PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS OF JAPANESE YOUNG CHILDREN AND LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE YOO-ON (SMALL-SIZED KANA CHARACTER)

要旨

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the awareness of phonemes relates to the learning of reading and spelling of Yoo-on (Yoo-on is a small-sized kana character which changes the high front vowel of the preceding syllable to a semivowel and adds a new vowel, for example, [ki] + [ja]→[kja]). Sixty children aged five to six were given phonemic awareness tests, reading and spelling tests, and the Shiba Picture Vocabulary Test. Two types of phonemic awareness tests were given based on the detection of either the first consonant or the end vowel. The performance levels of both of them proved quite high. Performances in the phonemic awareness tests were found to be related to performances in the Yoo-on reading and spelling tests.

主題