Reading Characteristics of the Early School-aged Male Students with Reading Difficulty

The purpose of this study is to investigate the reading ability of 30 lower-grade elementary school boys experiencing reading difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, using standardized reading test tools, BASA: R and KOLRA. After comparing the results of the sub-items between the two groups, the correlation was analyzed. The results are as follows. First, the BASA: R test revealed that all but one male student in the second grade had difficulty reading. In the KOLRA test, 14 second-grade students (77.8%) and 10 third-grade students (83.3%) showed difficulties, with no significant difference by grade. Second, among the sub-items of the two tools, all showed a statistically significant correlation, except for reading comprehension in BASA: R and paragraph reading fluency in KOLRA. Finally, confirming the mediating effect of reading comprehension on the relationship between decoding ability and reading ability (level) showed that decoding ability (mediating variable) and reading comprehension (dependent variable) yielded statistically significant results, indicating complete mediation.