A Mixed Method Study on Improving Reading Speed and Reading Comprehension Levels of Gifted Students

Gifted students have a reading capacity above their level. The aim of this study is to improve the reading speed and reading comprehension levels of gifted students through training in speed reading techniques. In the study, in which a total of 100 participants from the 4th, 5th and 6th grades attending the Science and Art Center took part, 28 hours of training in speed reading techniques were given to the students. The study was carried out according to a nested mixed methods design, which is one of the mixed research methods. While the quantitative data of the study were collected according to the pretest-posttest model without a control group, the qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with the students in the study. At the beginning of the study, the students’ initial reading speeds were taken through a narrative and an informative text, and then these students were given 28 hours of speed reading techniques training. At the end of the studies, the students' post-reading speeds were taken and the difference between the pre-tests and the post-tests was compared using the SPSS 21 program. At the same time, semi-structured interviews were conducted with each student who took part in the study during the 28-hour training period, according to the planning made. In the studies carried out, it was concluded that the education in speed reading techniques increased the reading speed and reading comprehension levels of the gifted students, that the students developed a positive attitude towards reading and made an important step in gaining reading habits, and that the studies carried out would be beneficial in terms of increasing the academic success of the students.

earlier and more than their peers and use them more effectively (Yörük, 2020). Science and Art Centers in Turkey are state institutions operating to meet the aforementioned needs of gifted students. "Students participate in project-oriented education activities in these institutions through training programs designed to improve their creativity and special abilities in the field" (Science and Art Centers Directive, 2015).
Gifted students who have above-average abilities, creative thinking skills, and sense of duty have a wide imagination. They do not have difficulty in forming concepts and establishing relationships between concepts, they think fluently, they memorize easily and they can keep what they have memorized in their memory permanently. These students, whose vocabulary is richer than that of their peers, love to read and mostly learn to read and write before school life starts (Çağlar, 1972;Oğurlu, 2014;Sak, 2011). Gifted students also have features such as reading more fluently and accurately, reading more, and liking reading from different literary genres compared to their peers (Akarsu, 2001;Davaslıgil & Leana, 2004). Considering that reading is one of the most important ways and perhaps the most important way of accessing information and constantly updating it (Karatay, 2010), it is clear how important each milestone that gifted students take in reading will be.
Studies (Bonds & Bonds, 1983;VanTassel-Baska, Johnson, Hughes, and Boyce, 1996) have determined that fifty percent of gifted students who start school life learn to read before they start school and that they do advanced reading at grades 1-3 compared to their peers. Reis et al. (2004) found that these students liked reading very much, enjoyed reading at a high level, learned to read earlier than their peers, had at least 2 years more advanced reading skills than their peers, and had high-level language skills and high-level reading comprehension skills. According to Anderson, Tollefson, and Gilbert (1985), reading in terms of gifted students is an easy, pleasant, relaxing, and enjoyable activity. Gifted students read more often than average in their readings in line with their own wishes, and they have the desire to read in various subjects and in different fields. These students also have 1 or 2 years of advanced reading interest maturity compared to their peers (Harris & Sipay, 1990as cited in Cavazos-Kottke, 2006. In their study, Kara and Ünal (2019) stated that gifted students reflect well in their writing, which is one of the principles of text linguistics, especially in terms of vocabulary diversity and the use of stereotypes (idiom, reduplication, concise words); they also emphasized that this is an indication that they are good readers.
Special talents, who show higher features than their peers in reading, show high performance in creativity, intelligence, artistic approach, special academic fields or leadership capacity, and they need extraordinary education programs and services to fully develop these capacities (Hallayan & Kauffman, 1994). Speed reading, which is defined as "increasing the number of words read per minute and the level of comprehension compared to the previous reading time by improving the quickness, comprehension and memory skills of individuals" (Ruşen, 1995), is the whole of activities carried out to meet this need of individuals. In speed reading activities, the focus is primarily on expanding the field of view of the eye and increasing the speed of perception of the mind. As a result of eye and brain coordination, words start to be perceived faster, and fast reading methods and techniques are started. People have the ability to read and understand faster after certain training.
The starting point of the study is that gifted students have a reading speed above their peers. From this point of view, it was investigated whether gifted students who received speed reading techniques training achieved better results than their peers who received this training before. Since the study was studied on speed reading techniques education with gifted students, it differs from previous studies on gifted students in the literature and it is thought that it will be a source for new studies to be made. The primary aim of this study is to determine the reading speed and comprehension levels of gifted students. In the second stage, the aim is to compare the reading speed and reading comprehension levels obtained by these students with training in speed reading techniques with the pre-test data and existing studies in the literature. Thus, an attempt has been made to determine whether the training in speed reading techniques given to students with special abilities differs compared to their peers, as well as the opinions of the gifted students towards this education after the training in speed reading techniques. Reading is an activity that can be developed and improved. Just as children learn to read and write through teaching, literate youth and adults can also develop these skills through education. By applying certain curricula, people can understand and read faster (Akçamete & Güneş, 1992). The problems and sub-problems to be answered in the research are as follows:

