In addition, their awareness of information pollution on the internet is above the medium level. It was determined that the variables of gender, department, year of study, number of books read in the previous year, and online activities did not have a decisive effect on awareness of information pollution on the internet. The correlation analysis showed that the sum of the scales was not related to each other, but there was a positive relationship in the sub-dimensions. Suggestions for future research and practitioners were provided.

This study aims to reveal the self-efficacy perception levels of pre-service Turkish language teachers towards critical reading and to determine whether these levels vary by various variables. This study draws on a general survey model, which is one of the descriptive research methods. The study group of this research consists of a total of 210 freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior level pre-service Turkish language teachers studying at the Department of Turkish Language Education in the faculty of education at a state university. To collect data, "The Critical Reading Self-Efficacy Perception Scale" developed by Karabay (2013) is used. The findings of this study indicate that the self-efficacy perception levels of the pre-service Turkish language teachers towards critical reading are moderate. Furthermore, the pre-service Turkish language teachers' self-efficacy perception levels towards critical reading do not significantly vary between the groups in the total score and in the sub-dimensions by variables of gender and academic achievement. Yet, there is a significant difference between the groups in the total score and in the sub-dimensions by variables of grade level and reading frequency. Based on these findings, this study also offers some insights and suggestions for researchers and teaching staff.

Purpose: The research aims to investigate the effect of critical reading skill teaching on students' academic success in social studies course. Method: Experimental model was used in the research. The "pre-test post-test control group pattern" of this model was preferred. In the experimental process, the effect of teaching based on critical reading skill in the social studies course on students' academic success was investigated. The experimental process was carried out between April and May 2018 in a secondary school (6th grade students) in the central district of Mus. Experiment and control groups of the research were randomly assigned. In the study, an academic success test was applied to the experiment and control groups as pre-test and post-test. The data were analysed by covariance analysis. Findings: In the research, there was a significant difference between the post-test score averages of the experiment and control groups favouring the experiment group. This finding reveals that teaching critical reading skill is effective in increasing students' academic success. Implications for Research and Practice: In the research, it was found that when the social studies course was conducted according to critical reading skills, it increased students' academic success. Therefore, the teaching of critical reading skill should be given importance in the social studies course. Social studies teachers should receive in-service training on critical reading. Critical reading should be used effectively in courses. Researches should be done on the effect of critical reading skill on other skills.

This study aims at determining the relationship between preservice teachers' reading habits and critical reading skills as well as assessing whether preservice teachers' reading habits and critical reading skills vary with their gender, age, education year in the college, department, and the number of books read per year. A correlation survey model was used according to the objectives of our study. The sample consists of 255 preservice teachers studying at Turkish Language Teacher Education, Primary School Teacher Education, Social Studies Teacher Education, and Psychological Counseling and Guidance programs. "Attitude Scale on Reading Habit" (Gömleksiz (2004) and "Critical Reading Self-Efficacy Perception Scale" Karadeniz (2014) were used as data collection tools. The obtained data analyzed using IBM SPSS software version 22.0. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis H-test as, nonparametric tests, and correlation and regression tests were conducted to analyze data. Significant differences were found between variables and scores of reading habits and critical reading skills. Furthermore, a positive correlation was determined between preservice teachers' reading habits and critical reading skills. The regression analysis revealed that reading habit is a significant predictor of critical reading skills. The authors believe that the findings from the present study make important contributions to the current literature.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of critical reading (CR) practices in science courses on academic achievement, science performance level, and problem-solving skills. The experimental method and factorial design were used. The study was conducted with 102 seventh-grade students from a public school in Turkey during the 2014-2015 academic year. Experimental and control groups were formed. CR practices were followed in the experimental group and teaching practices appropriate to the curriculum were used in the control group. Data were collected with the "Multiple-Choice Academic Achievement Test" to determine the students' academic level in the "Human and Environment Unit: The Science Performance Level Test" to determine their science performance level and the "Logical Thinking Group Test" to determine the level of their problem-solving skills. The variables of academic achievement and science performance levels were labeled "Academic Performance." Independent samples two-way ANOVA was applied to analyze the data using SPSS 18.0 software. The results revealed that the students in the experimental group, who were taught science using CR practices, were significantly more successful than the students in the control group, whose teaching was appropriate to the current curriculum in terms of academic achievement, science performance level, and problem-solving skills. It is of critical importance to use such innovative practices, which combine various disciplines, to allow students to excel at reading, which is a basic skill, at all educational levels in order to raise contemporary and social individuals.

