Efficiency of Reading Time Application in Schools through the Eyes of Students

Reading is the process of vocalizing a text by perceiving it through the eyes and the brain and of forming meanings from sounds. A student who learns to read in the first grade can develop this skill in later grades and read more fluently, in accordance with the type of text and reading rules. In order for students to read more willingly texts or books other than the ones they read in lessons, their reading skills should be developed, and they should acquire reading habit. Students' acquisition of reading habit is closely related to interest and support by the class teacher at primary school, and by Turkish teachers and their families at secondary school. Teachers and families benefit from various applications so that students can acquire reading habit. Some schools engage in certain activities for this purpose. One of such activities in schools is reading time application. In this study, we aim to put forward certain implications related to reading time application in schools and to seek ways to increase its efficiency, resting on the findings from the opinions of students studying at Erzurum Yakutiye 1071 Malazgirt Secondary School, where this activity was applied, on reading time application. At the end of the application, which was carried out in the 2017-2018 academic year; a semi-structured interview form, prepared by the researcher and consisting of six questionsapart from personal informationwas applied to the students. Eventually, data obtained from one hundred and twenty students is evaluated with content analysis, which is one of qualitative data analysis methods. It is concluded that 93% of the students whose opinions are consulted in the study find reading time application efficient, and 6.5% of them find reading time application inefficient.


Reading Comprehension
Reading is the signification of the text which the eyes see and the brain perceives. According to Yılar, who states that reading is a meaning-making process that occurs in the mind of a person as a result of the interaction of the reader, writer and environmental factors, reading is the process of making meaning; one should be motivated to read; and reading should be fluent and strategic (2015).
In addition; reading, one of the most effective tools of systematically improving language and personality, minimizes educational barriers which have negative impacts on the development of society (Özbay, 2011). With the help of reading, individuals can solve a lot of problems in their daily lives and be more successful in their academic lives. Reading is also an important process which positively affects the individual's contribution to society. The continuation of this process in a desired way is dependent on correctly carrying out all works related to reading from the time when it is first taught until the time it is developed and has become habit. In order for reading to become habit, certain applications should be conducted before, during and after reading. Before reading, one should set an objective and determine appropriate methods and techniques. During reading, attention should be focused on reading text, and an effort should be made to comprehend this text. After reading, what are comprehended from reading text should be told and summarized. If the objective is not set at the beginning, and above-mentioned activities are not followed, comprehension cannot be fully realized, Comprehension is identifying the text that is being read and responding to this text by the relevant section of the brain. Comprehension is the imagination of the message that is desired to be conveyed in the reader's mind witout having any illusions. (Temizkan, 2009, p. 44). Factors such as the fact that the expression of the text is built on complex and unknown words (Güneyli, 2003), becoming obsessed with the writer's opinion (Göğüş, 1978) and lack of motivation and experience (Moffet and Wagler, 1976) play role in incomplete comprehension or mis-comprehension of the text being read. Therefore, the text being read should be read with an understanding which will be far away from these problems. Reading comprehension is a complex skill which utilizes a number of sources (Oliviera et al., 2020). That an individual has a reading habit is essential for the improvement of reading comprehension. The reading skill, with its structure that can be improved, acquired by first reading and writing exercises can only reach significance when it has become into habit (Sünbül et al., 2010).

Reading Habit
Habit means getting used to something and maintaining this state. Getting used to something, i.e., having a habit, cannot be achieved in a short time (Yiğit, 2006, p.15). Reading habit is a fixed action necessary for the self-realization of an individual, and certain steps should be followed for the continuation of this process. The fact that an individual who learns to read in primary school regards reading as a necessity in the later years of his life and allocates time for reading in every situation and Educational Policy Analysis andStrategic Research, V 15, N 4, 2020 © 2020 INASED 129 place is an indication that this individual has a reading habit. Reading habit is the most important habit that should be acquired to students who have already become familirized with letters, syllables and sounds and start to have reading skill in the first grade of primary school. Reading habit is lifelong carrying out the reading action in a continuous and orderly way and in a critical/investigative manner, following perceiving it as a necessity and source of pleasure (Temizkan, 2009, p.51).
Like all other habits, reading habit of an individual improves over time as well (Thanuskodi, 2011). Acquiring reading habit or making students acquire this habit is a difficult process. After primary and secondary school, making students acquire this habit is difficult (Karakaş, 2013). In this process, students should acquire behaviors of being able to select good quality books and valuing their time by reading books (Calp and Calp, 2015), of attaching importance to reading and books (Balcı, 2013), and of establishing a regular friendship with books (Gündüz, 2015). To make students acquire reading habit, first of all, parents should behave exemplarily on this matter for their children at home and adopt an attitude which will encourage their children to read. That parents have reading habit may facilitate children's reading habit acquiring process. Parents should introduce their children good quality books from an early age (Yılmaz, 2018), take them to bookstores, libraries and create a library for them at home, and allocate time for reading at home (Arıcı, 2018). Apart from families; schools, teachers, publishing houses, libraries, television and radio channels should carry out effective activities to acquire children the habit of reading books.

