언어경험접근법을 활용한 유아 현장체험활동 프로그램 개발 및 효과

Abstract

This study‘s purpose was to develop the Early Childhood Field Experience Program(ECFEP) based on the Language Experience Approach(LEA) and to test the effects of the developed program on young children’s literacy and creativity. For these purposes, we set research questions as follows. First, how are the development and composition of the ECFEP based on the LEA? Second, what effects does the ECFEP based on the LEA have on the children’s literacy and creativity? The results of this study to answer these questions are summarized as follows. We developed the ECFEP based on the LEA through literature review, consultation with field teachers, specialists’ guidance, and the results of previous studies. The goals of the program were: to enhance young children’s literacy, namely, reading comprehension, vocabulary ability and writing ability; and to enhance creativity, specifically, flexibility, fluency, originality and imagination. For the contents of education, we selected the listening, speaking, reading and writing domains. Through the ECFEP based on the LEA, children experienced the four types of contents of education for the development of their literacy and creativity. The program consisted of various themes that might provide young children with rich experiences and topics of conversation as well as opportunities to stimulate their imagination. Through consultation with field teachers and specialists in early childhood education, we designed an activity as a 3 days’ course for the process and stages of each activity. The first day was for examining the themes of activity as the first stage, the second day was for experiencing activities as the second stage, and the third day was for talking together about activity experiences as the third stage, writing about activity experiences as the forth stage, and sharing advanced activity experiences as the fifth stage. The teacher’s roles were defined as experience provider, encourager, guide, assistant, proxy, and receiver. The teacher's responsibilities in the classroom environment included: posting activity materials, compiling the results from surveys, preparing activity materials for writing, assemble the children's experience books and display them in the book center. Assessment was made on literacy and creativity in accordance with the objective and goals of this study. We tested how the ECFEP based on the LEA affected young children’s literacy and creativity. In order to answer the research questions, we sampled 40 four‐and five‐year‐old children at N Child-Care Center in Gwangju. Rating scales used to answer the research questions. Productive vocabulary ability was tested with the “Picture Vocabulary Test (REVT E)” standardized by Kim Yeong‐tae et al. (2009) for Korean children, and receptive vocabulary ability was tested with the “Picture Vocabulary Test (REVT‐R)” standardized by Kim Yeong‐tae et al. (2009) for Korean children. Syntactic comprehension was tested with the standardized Syntactic Comprehension Test (2009) prepared based on TOLD‐2 (Test of Language Development‐2, Primary) developed by Phillips and Donald (1988), adapted into Reading Comprehension Test (1994) for the Korean situation by Seoul Community Rehabilitation Center, and revised and supplemented by Bae So‐yeong, Lim Seon‐sook, Lee Ji‐hee, Jang Hye‐seong, et al. In addition, writing ability was tested with an instrument categorized by Sulzby (1985), and Sulzby, Barnhart and Hieshima (1989), and supplemented for this study. Children’s creativity was assessed with the “Comprehensive Creativity Test for Young Children” developed by Jeon Gyeong won (2000). The research procedure was as follows: preliminary research, training of assistant researchers and teachers, pretest, experimental treatment, posttest, and analysis of results. The experimental treatment was performed from August 3 to October 15, 2010. Each field experience activity based on the LEA consisted of three sessions, and a total of 30 experimental sessions were conducted. In the experimental treatment, the 40 young children in the experimental group participated in the ECFEP based on the LEA. In data processing, creativity was rated by Jeon Gyeong‐won’s Happy Creativity Institute of Hakjisa, and literacy was rated by the present researcher and assistant researchers. The results were analyzed through t-test using SPSS 15.0. The results of this study are summarized as follows. First, the ECFEP based on the LEA was effective for enhancing receptive vocabulary ability, productive vocabulary ability, and syntactic comprehension of young children’s literacy, but its effect was not significant for writing ability. Second, the ECFEP based on the LEA was effective for enhancing young children’s creativity (fluency, flexibility, originality, and imagination). As these results indicate that the ECFEP based on the LEA is an effective teaching strategy for enhancing young children’s literacy and creativity. The results of this study may be applicable in planning educational activities for enhancing young children’s literacy and creativity in the field of early childhood education.