The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of language experience through outside activities on the reading of young children. To achieve this purpose, six four-year-old children who were cared for 24 hours were selected and divided into ...
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of language experience through outside activities on the reading of young children. To achieve this purpose, six four-year-old children who were cared for 24 hours were selected and divided into an experimental group(3) and a control group(3). The experimental program was carried out once a week for 10 weeks, from July 3 to September 21,2001.
The reading test items(ga-type), developed by Haegeung Park(1988) andmodified by Okbun Kim(1994) were used as the tool. The young children's reading abilities were measured in pre-activities and post-activities and for the experimental group the contents of the reading and the results of the test were analyzed qualitatively.
The major findings were as follows:
1. The young children who participated in the activity of language experience showed greater improvement in their reading ability than those who did not experience such an activity. That means that the language experience teaching method improved the children's reading ability significantly.
2. The development of the reading of the children who were taught by the language experience method was analyzed as follows:
First, the development of reading and writing were both improved simultaneously. That means that the abilities of listening, speaking, reading and writing were formed and improved in an integrated process. Young children learn language through imitating others and studying by themselves.
Second, the procedures of the reading improvement were: reading in the situation-context; trying to understand printed words in connection with their meanings and then catching their own sounds; finally recognizing the function of words with the knowledge of their structure.
Third, young children are apt to learn reading speedily, if the reading material is based own their an experiences.
Fourth, young children who participated in the language experience activity were more likely to enjoy reading books, to demonstrate a confidence in reading actively and to speak voluntarily about their own experiences, feelings, and thoughts. They learned the concepts of words and were able to connect sentences systematically.