Reading Time Application
This application is an activity conducted for encouraging teachers and students to read by allocating one period (class hour) for only reading books. The essence of this activity is that students, teachers and other staff at school read books at the same time. These kinds of activities are carried out in schools by school administrations and in particular Turkish teachers, who attach importance to reading and acquiring students reading habit. The place and features of reading time activity in the syllabus are determined by school administrations as part of a program. In the school where the study was conducted, reading time activity is carried out in a period of different courses (e,g.Maths, Science) every week, and in each reading time activitiy, the last five to ten minutes of the period is allocated for talking about the books that have already been read in that reading time activity. First of all, the teacher of the particular course, which coincedes with that reading time, introduces the book read by him/her to students, and then students introduce the books read by them to their classmates/ the class.

Method
In this study, interview method is used, and opinions of the students on reading time application in school are taken using standardized open-ended interview (Fraenkel, Wallen and Hyun, 2011). For the interviews. semi-structured interview form is used.

Study Group
The study group of this research consists of 30 students from fifth grade, 30 students from sixth grade, 30 students from seventh grade and 30 students from eight grade -totally 120 students, who study at Erzurum Yakutiye 1071 Malazgirt Secondary School. In the table below, the characteristics of the students participating in the research are given.

Data Collection Tool
In the research, the interview form prepared by the researcher is used as a data collection tool.
The interview form consists of a personal information form and six questions. In this research, opinions of field experts and opinions of expert people on qualitative research are taken to ensure the internal validity of interview forms. In order to ensure internal and external validity of the research, pilot application of interview forms are conducted. Following the pilot application, interview forms are put into the final form.

Data Analysis
Qualitative data analysis method is used in the research. Contents of the semi-structured interviews applied to the students are evaluated with descriptive analysis and content analysis methods, and ethical principles are followed. The interview questions asked to the students aim to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of reading time application, sources of obtaining the books that the students read and people who encourage students to read. From the interview forms applied to the students, main themes and sub-themes for effectiveness, willingness, efficiency, sources of obtaining books, book selection criteria, continuity and encouragement indicators are obtained.

Results
Opinions of the students taking part in the study are shown in the table below by components and themes.

Opinions of 5th grade students on the efficiency component
According to Table 2, 93 % of the fifth grade students state that reading time activity is efficient, and 7 % of them think that this activity is inefficient. Some of the striking answers of the students are noted below. The student coded as F2, who thinks that reading time activity is efficient, says, " Yes, I think it is efficient as it improves our reading comprehension skills." The student coded as F3, who thinks that reading time activitiy is efficient says, "Yes, it is being efficient. We are acquiring reading habit." The student coded as M2, who thinks that reading time activity is efficient, says, " I think it is efficient. Because, reading is a good activity." The student coded as F1, who thinks The student coded as M8, who states that he selects books to read because of the genre and author of books, says, " I mind that the book's genre is novel or comic book, or contain adventure or reaction." This student emphasizes on the genre of books for book selection criteria. The student coded as M9, who states that he selects books to read because of the cover and books, says, " I care about that the book is good and meaningful.". This student emphasizes on the form and content of books for book selection criteria.

