Oral Reading Skills and Comprehension Test-ii (sobat®-ii): Assessment of reading fluency and comprehension of Turkish students with specific learning disabilities

Keywords: comprehension; fluency; reading; SOBAT®-II; special education; specific learning disabilities; test 
development 
Introduction 
As a high-incidence disability, SLD consist of the largest category of special education in the United States of 
America (USA). Students with SLD constitute 38.6% of all students with disabilities from age 6 through 21 
(U.S. Department of Education, 2018). Approximately 5% of all school-aged children are diagnosed with SLD 
(Pierangelo & Giuliani, 2006). Cognitive/intellectual disabilities are considered as a part of SLD in South 
Africa, and 15.7% of learners with disabilities have been diagnosed with intellectual/learning difficulties (Nel & 
Grosser, 2016). Moreover, in the Turkish educational system, in addition to the increase in the number of 
students receiving special education services, the importance given to the special education field has also 
increased in recent years (Melekoğlu, 2014). When the statistics of the Ministry of National Education (Turkish: 
Millî Eğitim Bakanlığı [MEB]) for the last 5 years are analysed, the results show that there was an increase of 
45% in the number of special education students in formal education. According to the MEB data, 242,716 
students received special education services in formal education in the 2013–2014 academic year, while this 
number increased to 353,610 in the 2017–2018 academic year (MEB, 2014a, 2018). SLD is a special education 
category that has become prominent in Turkey in recent years, and awareness among educators and families has 
started to increase (Melekoğlu, 2018). 
According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), SLD means a disorder in one or 
more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, 
that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical 
calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, 
dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Moreover, SLD does not include learning problems that are primarily the 
result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, intellectual disability, emotional disturbance, or environmental, 
cultural, or economic disadvantage (IDEA, 2015). A similar definition of SLD exists in the Special Education 
Services Regulation in Turkey: SLD is a difficulty in listening, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, attention, 
concentration or performing mathematical operations that appear in one or more of the information-gathering 
processes required to understand and use the written or spoken language (MEB, 2006). However, the definition 
and understanding of learning disabilities are extremely complicated in South Africa. Although the Diagnostic 
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) 
indicates specific criteria to diagnose SLD, several factors including central nervous system, genetics, medical 
and health risk factors, socio-economic factors and pedagogical factors may be important to be diagnosed with 
learning disabilities in South Africa (Nel & Grosser, 2016). 

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Melekoğlu, Erden, Çakıroğlu 
Educating 
learners with disabilities in 
inclusive environments is the primary approach in 
South Africa, and Education White Paper 6 that 
guides the implementation of inclusive education 
practices was published (Department of Education, 
2001). Based on this policy document, learners 
with SLD need to be supported in inclusive 
classrooms (Nel & Grosser, 2016). A similar 
approach is valid in Turkey, and all of the students 
with SLD continue their formal education in 
inclusive environments. The number of children 
diagnosed with SLD by the Guidance and Research 
Centers (RAM) seems to be increasing in Turkey. 
In the 2011–2012 academic year, while 4,888 
students with SLD were receiving education in 
inclusive classrooms (MEB, 2014b), this number 
increased by 89.3% to 9,253 in the 2016–2017 
academic year (MEB, 2017). However, due to the 
lacking identification process of students with 
SLD, the actual number could be higher in Turkey. 
Researchers indicate that many students with SLD, 
but who have not been officially diagnosed, 
continue their education in schools (Cakiroglu & 
Melekoglu, 2014). 
Literature Review 
In terms of diagnosis of learners with SLD, a 
transdisciplinary collaborative approach is widely 
accepted in South Africa, and all stakeholders, 
including 
teachers, 
parents, 
and 
health 
professionals work actively and in coordination 
during the process (Nel & Grosser, 2016). 
Although the systematic approach is widely 
accepted for the diagnosis of students with SLD, 
Güzel Özmen (2008) states that SLD is an official 
special education category in Turkey, but problems 
exist in diagnosis and provision of necessary 
special education services for these students. Also, 
necessary accommodations are not provided in 
general education settings, and teachers could not 
access guidance on the education of these children. 
Özyürek (2005, 2009) also states that although the 
diagnosis of SLD has been frequently observed in 
Turkey, problems emerged in the differential 
diagnosis and identification of SLD. Moreover, the 
teaching accommodations required for students 
with SLD are not ensured in Turkish schools. 
Studies reveal that the majority of teachers in 
inclusive classrooms in Turkey do not make any 
adaptations for students with special needs in their 
classes, and those teachers do not use teaching 
strategies, such as peer-assisted teaching, that can 
positively impact class participation and academic 
achievement in inclusive classrooms (Sucuoğlu, 
Demirtaşlı & Güner, 2009). In addition, the 
majority (81.5%) of teachers working in inclusive 
classrooms in Turkey stated that they were against 
inclusive education and that students with special 
needs should be educated in separate classrooms or 
schools (Melekoğlu, 2014). Therefore, the majority 
of students with SLD may encounter negative 
teacher attitudes and do not receive academic 
accommodations and effective interventions in 
Turkey. Similarly, teachers in South Africa have 
not been trained to teach learners with disabilities 
in an inclusive environment, and therefore, those 
teachers may manifest negative attitudes towards 
learners with SLD in regular education (Donohue 
& Bornman, 2014). 
The main areas where students with SLD 
experience failure and difficulty are academic areas 
such as reading, writing, and mathematics. The 
degree and type of difficulties in these areas may 
be different for each individual. Some individuals 
have difficulties in reading only, others may have 
difficulty in mathematics or writing, and still others 
may have difficulty in all areas. However, studies 
show that students who have difficulty in 
mathematics and writing also have difficulty in 
reading (Nel & Grosser, 2016; Pierangelo & 
Giuliani, 2006; Zimmerman & Smit, 2014). Among 
the SLD subgroups, the most frequently observed 
and researched group is the group with reading 
difficulties. It is reported that approximately 80% 
of all cases of SLD are those with reading 
difficulties and such reading difficulties are 
observed in 5 to 17.5% of the population (Shaywitz 
& Shaywitz, 2005). In other words, four out of five 
children diagnosed with SLD have difficulty in 
reading. Similar problems in reading are observed 
among learners in South Africa. The quality of 
general 
education 
is 
low 
and 
academic 
performances of learners, especially in reading and 
mathematics on standardised tests are low 
(Donohue & Bornman, 2014). 
The most basic and ultimate purpose of 
reading is to derive meaning from the text. 
Acquiring and developing this important skill 
involve some complex processes and skills (Snow, 
2002). One important aspect of the reading skill is 
fluency. Many studies emphasise the effect of 
reading fluency on achievement in reading 
comprehension (Fuchs, Fuchs, Hosp & Jenkins, 
2001; Jenkins, Fuchs, Van den Broek, Espin & 
Deno, 2003; Kim, Park & Wagner, 2014; Kim, 
Wagner & Lopez, 2012). Although reading skill 
has many different dimensions such as word 
recognition, reading fluency, vocabulary and 
comprehension, the majority of reading problems 
are observed in accuracy and rate, which are 
defined as reading fluency. Problems in these areas 
may 
negatively 
affect 
the 
comprehension 
dimension as the main purpose of reading (National 
Reading Panel, 2000). 
According to a model developed by Stanovich 
(1980), the most important problems of students 
with poor reading skills are difficulties in 
recognising and decoding words. According to this 
model, students use a large part of their cognitive 
capacity and attention to analyse words because 

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