The Effect of Mobile Technology-Supported Functional Grammar Applications on Academic Achievement and Reading Comprehension Skills

This study investigated the effects of mobile technology-supported functional grammar applications on sixth-grade students’ achievement in word structure and reading comprehension. A quantitative, quasi-experimental design with a pre-test–post-test control group was used. The research was conducted during the 2019–2020 academic year in a middle school located in a small provincial area in the Western Black Sea Region in Türkiye. The participants consisted of 57 sixth-grade students, divided into experimental (n=28) and control (n=29) groups. The data collection tools were the “Word Structure Achievement Test” and the “Reading Comprehension Test.” In the experimental group, instructional activities were carried out using Web 2.0 tools (e.g., LearningApps.org) and mobile-supported functional grammar practices aligned with the Turkish Course Curriculum. The control group received instruction based solely on the curriculum without technological integration. Data were analyzed using dependent and independent t-tests and the Mann–Whitney U test. The results showed that students in the experimental group significantly outperformed those in the control group in both reading comprehension and word structure. The findings indicate that mobile technology-supported grammar-based practices positively affect students’ academic achievement and reading comprehension. Moreover, the study revealed a relationship between grammatical knowledge and reading success, emphasizing the role of functional grammar in literacy development. In conclusion, mobile-supported grammar applications offer an effective approach to enhancing middle school students’ language skills, providing a significant advantage over traditional methods based only on the curriculum.