This study revolves around primary and secondary school visual arts teachers' cultural and critical readings on their VR museum experience through object and representation. As part of the in-service training and research project, the study was carried out in the provinces of Çanakkale, Erzincan, Kayseri, Diyarbakir, Giresun, Mersin, Denizli, which were selected from seven regions of Turkey within a seven-month period. 508 primary and secondary school visual arts teachers participated in the study. The study is a case study and teachers' readings related to the object and representation in the virtual museum and their VR museum experiences formed the units of analysis in the study. The data of the study was collected through worksheets, pre-evaluation forms, participant diaries and focus group interviews with voluntary teachers and content analysis method was employed to analyse the data. In the study, teachers were motivated to incorporate social and personal contexts into their readings of the object-space-representation. The results denoted that the activity enhanced teachers' learning experiences in terms of personal and professional contexts. Although teachers highlighted that VR museum experiences could not offer much more rich experiences than the actual museum visits, they believed that it could be effective for visual arts classes and be blended with various learning activities given that the virtual museum experience offers the possibility of exploring a museum without a barrier of distance and incite enthusiasm and learning interest through digital technologies (e.g., sound, motion, immersive experience).

The importance of this study is to contribute to the development of curriculums and materials to be prepared for Turkish course in order to serve the needs of the era by creating a critical listening attainment list from the philosophy of the national curriculum and from the education programs of countries which are considered successful internationally. In the literature, there have been very few studies on critical listening skills. In addition, in the educational programs of the countries, there is a lack of achievements in listening skills, especially in critical listening skills. Besides, there is no mention of exams that measure critical listening skills. It is stated in the literature that reading and listening skills are understanding-based skills that serve the same purpose. Therefore, in this study, the attainments of the countries towards reading skills were examined and adapted to listening skills. A draft form was created on the basis of opinions of the experts in the field and a critical listening attainment list was created. It is believed that the "Critical Listening Attainment Framework", which was created with the aim of improving students' critical listening skills, will contribute to the field of education.

This study aims to determine the ways how the 5th grade (ages 10-11) students interpret historical knowledge based on historical sources. To study this student were given a worksheet containing historical sources and an open-ended question based on the historical sources. The data of this study is collected through one of the answers provided to the question by 150 students in elementary school. The data has been categorized under themes which have been created after study of students answers and related literature. The analysis of data demonstrate that pupils can interpret historical knowledge in the sources. Also it has been found that most of the pupils were able to synthesis their prior knowledge and information in the historical sources presented to them and were able reach personal conclusion. Yet some of the students tend to copy the information as is written on the historical source or respond emotionally. This study supports the idea that 5th grade (ages 10-11) students can read historical written sources and acquire historical information. Also this study gives information to social studies teachers on what consider when they prepare historical task for elementary school. Keywords Teaching history, social studies education, elementary school students, primary sources, historical reading.

This paper aims to study the possible relations between critical reading self-efficacy and cognitive flexibility among pre-service EFL instructors. Designed as descriptive research, this study was conducted with 121 participants from a state university in western Turkey. The data were gathered through Likert scales and the analysis was conducted on SPSS packet program through the tests of Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U, Pearson correlation as well as frequencies and percentages. The results have revealed that the pre-service EFL teachers' critical reading self-efficacy scores are high, whereas their cognitive flexibility scores are partially high. Also, there is a weak but positive relationship between the pre-service teachers' critical reading self-efficacy and cognitive flexibility. However, there is no meaningful difference between their critical reading self-efficacy or cognitive flexibility regarding their gender or the grade they are studying in.