Objectives and Research Questions
What are the reading speeds and reading comprehension levels of gifted students?
The research questions are as follows: 1. Is there a significant difference between the pre-posttest reading speed of narrative and informative texts of gifted students? 2. Is there a significant difference between the reading comprehension levels of gifted students in the narrative and informative text pretest and post-test? 3. What are the opinions of gifted students on training in speed reading techniques?

Research Pattern
This study, which was conducted to determine the reading speed and reading comprehension levels of gifted students, was designed according to a mixed research method in which quantitative and qualitative data were handled together (Creswell & Clark, 2011;Creswell, 2017). In the quantitative dimension of the study, a pretest-posttest experimental design without control group was used. The pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design without a control group is a type of design in which the effect of the experimental procedure is examined through the pre-test and post-tests applied on the same groups before and after the experimental procedure (Büyüköztürk, 2007;Sönmez & Alacapınar, 2013). The model of the research is presented in Table 1: Q1: Pre-test score of the experimental group X1: 28 hours of speed reading training Q2: Post-test score of the experimental group The data of the qualitative dimension of the research were collected by semi-structured interview method. The healthiest way to learn the feelings and thoughts of the participants about the speed reading activities applied in the research is the interview. According to Yıldırım and Şimşek (2008), the interview is important in terms of giving information about the inner world of the individual. It provides clues to the researcher about the reasons for the individual's reaction to events and situations. Due to the collection of data through semi-structured interviews in the seven-week period from taking the pre-tests to taking the post-tests, this study falls into the group of nested mixed research methods. The nested mixed pattern involves the use of data either in a combined or sequential manner, but the main idea is; either quantitative or qualitative data have a supporting role on the whole of a larger data set (Bütün, 2017). The research procedure is presented in Figure 1.

Participants
The universe of the study is the gifted students attending Science and Art Centers. In order to attend Science and Art Centers in Turkey, it is necessary to pass certain tests in the 1 st , 2 nd or 3 rd grades of primary education. In this sense, students who attend Science and Art Centers from the field of general talent have similar characteristics in terms of passing the said tests. The sample of the research consists of 100 students in the 4 th , 5 th and 6 th grades attending a Science and Art Center in the Western Black Sea Region in the 2019-2020 academic year. The distribution of the students in the study according to the classes is as follows: According to Table 2, a total of 100 students, 34 from the 4 th grade, 33 from the 5 th grade and 33 from the 6 th grade, took part in the study as participants. These students are gifted students who have the right to attend the Science and Art Center outside of school because they have passed the special talent exams in addition to their normal education life.

