배경 및 목적: 본 연구는
3~5세 한국 일반아동의 초기읽기기술(인쇄물인식, 낱글자 구별, 글자소 이름대기, 음절읽기, 음운
인식, 창안적 쓰기)의 발달특성을 살펴보고 분석함으로써 읽기문제를 가진 한국 아동들의 조기선
별을 위한 평가모형 개발의 기초자료를 제공하고자 하였다. 방법: 3~5세 한국 일반아동 180명을
대상으로 초기읽기기술 과제들을 실시하여 성별과 연령에 따른 발달적 차이를 살펴보았다. 결과:
한국아동의 초기읽기능력은 학령 전기부터 지속적인 발달을 보이는 것으로 나타났으며, 연령에 따
라 초기읽기기술 과제들간에 발달적 차이를 보이는 것으로 나타났다. 또한, 연령이 증가할수록 아
동의 초기읽기기술과 유의한 상관을 보이는 변인들이 증가하는 것으로 나타났다. 논의 및 결론:
본 연구에서 얻어진 초기읽기기술의 발달적 특성은 읽기에 어려움을 가진 아동들을 조기에 평가할
때 고려해야 할 변인들을 제안함으로써, 평가 프로그램의 기초자료를 제공할 것이다.Background & Objectives: While the identification of reading deficits in Korean children are being
identified much more frequently, very little data are available on the developmental early literacy
skills of preschool Korean children, making it difficult to identify these children before they enter
school. Methods: One hundred eighty normal children between 3 and 5 years participated in the
present study. These were grouped into six chronological age groups with six month intervals. They
were equally balanced for gender. The experimental materials were consisted of the early literacy
skill tasks known as powerful predictable variables for reading disorders. Results: Results of the
present study showed that (1) there was no difference by sex in all tasks; (2) there were significant
effects of age for the preliteracy skills; (3) children learned nonsense syllable reading faster than
letter naming; (4) phonological awareness skills began to appear around 4 years of age, and it makes
great strides 5 years of age; (5) phonological awareness seemed to develop from simple (distinction)
to more complex (segmentation) tasks; (6) phonological awareness development first began from
the syllable level, and then goes on to the phoneme level. Discussion & Conclusion: Results of the
present study would provide the basic data for identifying reading disorders early. Since variables
in early literacy skills, which may predict reading disorders, are diverse, it is necessary to apply
appropriate age-related tasks and standards in order to identify children at risk for reading.