Opinions of the 5th grade students on the continuity and encouragement components
According to 14 % of the students read books on their will. Some of the striking answers of the students are noted below.
The student coded M10, who states that he is encouraged to read books by his mother, says, " I read a little. My mum tells me to do so." On the other hand, the student coded as F12 says, "Before bedtime, at 9 o'clock, I read a book. And, my mum listens to me." The student coded as F11, who states that he does not read books at home, says, "No, I don't read books at home. Rather, I do homework."

Opinions of the 6th grade students on the efficiency component
According to Table 2, 97 % of of the sixth grade students state that reading time activity is efficient, and 3 % of them think that this activity is inefficient. Some of the striking answers of the students are noted below.
The students coded as M2, who thinks that reading time activity is efficient, says, " I think so.
Because, a person who is not good at reading may impove this skill in reading time activity." The students coded as M6, who thinks that reading time activity is efficient, says, " Yes. Because, when we communicate with someone, our sentences will be better," The students coded as M15, who thinks that reading time activity is efficient, says, "Efficient. Because, we improve our reading skills. But, some students do not read." The student coded as M14, who thinks that reading time activity is inefficient, says, " No. this activity should last for at least 2-3 periods."

Opinions of the 6th grade students on the effectiveness component
According to Table 2, as stated by students, 80 % of the sixth grade students read books , 5 % of them sometimes do not read books, and 15 % of them do not read books during reading time activity. Some of the striking answers of the students are noted below.
The student coded as M14, who states that he reads books during reading time activity, says, " My deskmate wants to play games with me, but I read." The student coded as M3, who states he reads books during reading time activity, says "I sometimes read, but at most time I busy myself with other things." The student coded as M6, who states that he does not read books during reading time activity, says " I do not read books at most times."

Opinions of the 6th grade students on the willingness component
According to Table 2, as stated by students , 83 % of the sixth grade students read books willingly, and 17 % of them sometimes read books willingly and sometimes unwillingly during reading time activity. Some of the striking answers of the students are noted below.
The student coded as F14, who states that she reads books willingly, says, " Of course, I read willingly. One does not read a book by force of others." The student coded as M8, who states that he sometimes reads books willingly and sometimes unwillingly, says, " I can understand a book when I am willing to read. But, I do not remember what I read later when I am forced to read by others." Opinions of the 6th grade students on the source of obtaining books According to Table 2, as stated by students, 44 % of the sixth grade students borrow the books they read from the library, 23 % of them sometimes borrow books from the library and sometime borrow from their friends, 20 % of them buy books from the bookstore, and 13 % of them sometimes borrow from the library and sometimes buy from the bookstore.

Opinions of 6th grade students on book selection criteria component
According to Table 2, as stated by the students, when selecting books to read, 27 % of the sixth grade students select books to read as they are suitable for their ages, 23 of them select books as they are enjoyable and adventurous, 20 of them select book because of the cover and content of books, 17 of them select books because of the book publisher and because the book is included in the list given by the teacher, and 13 of them pay attention to the genre and author of books. Some of interesting answers of the students are noted below.
The student coded as M12, who states that he selects books to read because of the book publisher and because the book is included in the list given by the teacher, says, " It is important for me that books are in the list given by the teacher. and that books are not torn and there are no missing pages." The student coded as F6, who states that she selects book to read because of the the cover and content of books, says " I care about that books are adventurous and have good guality." Thus, this student emphasizes on the of form and content for book selection criteria.

Opinions of the 6th grade students on the continuity and encouragement components
According to Table 2, as stated by the students, 47 % of the sixth grade students read books at home, and 53 % of them do not read books at home.
According to Table 2, 53 % of the sixth grade students are not encouraged by anybody to read books at home. 20 % of the students are encouraged by their mothers to read books at home, 13 % of them are encouraged by their fathers, 7 % of them are encouraged by family members other than parents, and 7 % of them are encouraged by their teachers. Some of the striking answers of the students are noted below.
The student coded as M2, who states he is encouraged by his mother to read books, says, " My mum asks me to read, but I don't read." On the other hand, the student coded as F4 says, "I am encouraged by my mum, I read half an hour or an hour." The student coded as M14, who states that he does not read books at home, says, "I read books only at school."