The basic purpose of native language teaching is ensuring that students develop their skills in four basic language skills at an adequate level. For this purpose, Turkish Language and Turkish language and literature teachers who work in different teaching levels, especially classroom teachers, have important duties. Reading, which is among basic language skills, is a comprehension ability for individuals to reach new information and improve themselves. The thing that is important in reading is combining new information with previous information, and making sense of new information through previously learned information. A good reader should be able to make evaluations about text in a critical manner, in other words, s/he should be able to read critically. Turkish Language and Turkish Language and Literature teachers, who have the responsibility of giving students reading skills in formal education institutions, must have improved critical reading skills. In this study, the purpose was to determine the critical reading self-efficacy levels of Turkish Language and Turkish Language and Literature teacher candidates through some variables. The study data were collected by using the "Critical Reading Self-Efficacy Scale". The SPSS 21.00 Program was used to analyze the data. From the analysis of the data, it was found that Turkish Language and Turkish Language and Literature teacher candidates have moderate critical self-efficacy levels. It was also observed that the critical reading self-efficacy perceptions of teacher candidates do not change according to gender; however, the reading self-efficacy perceptions of Turkish Language teacher candidates were found to be higher than that of the Turkish Language and Literature teacher candidates. It was also concluded that the critical reading self-efficacy perceptions of the teacher candidates, who said that they had reading habits, were higher than the teacher candidates, who said that they did not have reading habits.

Although critical thinking has been on the agenda for the past few decades, there is a serious gap in the field of foreign language teaching especially for quantitative research carried out regarding the teaching of this process as a skill. When the case is the teaching of critical thinking in EFL courses more specifically, teaching critical reading skills shares the same problem as one of its sub-skills. Yet, it is of utmost necessity to proliferate this kind of research to reach beyond epistemological deductions to delineate the borders of such a significant skill. Thus, the current study is designed as quantitative research that aims to contribute to foreign language teaching literature utilizing the procedures of both descriptive and inferential statistics. In this sense, a specifically developed critical reading scale was chosen and distributed to the third-year EFL students of a state university in Turkey to obtain the required clear data to detect any probable connection between their age and attitudes and to assess their evaluation concerning the easiest and hardest sides of the critical reading process. The results indicated beneficial findings for the interests of EFL literature.

This study aims to analyze preservice teachers' opinions about children books through a literature circle (LC) approach in multicultural learning environments. The data of the present study were collected from the children literature course offered for preservice classroom teachers during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 spring semesters at Hacettepe University. The preservice teachers (PSTs) in children literature course read and responded to Newbery Award winning books both individually and in literature circle groups within a framework of critical literacy and reader response theories. The results of the current study revealed the deficiencies of the pre-service teachers in the process of critical reading and actualization in spite of their satisfactory interpretations of the events. In this study, the PSTs expressed their opinions for the "gaining an understanding of different perspectives on life in the world" and "the cultures of specific groups, developing the skills needed to take social action to eliminate social injustice" categories in all four children books. However, they did not share their opinions related to gain an awareness of own cultures and cultural backgrounds and obtain a recognition an understanding of global issues, learning how to reduce stereotyping, prejudice and racism within ourselves and within society" categories. This study may contribute to a variety of research fields including pre-service teacher education, multicultural education and literary studies.

The aim of this study is to examine the critical visual reading skills of secondary school students (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade) in terms of different variables (gender and grade level). Study sample consisted of 400 students of 4 schools located in the city center of Mus. A screening model was used in the research. Data were collected using the 5-point Likert-type Critical Visual Reading Scale 34-item developed by Söylemez (2015). The reliability of the scale was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.814). Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows 22.0 at a significance level of 0.05. Number, percentage, mean and standard deviation were used for descriptive statistics of variables. T-test was used for analysis of quantitative continuous data in two independent groups while one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for analysis of quantitative continuous data in more than two independent groups. A Scheffe's test was used to to make posthoc comparisons between the groups to determine significant differences. Results show that secondary school students' critical visual reading skills differ significantly by grade level but do not differ by gender. Several suggestions were made based on the findings.

