Determination of Reading Anxiety of Primary School 4th Grade Students

One of the factors that emotionally affect the education-learning process is anxiety. Considering students' anxiety in teaching how to read and write, anxiety will positively contribute to effective and productive learning. This study aimed to determine the "Reading Anxiety" of primary school students. A 29-item "Reading Anxiety Scale" was developed based on the 42- item draft scale that Çeliktürk and Yamaç (2015) used in her research titled "Developing a Reading Anxiety Scale for Primary and Secondary School Students: Validity and Reliability Analysis." Çeliktürk and Yamaç permitted using the developed "Reading Anxiety Scale" in this study titled "Determination of Reading Anxiety of Primary School 4th-grade Students". Descriptive survey model was used in the study. This study was conducted with the voluntary participation of 1049 students attending the 4th grade of primary school in the central districts of Eskisehir (Odunpazari and Tepebasi). Convenience sampling determined the schools, and the data obtained were tabulated and interpreted using the SPSS program in the computer environment. The reliability coefficient of the 29-item reading anxiety scale was 0.957 (95.7%). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was applied, and the acceptable fit of 0.90 [less than or equal to] CFI [less than or equal to] 0.95 was checked. Standardized factor loads were higher than 0.3 and at an acceptable level of fit. No significant difference was found regarding the district of the school, gender, and father's working status. However, there were significant differences in reading anxiety according to age, parents' education level, and mother's working status within the 95% confidence interval. Accordingly, it was concluded that students' age, parents' education level, and mothers' working status affect students' reading anxiety. However, no significant difference was found regarding the district of the school, gender, and fathers' working status. No significant difference was found between the reading anxiety levels of the students according to the district where the school is located, their gender and the working status of their fathers. It was determined that as the education level of the students' parents increased, the level of reading anxiety decreased. It was determined that the working status of the mothers of the students caused a significant difference between the reading anxiety levels, while the working status of the fathers did not cause a significant difference.