Opinions of 7th grade students on the efficiency component
According to Table 2, 94 % of the seventh grade students state that reading time activity is efficient ,and 6 % of them think that this activity is inefficient. Some of the striking answers of the students are noted below.
The student coded as F3, who thinks that reading time activity is efficient, says, " Whenever I read a book, I believe I am getting better on solving test questions on paragraphs." The student coded as F13, who thinks that reading time activity is efficient, says, " I think this activity is efficient.
Because, those who are bad at reading improve this skill," The student coded as M12, who thinks that reading time activity is efficient, says, "Yes. Because, at home, I study lesson; I do not read books." The student coded as M14, who thinks that reading time activity is inefficient, says, "No, it is not efficient. My classmates do not keep quite during this activity." The student coded as F9, who states that she is not encouraged to read books by anybody, says, "In my free times, I read books. Nobody encourages me to do so." The student coded as M11, who states that he is encouraged by his mother, says, "I occasionally read books at home, at my mum's request." The student coded as M14, who states that he does not read books at home, says, " No. I have no reading time at home." Thus, this student expresses sincerely the fact about his reading habit.

Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations
90 % and above of the students who took part in the study find the reading time application efficient. Therefore, it is seen maintenance of reading time application will positively affect students' reading habits. 73 % of the fifth grade students, 80 % of the sixth grade students, 97 % of the seventh grade students, and 60 % of eighth grade students state that they read books during reading time activity. The main reason for that book-reading rates of eighth grade students are lower than the rates of other grades are the existence of central placement exam and teachers who allow students to study for this exam during reading time activity because of exam concerns. The majority of teachers ( 81,8 %) read books as well while students read books during reading time activity (Aksoy and Öztürk, 2018). However, there are also teachers who do not read books and check if student read book or not during reading time activity. More than 83 % of the fifth, sixth, seventh grade students and 73 % of the eighth students taking part in the study read books willingly during reading time activity.
More than 44 % of the students taking part in the research borrow the books they read from the library. This is mainly due to the fact that the library is close to the school. The percentage of buying books from the bookstore by students is 7-20 %. When selecting the books to read, the students pay attention that books are suitable for their ages and that they are enjoyable / interesting. In other words, students select books to read according to their interests.
10 % of the fifth grade students, 53 % of the sixth grade students, 33 % of the seventh grade students, and 23 % of the eighth grade students do not read books at home. The students with the highest rate of not reading books at home are sixth grade students. At least 23 % of the students are encouraged to read books by their mothers. At least 33 % of sixth, seventh and eighth grade students are not encouraged to read books by anybody. Teachers and parents should show more interest in these students and encourage them to read books. It is essential that teachers and parents should work together and in collaboration to create a suitable reading and learning environment.
Various studies reveal that students' reading habits may be different depending on gender and regions (Loan, 2017). In addition, it is known that students with parents who have "high" education usually have a positive attitude towards reading books (Calp, 2018) compared to students with "illiterate parents". While teachers acquire students reading habit, they take into account these differences and try to minimize them, and attach importance to reading time applications (Aksoy, 2014) and do various encouraging activities for students, This fact should be kept in mind that individuals who have reading habit are aware of social values (Batur, Gülveren and Bek, 2010) and make their lives easier by adopting these values. In addition, reading habit contributes to mental development of children and the way they use language (Sert, 2010). Reading activities in which children engage at a young age play an important role in acquiring reading habit at later ages and having a positive attitude towards reading (Darıcan, 2014).
In this study, it is found that reading time application has a crucial role in acquiring students reading habit. This application is conducted mostly under the leadership of Turkish teachers in schools. With this application, students' interest in books and reading increases, and a reading culture is formed in schools. Students who do not have the habit of reading books get used to reading books, even if gaining this habit is difficult at the beginning, with the help of this application.
It is stated by teachers that reading time activity is effective in making students acquire reading habit (Köksal and Değirmenci, 2015), and that this activity has a positive effect on the excitement, desire and love of reading habit of students (Aksoy and Öztürk, 2018). However, it is necessary that the time allocated for this activity should be increased, and reading time application should be extended to different days of the week (Şahin, Maden and Yılmaz, 2011).
