Vocabulary and Reading Development Status of Children at Community Children Centers in Small and Medium-Sized Local City

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the receptive and expressive vocabulary and reading achievement of children attending community children's centers in small and medium-sized cities to identify the current status of vocabulary and reading development of children attending community children's centers. Method: Vocabulary and reading achievement tests were conducted on 82 children attending four community children's centers in A City, a medium-sized city. Based on the test results, receptive and expressive vocabulary and reading achievement status were analyzed, the types of reading disorders of children identified as reading disabled were analyzed, and the distribution of children with overlapping vocabulary delay and reading disorders was investigated. Results: First, 41.4% of all children showed a delay in expressive vocabulary, and 52.4% showed a delay in receptive vocabulary. Second, 55.9% of all children showed significantly low achievement in the reading achievement test. Third, among the children with reading disability, 80% of the lower grades had difficulty in word recognition. On the other hand, 55.6% of the upper grades had difficulty in word recognition, and 38.9% of the children showed difficulty in reading fluency. Fourth, among the children with vocabulary delay or reading disability, 66.7% of the children showed overlapping vocabulary delay and reading disability. Conclusion: Because a high rate of children in community children's centers shows vocabulary delay and reading difficulties, it was suggested that language and reading support should be provided to children using community children's centers, and administrative and financial support is needed for this.