The Effects of Alphabet Knowledge on Korean Kindergarteners' Reading of Hangul Words

The purpose of this study was to investigate the causal relationship of kindergarteners' alphabet knowledge to their ability to read words, in connection with the features of the Korean alphabet 'Hangul'. A total of 289 children aged four to six from three kindergartens in Busan participated in the study. The main results are as follows. To begin with, the participants showed continuous development in the knowledge of consonant names, vowel sounds, the vowel stroke-adding principle, and the alphabet composition principle. Meanwhile, discontinuous development was found in the knowledge of consonant sounds and the consonant stroke-adding principle, which indicated that kindergartners could show differential speed in various sub-skills of literacy development. The kindergartners' naming of consonants developed before their recall of consonant sounds, and the knowledge of consonant sounds had an effect on the knowledge of vowel sounds. Children had difficulty in treating more complicated letters of the alphabet stroke-adding principle test, and eve syllables of the alphabet composition principle test. Most importantly, the children's alphabet knowledge was strongly related to their ability to read words written in Hangul, as kindergarteners with a greater knowledge of alphabet names, sounds, and principles were shown to read words better.