Process
In the study, after the students were informed about the work to be done in the first week of the 28-hour period, a narrative and an informative text from Karaeloğlu's (2019) book "Speed Reading with Understanding for Children" were read to the participants, so that the students' first (pre-test) reading speed and the texts read were determined. Based on the answers they gave to the related questions, their reading comprehension levels were determined. The narrative and informative texts in question consist of one hundred and thirty words each, and there are five multiple-choice questions connected to each text.
Reading speed or silent reading speed is widely accepted as one of the indicators of reading fluency. It is generally known as the word recognition rate, which is the total number of words a person can recognize per minute (Yen, 2016). From this point of view, in this study, the number of words read in one minute is the basis for the determination of the reading speed of the students. After the students read the text with the silent reading method, they answered five multiple-choice questions related to the text without looking at the text again. The researcher guided the students in the process of recording the reading times and answering the multiple-choice questions to determine the level of comprehension and systematically recorded the data for later analysis.
From the second week of the studies, training in speed reading techniques was started by the researcher. Accordingly, perception, seeing, reading, speed reading, computer studies, text exercises (line, circle, punctuation, column studies), photographic reading (preparation, looking out of focus), pre-reading (browsing, goal setting, exercises), speed reading [increasing eye capacity, effective reading, reading with a purpose, flexible reading (browsing, skipping, scanning, selective reading), block reading] deep reading (note-taking techniques, cause-effect network, hierarchical table, mind map drawing) activities were done. In the last week of the 7-week (28-hour) implementation process, the students' final reading speed and reading comprehension levels were determined over the same books and texts, and the studies were completed.

Data Collection Process
The 28-hour data collection process of the study is as shown in Table 3.

Data Collection Tools
In the pre-test phase of the study, the student's initial reading speed and comprehension levels were determined. For this purpose, a narrative and an informative text from Karaeloğlu's (2019) "Speed Reading with Understanding for Children" book were read to the students at one-week intervals. The number of words that students read in one minute in both texts was determined and the average of their initial reading speed was taken. The five-question test questions that the students solved based on these texts were also used to determine their reading comprehension levels. Each of the test questions is worth twenty points. The average of the scores of the students from both tests was taken and these scores were expressed as a percentage. For example, the comprehension level of a student with an average comprehension score of eighty was expressed as 80%. The students solved the tests without looking back at the text again. Following the start of the studies by taking the pre-tests in February 2020, a total of 28 hours of training in speed reading techniques covering the months of March, April, and May was implemented. This process was repeated over the same texts and questions for the post-tests. Post-test data were collected in the last week when the studies were completed. With the beginning of the studies, semi-structured interviews were conducted with each student. The three questions asked to students in the semi-structured interviews are as follows: • Do you think that training in speed reading techniques contributes to your reading speed? • Can you say that your comprehension level increases as your reading speed increases? • Do you find training in speed reading techniques necessary? According to the plan determined by the researcher, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants during each week in which the studies continued. Each interview lasted for 20 minutes on average, 14 interviews were conducted in each of the first 6 weeks, and 16 interviews were conducted in the 7 th week during the 7-week period, and the opinions of all participants were sought.
The interviews were recorded with a voice recorder with the knowledge of the participants and subjected to content analysis.

Analysis of Data
The analysis of the quantitative data obtained in the study was made with the SPSS 21 program, and it was revealed whether there was a significant difference between the pretests and the post-tests. The semi-structured interview forms, which comprised the qualitative stage of the study, were examined by the researcher by subjecting them to content analysis. As a result of the examination, the codes that emerged in the semi-structured interview forms were determined.

Findings on the Difference between Gifted Students' Pre-Post-Test Reading Speed of Narrative and Informative Texts
Regarding the first research question, "Is there a significant difference between the pre-post-test reading speed of the gifted students' narrative and informative texts?", the results obtained in the tests carried out for this question are as follows: According to Table 4, it was found that there was a significant increase in students' reading speed in narrative and informative texts after training in speed reading techniques [t(99)=-26.30, p<.01] and [t(99)=-22.48, p<.01]. The students' average reading speed of the narrative text, which was X̄ =124.65 before the application, increased to X =175.99 after the implementations. The mean reading speed of the informative text, which was X =115.17, increased to X =161.43. This finding is significant in showing that training in speed reading techniques increased the number of words that students read in one minute. Effect size calculation was also made in the study, and as a result of the t-test, a significant difference was found with a high effect value [Narrative text (eta squared=0.563), Informative text (eta squared = 0.527).

