A Literature Review Study on Reading Comprehension

The aim of this study is to make thematic review of 187 researches, which consist of articles, master and doctoral dissertations on reading comprehension, written between the years 2000-2017. The researches’ variables, methodology and theoretical background were analyzed and results were presented as themes. As a result of the analysis, five themes have been reached. These themes were the factors that influence reading comprehension, the factors that are effected by reading comprehension, the theoretical background of researches, limited aspects, and strength aspects of researches. The first theme, factors that increase the reading comprehension, was examined in two groups as individual and environmental factors. In the second theme, reading comprehension success affects student’s cognitive traits such as academic achievement, critical thinking was founded. The third theme was founded as learning theories explaining the development of the individuals and teaching theories helping to organize the classroom learning environment. The fourth theme was founded as the choice of experimental design is a strong aspect of researches. The fifth theme was founded as research samples are not randomly determined and this reduces the generalizability of the results obtained. In future studies, reading comprehension problems can be examined in detail, and powerful research methods, and measurement tools can be used.