• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.117-138
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of early storybook reading intervention participation on the first graders' language abilities in low income families. The subjects consisted of 148 first graders and their primary caregivers. The intervention group was composed of 100 first graders who participated in the early storybook reading intervention program in childcare or kindergarten. The comparison group comprised 48 first graders from equivalent social and economic backgrounds, who did not participate in the program. The language abilities of the children were tested and questionnaires regarding the home literacy environment, children's reading activities at home and parents' perceptions of their children's reading behaviors were completed by the children's primary caregivers. The data were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling. The results indicated that early intervention participation was directly associated with children's higher language abilities in first grade and indirectly influenced the children's language abilities through the home literacy environment, children's reading activities at home and parents' perceptions of their children's reading behaviors.