Reading critically in a foreign language (FL) is a fundamental skill which requires readers to go beyond literal comprehension of the texts and adopt an analytical perspective. Nevertheless, critical stance in FL reading is a newer territory and teachers' understanding and implementation of critical reading (CR) practices is crucial. Based on this need, this study aimed at exploring English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' views on CR, their CR practices, and possible challenges they face when they implement such practices. For this purpose, seven university teachers in a Turkish EFL context participated in the study. In order to investigate their CR practices in depth, they answered an open-ended questionnaire, participated in semi-structured interviews, and wrote self-reflection reports. What is more, they were engaged in a hands-on practice of CR in their classrooms. Qualitative analyses in general revealed that although EFL teachers had theoretical information about CR to some extent, they did not implement CR practices to help learners interpret cultural, social, and power relations. In addition, teachers faced challenges stemming from both students and their own background while practicing CR. The results of the study proposed implications for teachers and teacher educators to enhance CR practices in EFL classes.

The 21st century individual should be able to access information and critically evaluate and interpret it. What creates this obligation is the information bombing and political and commercial perception management brought about by virtual networks, the media and globalization. Therefore, critical thinking and its sub-component, critical reading, are becoming more and more important because they are the assistants of the individual who has to distinguish right from wrong and the truth from propaganda in life and texts. The aim of this study is to reveal the effect of performing reading activities with critical reading questions developed by the researchers on critical thinking and reading skills, and to pave the way for further research in this area. Study sample consisted of 232 students of Agri Ibrahim Çeçen University in the academic year of 2016- 2017. Participants were recruited using random sampling technique. This was a mixed design study. The qualitative dimension of the study was based on a screening model. Data were collected using document review and interview methods, and were analyzed using content analysis. The quantitative dimension of the study was based on a quasi-experimental model. Data were collected using a Critical Thinking Self-Evaluation Form and a Critical Reading Scale (pretest-post-test) before and after a 7-week application. Data were analyzed using a statistical software package. T-test and ANOVA were used for analysis. Results show that reading activities with critical reading questions have a statistically significant effect on students' critical thinking and reading skills. Qualitative data also support these results.

The purpose of this study is to determine self-efficacy perceptions of prospective Turkish language and literature teachers on critical reading with respect to a myriad of variables. On the basis of obtained findings, this study seeks to provide a conclusion and suggestions for future studies. Data relevant of this study were collected via administering "Critical Reading Self-efficacy Perception Scale" developed by Karadeniz. In data analysis, descriptive statistics were employed; data collected via the scale were interpreted by using independent sampling "t" test and one-factor variance analysis (ANOVA). Gathered results were then tabulated. This research was conducted during the fall term of 2017-2018 academic year among 150 prospective teachers studying in Turkish Language and Literature Teaching Departments of two major city universities. It was concluded that self-efficacy perceptions of prospective teachers on critical reading varied insignificantly with respect to enrolled university, gender, grade level, age, education level of parents, family income level and frequency of reading books. Nonetheless it differed significantly with respect to annual ratio of book reading and availability of a library in their residential location.

The present study attempts to examine how the stylistic aspects of Text World Theory (TWT) can be used in Literature and Language Teaching classrooms in order to help students to improve their critical understanding and interpretation. The pedagogical stylistic application of this theory can enhance ELT students' language awareness, creative reading skills as well as reader-response skills and deepen the interaction between readers and texts. The study focuses initially on the efficacy of the use of short stories for Literature and Language Teaching courses and, then, adapts a sample short story entitled "The Bracelet" by Yoshiko Uchida according to the three layers of the Text World Theory which are "discourse world", "text world", and "sub-world". The researcher then offers students pedagogical stylistic applications through a) what are the building blocks of the story which can be identified by the Text World Theory? and b) How do these building blocks enable students to make connections with the text? This latter will help them establish a link between the worlds of the main characters and their own. The results of the focus group interview revealed that using this theory in EFL context enhanced language awareness, creative reading skills and reader-response skills in students.

