Differences in Reading Attitudes and Preferences between Gifted and Non-gifted Elementary Students

Abstract

Understanding students’ abilities, attitudes, and preferences would provide educators with significant capability while designing programs and materials that are addressing participants’ needs and interests. A primary purpose of this study was to document the differences in reading attitudes and preferences between gifted and non-gifted children. In this study, a quantitative research method was employed and the numerical data were collected using a cross-sectional survey design. The summary of the MANOVA analysis indicated no significant differences in the academic and recreational reading attitudes between these gifted (n=112) and non-gifted students (n=390). Different from reading attitudes, the summary of the chi-square tests of independence indicated significant differences in reading preferences between them. There has been no prior research on Turkish gifted students’ reading attitudes and preferences. Therefore, the findings of this study remain crucial for Turkish education and literature. The authors recommend that future researchers should analyze reading attitudes and preferences of gifted and non-gifted students longitudinally so that they can observe changes in their attitudes.