Confident with a loud voice, the child reads English passages, showing more accurate English pronunciation than before with an appropriate speed, demonstrating even more fluent reading.
Student A, who transferred from a Korean elementary school to an English-speaking school and then back to a Korean school, did not achieve satisfactory learning outcomes in the English-speaking school.
In English cognitive assessments, the child showed language skills corresponding to the average level in English-speaking environments, while demonstrating high language skills in Korean cognitive assessments. However, it was confirmed that the child was achieving very low levels of performance in short-term memory and oral language components, especially in the oral language aspect.
This low level of oral language acquisition issues appears to be a common problem found in children with English language delays that our institution and Dr. Cho have been consistently discovering over the past 20 years. This seems to stem from underdevelopment or maldevelopment of relevant language areas in the brain from birth. This problem cannot be overcome simply through repetitive learning; instead, it leads to serious emotional and behavioral problems due to the rigid Korean-style education system.
In the initial stages of treatment, the child lacked confidence in English overall, read quietly, and could not express their opinions clearly. The child looked overwhelmed when reading English passages, struggled to understand them, and could not clearly and confidently explain their thoughts. Attempts were made to overcome these issues through conventional educational methods over 2-3 years, but it led to emotional issues such as depression and anxiety, hindering the development of independent thinking and delaying not only English acquisition but also normal personality development.
The ability to confidently read aloud from a book is a prerequisite for proficient English reading comprehension. Therefore, it is important for children and adolescents with insufficient English reading and comprehension abilities to understand the correspondence between letters and sounds. Especially in English, where the correspondence between letters and sounds is irregular, and the same spelling can be pronounced in various ways or spelled differently, it is not easy to grasp these rules without proper guidance in English reading development education.
To address the child’s confidence issues and develop the essential correspondence between letters and sounds in English reading development, the following psycho-educational strategies were researched and implemented:
In clinical sessions, the child’s problems related to low self-esteem and feelings of inferiority about English acquisition were addressed by raising awareness of their emotions. These issues were then treated behaviorally through a scientific approach.
During psycho-educational sessions, the Words-Voice Connection Strategy for the child was developed to help them connect their voice with the letters, allowing them to hear the teacher’s pronunciation while visually pointing to the letters and connecting them with sounds. Additionally, to enhance pronunciation and articulation, the Loud Voice Strategy was directly applied to strengthen the child’s own voice.
The Confident Reading Comprehension Strategy was applied to help the child regain confidence by checking their understanding of what they read aloud and providing detailed explanations for parts they did not understand, helping them comprehend and progress through English texts confidently.
These therapeutic strategies have been implemented for about 6 months now.
Now, the child reads English passages confidently with a loud voice, and their English pronunciation has become more accurate than before. They maintain an appropriate speed, demonstrating even more fluent reading.
“If we set a scale where 1 means “do not understand” and 10 means “fully understand”, how much do you understand now?”
“Before I think I was at 0 because I didn’t understand anything at school, but now it’s 8.”
Through consistent practice in English reading, we anticipate that the child will be able to enjoy learning at school with a joyful heart!
Yekyung Kim, Active Learning Coordinator, Active Learning Center / The Tree Group
