ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to investigate the appropriate language approach method befitting the characteristics of the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, and after developing and applying a program based on a balanced language approach, to examine its effect on the reading motivation level and word-reading ability of young children. The participants of this study were 58 five-year-old children who were attending two kindergartens located in Seoul. For eight weeks, a balanced language approach-based program was administered to the test group of the kindergarteners, while the comparative group continued to participate in the whole language approach-based program. To evaluate the overall reading motivation level of the children, the “Me and My Reading Scale” by Gambrell, Palmer and Codimg (1993) was used. To evaluate their wordreading skills, tools developed by Choi (2007) were used. The tests were administered prior to and after the program to all the participating children. In order to evaluate the effect of the balanced language approach, the difference between pre-program and post-program test scores for each group was analyzed through the matched paired t-test. After the eight-week program, the test group, which participated in the balanced language approach-based program showed a statistically significant improvement in reading motivation. The test group, which participated in the balanced language approach-based program, also showed a significantly higher development in word-reading than the comparative group, which participated in the whole language approach-based program.

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