읽기 자료 및 읽기 목적에 대한 유아의 인식 = Young Children`s Perception of Reading Materials and the Purpose of Reading

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study investigates young children`s perception of reading materials and the purpose of reading. The subjects were 120 children aged three, four, and five years olds in a kindergarten and a day care center. The Function of Print Test developed by Wess and Hagen (1988) was used as the interview instrument and responses were analyzed. Analysis revealed that most children perceived the function of newspapers, storybooks, and calendars very well and older children`s ability to perceive the purpose of various reading materials was better than that of younger children. Furthermore, many children declared acquisition of knowledge and information` and `social acceptance by others` as main purposes of reading. But many younger children responded with `I don`t know` or no answer at all about the purpose of reading, in sharp contrast to the older children. The findings of this study have implication regarding promoting better reading environments and the role teachers and parents can play in improving childrens reading proficiency.