The purpose of this study is to verify the causal relationship between middle school students' critical reading skills, science literacy skills and attitudes towards science literacy with research data according to the default model. Through the structural equation modeling, path analysis has been applied in the study which was designed in correlational model. The sample of the study consists of 1170 students enrolled in 18 schools determined based on socio-economic status. However, the results showed that validity criteria was satisfied with the 1130 participants. As data collection tool, the scale of critical reading skills, science literacy skills test, and the attitude scale toward science literacy were used. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation analysis technique and path analysis were employed for the data analysis. The findings of the research show that there are significant and positive relations between critical reading skills, science literacy skills and attitudes towards science. In addition, critical reading skills have a statistically positive predictive effect on science literacy skill. It has also been founded that science literacy skills predict the attitudes towards scientific literacy in a meaningful way. Moreover, critical reading skills directly predict the scientific literacy in a meaningful, positive direction. It has been revealed that science literacy skill, which exists in the model, acts as partial mediating variable. As a result, as put forward in theory, critical thinking, critical reading skill, and science literacy skills and attitudes have been found to be closely related.

The 2010's are when information and informatics age coexist, information overload has been transformed into a mass engineering tool, "imposing bombardment" has become the norm. The most influential tool of this cultural-industrial act is news media. Efforts to educate young adults, who are most active in touch with information, in view of news media are needed. Skepticism has the potential to improve news media literacy of young adults. The present study investigates whether young adults' skepticism levels predict young adults' news media literacy levels. The research problem was analyzed with correlational research model. Two different research populations (Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University and Atatürk University) were determined for the purpose of the study. The results revealed positive, moderate, significant relationships between skepticism levels and news media literacy of young adults. "Self-determining" and "interpersonal understanding" competences--the components of skepticism--have a positive effect on news media literacy. The "search for knowledge" and "questioning mind" has the potential to positively affect news media literacy.

This case study was conducted in order to observe and investigate the critical reading discourse (CRD) of 27 freshman pre-service teachers of English at the department of foreign language teaching at a state university in Turkey. In addition, the study attempts to answer the question of how the critical reading discourse of the students is shaped through feedback, instruction, and time. The written and audio-visual data were collected in the Advanced Reading and Writing I and II courses, which are offered to first-year students in the Foreign Language Education (FLE) department. The results of the data analysis indicate that the critical reading discourse of the freshman pre-service teachers of English involves interpretive, evaluative, and responsive discourse. Evaluative discourse was found to be limited in students' written work and discussions when compared to interpretive and responsive discourse. The students also usually tended to evaluate the content of the texts rather than their form. It was also found that instruction about academic writing fosters critical thinking, but it was not sufficient to encourage critical reading.