Findings on the Difference between Gifted Students' Pre-Post-Test Reading Comprehension of Narrative and Informative Texts
Regarding the second research question, "Is there a significant difference between the reading comprehension levels of gifted students in the pre-post-test of narrative and informative texts?", the results obtained in the tests carried out for this question are as follows: According to   The narrative text comprehension level of the students, which was X =56.40 before the application, increased to X =89.60 after the implementations. The mean level of understanding the informative text, which was X =59.18, increased to X̄ =89.39. This finding is important in that it shows that training in speed reading techniques provided students with higher levels of understanding in narrative and informative texts. Considering the effect value, a significant difference was found as a result of the t-test with a high effect value [Narrative text (eta squared = 0.783), informative text (eta squared = 0.761)].

Findings and Interpretation on Gifted Students Opinions
Regarding the third research question, "What are the opinions of gifted students on training in speed reading techniques?", the data obtained in the semi-structured interviews conducted for this question were subjected to content analysis by two different researchers and divided into codes. In the examination, the codes of productivity, academic success, positive attitude, improvement of reading, meaningful reading, turning into a habit, self-confidence, necessity and dissemination were revealed. Accordingly, the participants stated that training in speed reading techniques increased the efficiency of reading and that this would naturally contribute to academic success. The participants, who stated that the studies were a good step towards loving reading, stated that these studies are necessary in order to make reading a habit thanks to the development of reading speed and reading comprehension levels. In addition, they stated that training in speed reading techniques is a practice that should be included in the education-teaching process, not only with additional activities as in this study. Some of the prominent statements in the interviews with the students are as follows: As it can be understood from these expressions, speed reading techniques should be planned and applied in a way that all students in the education level will benefit.
I am in the 6 th grade. If I had done these studies before, I could have read more books, been more successful and more cultured. I think it would be better if these studies were done from the lower classes onwards.
[P48] Gifted students are aware of the benefits of speed reading techniques training. For this reason, they think that this type of education should start in lower classes. The statements of P75, P82, P97, and P99 also show that gifted students should be supported in terms of reading speed and comprehension level like the previous statements. Because the students stated that this way they gained the habit of reading, they understood what they read better and this would contribute to their academic success.