The teachers who took part in in the study by Kanık Uysal (2010) give a positive opinion on reading time activity and see it as an opportunity of acquiring students reading habit. They also point out that reading time activity has a positive effect on students' book reading attitude and love for books, and that students read more than before after the application of this activity. Therefore, primarily, factors that influence reading habit should be improved in order for students to gain this habit. According to Arıcı (2018, p.142), reading habit of students are affected and improved by family, school, and the enviromental factors. Factors arising from oral culture tradition and factors related to the mindset, society, culture, economy, media and education affect reading habit.
For a sound intellectual development (Chettri and Rout, 2013), a good writing habit is necessary, and this habit plays an important role in achieving a practical efficiency. If family members read books at home together (Gökçe et al, 2012), childeren's sense of responsibility improves.
Moreover, skills such as planning, faster reading. language also improve indirectly. It should be kept in mind that students with a good reading habit and with a positive attitude towards reading can comment on matters better (Rasiah et al., 2011). Their critical skills will also be developed. We make the following recommedations to improve students' reading habits: First of all, children should be introduced to books at a young age, and a library should be created at home.
Parents should read stories / books to their children (Bamberger, 1990), and what children read from books should be discussed at home.
Educational environments for reading skills (Yıldız, 2018) should be prepared in order to acquire children reading habit by selecting / making children select children's books that will acquire children reading habit (Okuyan, 2009).
The importance of reading attitude in the development of reading habits (Rodrigo et al., 2014) should be taken into account in order for children to develop a positive attitude towards reading.
In order to acquire students reading habits, writers (Erdem, 2015) or poets etc. can be invited to schools.
Reading time activity should be conducted more meticulously in schools.
Considering that the digital age wipes out reading habits (Akarsu and Darıyemez, 2014) and that students usually pass their time watching TV, playing computer games or surfing on the Internet (Deniz, 2015), children should be taught how to deal with overwhelming world of information, and their disciplined reading skills should be improved (Davidovitch et al., 2016) .
Teachers who have no reading habit or are too weak readers to be a model in this regard (Ungan, 2008) should be educated on reading habit. It should not be overlooked that a teacher affects students' attitudes, goals, literacy preferences and commitment to life (Adnan et al., 2016). It is essential that teachers should have reading habit and related knowledge and skills related to reading culture (Karaarslan, 2016).
In addition, central exams should be transformed into a format where students will use their reading and writing skills more effectively (Akın, 2016) by removing these exam's qualities that hinder students' reading habits.
The effect of motivation on reading habit (Ünal and Sevimli, 2017) should always be taken into account, and students' motivation on reading skills should be increased.
First of all, the reading habit of students should be improved by integrating communication devices or digital devices into classroom activities (Tanjung et al., 2017).
Students may be asked to animate the books they read in the garden (Yurtbakan, 2017).
The books that students read can be evaluated by different methods according to multiple intelligence areas (making songs from readings, rewriting what they read, or evaluating themselves by putting themselves in the place of the author, etc.).
Students' attitudes towards reading, the environment and their preferred reading materials (Rosli et al., 2017) can be determined, the state of their reading habits are revealed, and thus their reading habits can be improved.
As social networks of students, intensive programs at school, time spent with friends, and lack of reading desire (Skenderi et al., 2017) hinder reading habits, the burden of these factors on children should be eliminated .
Students who read books at school can be awarded (Ameyaw et al., 2018). Students can be gifted with books which will encourage them to read and go to the library, by teachers/directors at every opportunity.
Seminars, workshops, symposiums and conferences (Oluwabıy ve Adetunjı, 2018) that may have influence on students' reading habits can be held. In order to promote students' reading and their love for books, comics can be written (Gürsoy, 2018), and students are made to read them.
In order for children to select books that are suitable for their ages and to prefer books that will improve their awareness and sensitivity of language (Türkben, 2019), they should be guided by their teachers.
Various sources of external motivation (Özcan et al., 2019) originating from recognition, being social, adaptation, competing and school, which affect students' reading habits, should be eliminated.
Activities that will improve reading habits of students (Balcı et al., 2012) can be included not only in the Turkish lesson curriculum but also in the curriculum of other lessons.
All governmental institutions , non-governmental organizations and school officials, teachers (Mohsin & Sonwane, 2013) and families should work in cooperation in the preparation of books that are suitable for the levels and interests of children and in the acquisition of reading habits by children.