Problem Statement: Critical reading refers to individuals' thinking about what they read, assessing what they have read, and using their own judgment about what they have read. In order to teach critical reading skills to students, a teacher is expected to have knowledge about text selection, use of appropriate methods, preparation of functional learning and teaching processes, among other qualities; teachers must display critical reading skills as well. Purpose of Study: The aim of the study was to determine the critical reading levels of pre-service teachers of Turkish language as well as Turkish language and literature in terms of several variables in order to make inferences about pre-service teachers' potential to develop their students' critical reading skills. Method: The study group, which was selected using the descriptive survey model, consisted of a total of 173 students attending Balikesir University Necatibey Faculty of Education. A personal information form and the Critical Reading Achievement Test (CRAT) were used as the data collection tools. CRAT employs a multiple-choice format, and its KR 20 reliability was determined to be 0.81 and its mean difficulty 0.64. The data were analyzed using a t-test and variance analysis. Findings and Results: The study revealed that pre-service teachers' have moderate critical reading skills. In addition, in the analysis examining the relationships of pre-service teachers' critical reading levels to their department, a difference emerged in favor of students from the Turkish Language and Literature Department. In contrast, the analysis revealed that the variables of gender, achievement level, number of books read annually, the preferred book types, and the effective use of social media did not influence students' critical reading levels. Conclusions and Recommendations: Critical reading education constitutes an important dimension of language teaching programs that aim to improve comprehension and expression skills. It is important that pre-service teachers have critical reading skills and know how to teach critical reading. Therefore, critical reading practices and ways of teaching this skill should be included in appropriate courses (reading education, special teaching methods, etc.) in both Turkish language as well as Turkish language and literature teaching programs; additionally, these programs should be supported with optional courses such as critical reading and media literacy.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the primary school second stage Turkish Education Curriculum effectuated in 2006 and the secondary school Turkish Education Curriculum effectuated in 2015 comparatively in terms of critical thinking. Of qualitative research designs, document analysis approach and content analysis were adopted for the study. The elements of aforementioned curriculums such as teaching approach, overall objectives, basic approach, basic skills, basic language skills, achievements, elements and methods were analyzed in terms of critical thinking. Both Turkish Education Curriculums have taken critical thinking as a basic skill, and have included critical thinking in the sections of overall objectives, basic approach and vision. On the other hand, 2006 Turkish curriculum is richer in methodological basis in terms of giving basic language skills, while 2015 Turkish curriculum is richer in terms of achievements.

This study employed a sample of 60 pre-service teachers to examine the guiding effects of understanding critical reading theories on using external reading strategies such as note-taking and underlining when confronting an ironical literary text. The study broke down the teachers into one control group of 30 teachers and one experimental group of 30 teachers. Two ironical texts were used to collect data from the sample of pre-service teachers--one read before the experimental group received instruction in critical reading theories and the other after such instruction which led to the finding that the entire sample of pre-service teachers mostly summarized and read the texts superficially before they had been exposed to training in critical reading instruction. After undergoing the critical reading instruction, most of the pre-service teachers in the experimental group who had previously summarized the subject text now rewrote the author's expressions, which is indicative critical reading. When the notes taken and the expressions underlined by the critical readers were analyzed, it was determined that critical readers underlined and took notes of more critical points more and summarized less.

Problem Statement: Teachers have important roles in teaching critical reading skills that already exist in the curriculum. Teachers themselves should have critical reading skills and be able to identify them so as to be able to teach these skills to their students. Therefore, it becomes necessary to determine the extent to which pre-service teachers have acquired knowledge and skills regarding critical reading and the training of teachers. Determining pre-service teachers' critical reading skill is significant since it may provide ideas for the teacher training institutions as to how to train more qualified teachers. While some studies about the critical thinking and reading skills of teachers exist in the literature, no study investigating the critical reading self-efficacy perceptions of preservice teachers was found. Therefore, this study is important in revealing the critical reading self-efficacy perceptions of pre-service teachers. Purpose of the Study: The main objective of this study is to determine teachers' perceptions about their self-efficacy on critical reading. In this respect, the present study seeks answers to such questions as "What is the level of pre-service teachers' sense of self-efficacy on critical reading?" and "Do teachers' senses of self-efficacy on critical reading differ according to their graduation programs, grade levels, genders and academic achievements?" Method: This study designed according to the cross-sectional survey model was conducted with 594 pre-service teachers from different departments and grade levels of the faculty of education at a state university in southeast region of Turkey during the 2012-2013 academic year. The quantitative data was analysed using independent samples and a t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings and Results: In this study, it was found out that the pre-service teachers have a sense of self-efficacy on critical reading above the intermediate level and their self-efficacy beliefs differ according to their genders and graduate programs. However, the same is not true across different grade levels. Conclusions and Recommendations: The critical reading self-efficacy perceptions of pre-service teachers differed across gender, departments and academic achievements, while they did not differ across grade levels. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that necessary regulations in the curriculum of all departments of the faculty of education should be done as teaching the critical thinking and reading skills to teachers are prerequisite for teaching them to students.