DISCUSSION
The increase in the reading speed of the gifted students after the training in speed reading techniques in the study is consistent with the finding of Dedebali and Saracaloğlu (2010) that the "Speed Reading Technique has a positive effect on the reading speed of the students". However, it is not similar to the finding that training in speed reading techniques has no significant effect on the level of reading comprehension. In another study, Yen's (2016) conclusion that by increasing the reading speed achieved, the comprehension rate can be maintained and improved, is similar to the results obtained in this study. The finding in Öztahtalı's study (2011) that the structural features of Turkish are suitable for reading according to speed reading techniques, and that an increase in reading speed will increase the comprehension rate is also in line with the results obtained in this study. In addition, the findings that the reading speed of students increases through training in speed reading techniques (Akçamete & Güneş, 1992;Chung & Nation, 2006;Macalister, 2008;Dedebali, 2008;Bozan, 2012;Kaçar, 2015;Kurudayıoğlu & Soysal, 2015;Yalçın et al., 2017;Mergen, 2019;Durukan, 2020) are similar to our results.
In this study, gifted students achieved an average reading speed of 168.71 after training in speed reading techniques. When this result is evaluated according to Göğüş's (1978) finding that "In Turkish, 50 words can be read in the second grade and 110 silent words can be read in the fifth grade. In the third grade of middle school, a good student can read 90 words out loud and 150 words silently, and the best reader in high school can read 200 words silently.", it can be said that the 4 th , 5 th and 6 th grade students included in this study achieved a reading speed above their levels. Akçamete (1989) found the average reading speed of students to be 143.2 words per minute in his study on university students. He found a positive but low level relationship between students' reading speed and comprehension levels. Dökmen (1994) found that the average reading speed of high school students was 136.4 words per minute, and the average reading speed of university students was 145.4 words per minute. In a study conducted by Coşkun (2002) on high school students, the students' silent reading speed was determined as 155.9 words per minute in newspaper news, 140.4 words per minute in scientific texts, and 146.8 words per minute in literary texts. When evaluated according to the results, it can be said that the 4 th , 5 th and 6 th grade students in this study achieved a reading speed above their level. This finding has also been reported by Bonds and Bonds (1983); Van TasselBaska, Johnson, Hughes and Boyce (1996); Reis et al. (2004); and Anderson, Tollefson and Gilbert (1985). Citing Harris and Sipay (1990), Cavazos-Kottke's (2006) study is consistent with the finding that gifted students read above the level of their peers. In Durukan's (2020) study, students who achieved a comprehension level of 67.25 in the pre-tests reached an average comprehension level of 86.25 at the end of the training in speed reading techniques. The fact that the mean level of understanding increased from 57.79 to 89.49 in this study shows that both studies achieved similar results. According to the results obtained in the 1 st and 2 nd questions of the research, the increase in the reading speed affects the students' reading comprehension level positively. This result is compatible with other studies that have obtained similar results (for example, Taufiq, 2018), but there are also studies that argue that there is no relationship between reading speed and reading comprehension (Datunsolang, 2013;Nursina, 2018;Naili & Laila, 2018;Ekasari, 2021) available. This situation can be explained by the existence of other variables that affect reading comprehension.
According to the opinions received from the students, it is seen that they stated that speed reading techniques would increase the reading speed and comprehension levels of the students, as well as contribute to their reading attitudes and academic success. This result is similar to the result of Gezgin and Akcan (2019) that speed reading education increases students' vocabulary, they consume content (tests, books, etc.) faster, their motivation increases, and their perception, comprehension, and concentration of attention increase. The result of Yıldız's (2003) study that fluent reading improves students' reading motivation is also similar to this study. In other studies, Murniasih (2013) and Choirinintgyas (2018) found a positive relationship between reading speed and reading motivation. In this study, the results of the students' positive attitudes towards reading with the increase in their reading speed are similar to these studies. At the same time, the results of this study are compatible with Bilaya's (2021) conclusion that a program to be prepared for speed reading techniques will contribute to students' reading motivation.

CONCLUSIONS
In this study, the effect of training in speed reading techniques on the reading speed and reading comprehension levels of gifted students was investigated. Based on the results, it was concluded that the 28-hour training carried out in speed reading techniques significantly increased the reading speed and reading comprehension levels of gifted students. It has been concluded that training in speed reading techniques through semi-structured interviews carried out in order to support quantitative data with qualitative data in accordance with the design of the research, increases the reading speed and reading comprehension levels of students, as well as being an important step for students to make reading a habit. In addition, it has been concluded that studies can increase academic success by making positive contributions to other courses, especially the Turkish course, in terms of increasing reading comprehension. In addition, it has been concluded that the self-confidence of the students who have made progress in reading and comprehension will be strengthened, and that the studies conducted in this context can contribute to the self-confidence needs of gifted students.
In order for gifted students to establish healthy relationships in social life and to be successful in their professional lives, they should be individuals who read, understand what they read and express what they understand. For this reason, in order to increase the reading speed of gifted students and improve their reading comprehension levels, these students should be provided with training in the use of speed reading techniques. In this way, gifted students will be supported in developing their reading culture, doing better quality reading, making reading a habit, contributing to their academic success, ensuring social acceptance and participation by improving their social and cultural skills, and making progress in their self-confidence.