Journal for Learning through the Arts

The purpose of this research is to study the effects of drama and traditional methods on primary school students’ use of reading strategies, on their attitudes toward reading, and on their perceptions of the drama method. A pre- and post-test experimental design with the control group was employed for this study. The drama technique was used in the experimental group and traditional teaching methods in the control group. The research was conducted on 5th grade students (experiment=28, control=26) of a Turkish language/art course at a state elementary school in Izmir, Turkey. Research data were collected through semi-structured interview technique and “The Scale for Attitudes Toward Reading”, both of which have been developed by the researcher. The data analysis indicates that the drama method is more effective than traditional methods with respect to strategy use. There is no significant difference between the groups in terms of attitudes towards reading. In addition, it has been determined that students in the experimental group have positive perceptions of the drama method.