This study highlights the need to promote more personal and informal processes in Teacher Autonomy and focuses on university Language Teachers' processes in reading Teacher Research (TR) in order to understand how this impacts their autonomy development processes. In particular, it addresses teachers' interactions with TR articles during the reading process, and aims to gain insights into autonomy development from the teachers' reflection during the process. This study uses two well-known research tools, Think Aloud Protocol (TAP) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) for an innovative purpose: to fulfil both research and teacher education purposes, thus exemplifying a particular way to promote and investigate critical reading in teacher education. The analysis of the TAPs, and follow-up focus group discussions reveal the key theme of autonomy. Three autonomy-related sub-themes emerged: gaining agency, developing motivation and gaining awareness of a more democratic form of teacher development. 11 participants undertook a task that allowed a highly personalized interpretation of all aspects of the text. It is argued that conditions for autonomy development were created by offering freedom to choose and interpret a text that is comprehensible and relevant. Teachers were entirely free to interpret their texts, and responsible for their learning from it. Teachers interpreted the articles in a variety of ways, and differed according to their emphasis on the particular aspects: motivation, agency and identity. The study concludes that the task provided an opportunity for autonomy to emerge according to the developmental needs of the individual.

This study is designed to explore how literature lessons are perceived by pre-service English language teaching (ELT) students and discusses the findings in terms of student perceptions and educational objectives. The participants were 30 Turkish EFL senior students. Both quantitative and qualitative measures were used to collect data in order to validate the findings. The results showed that pre-service teachers highly valued the literature courses. The participants, however, recommended that the literature courses should not be restricted to the canonic texts and aim to develop linguistic abilities through critical literary readings and cultural interpretative efforts.

The aim of this study is to investigate the critical thinking attitudes of translator and interpreter candidates with a view to coming up with recommendations on curriculum development in Translation and Interpretation undergraduate studies. A "Critical Thinking Skills Scale" was administered to 354 translation and interpretation students from five universities in Turkey. Independent sample t-test, oneway ANOVA and post-hoc Scheffe test were used in data analysis. With the highest and lowest attitudes found for receptiveness and inquiry skills respectively, the total critical thinking attitudes of translator candidates are above the average. The class level of the students is inversely correlated with total scores for critical thinking attitudes, in addition to the flexibility and judiciousness subdimensions. Moreover, translator candidates of the Bulgarian language have the highest total scores for critical thinking attitudes as compared to those of English, French, Persian and German. The results show that innovative curricula involving related tasks and activities must be developed for translation and interpretation departments to enhance translator candidates' critical thinking skills, bearing in mind the very nature of the act of translation and interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is believed that together with critical thinking, critical reading has emerged as a fundamental skill that university graduates are expected to possess in an increasingly modern and digitally connected world (Bråten & Braasch, 2017). With the advancement of technology, young adults have been increasingly submerged in a sea of information available at their fingertips. Hence, they must learn how to select, analyze, evaluate, and assess the information they encounter in their academic or professional lives (Siemens, 2004). However, it is observed that critical reading skills in higher education seem to be neglected in the research field compared to an interest in critical thinking studies. This study systematically evaluates 75 papers published between 2001 and 2021 and indexed in the Web of Science and Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) databases. The findings indicate that scholars in Turkey and the United States place a higher premium on critical research than researchers in other parts of the world. Most papers focus on investigating feasible approaches to develop critical reading skills amongst undergraduates and proposing critical reading pedagogy in higher education institutions. However, there has been a deficiency in research of critical reading in STEM education, especially in the Asian tertiary context. This study highlights the significance of conducting additional in-depth research into the effects of integrating critical reading classrooms and teaching-and-learning activities into STEM education, as well as the impact of using science topics with the goal of cultivating this crucial skill for young people's academic and professional development in the era of the digital revolution. Moreover, research on a conceptual framework to develop critical reading abilities amongst Asian undergraduates could be considered as a potential topic for novice researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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