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Young-Suk Kim

Ewha Womans University · Psychology

About the Lab

Professor Young-Suk Kim's research lab specializes in early literacy development, with a focus on the interplay between oral language, decoding skills, and reading comprehension in young learners. The lab investigates foundational reading fluency—both oral and silent—alongside phonological awareness, morphological units (such as body-coda in Korean), and writing development from kindergarten through early elementary grades. Using longitudinal, multi-method approaches including structural equation modeling and latent variable analysis, the lab explores how growth trajectories in early literacy skills predict later reading and writing outcomes.

early literacyreading fluencywriting developmentphonological awarenessreading comprehension

Research Overview

Papers
284
Total Citations
7,035
Papers (5y)
44
Primary Field
Psychology

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
44total
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Citations per year (5y)
151total
20222023202420252026

Selected Papers

15
1
Article|211 citations·2011
Relations Among Oral Reading Fluency, Silent Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension: A Latent Variable Study of First-Grade Readers
Youngsuk Kim, Richard K. Wagner, Elizabeth Foster
SJR Q1Scientific Studies of ReadingOA

The present study examined oral and silent reading fluency and their relations with reading comprehension. In a series of structural equation models (SEM) with latent variables using data from 316 first-grade students, (1) silent and oral reading fluency were found to be related yet distinct forms of reading fluency; (2) silent reading fluency predicted reading comprehension better for skilled readers than for average readers; (3) list reading fluency predicted reading comprehension better for a

Developmental and Educational PsychologyPsychology
2
Article|207 citations·2011
Componential skills of beginning writing: An exploratory study
Youngsuk Kim, Stephanie Al Otaiba, Cynthia S. Puranik, Jessica Sidler Folsom, Luana Greulich, Richard K. Wagner
SJR Q1Learning and Individual DifferencesOA
EducationSocial Sciences
3
Article|200 citations·2010
Does growth rate in oral reading fluency matter in predicting reading comprehension achievement?
Youngsuk Kim, Yaacov Petscher, Christopher Schatschneider, Barbara R. Foorman
SJR Q1Journal of Educational Psychology

In this study, we examined the relationship of growth trajectories of oral reading fluency, vocabulary, phonological awareness, letter-naming fluency, and nonsense word reading fluency from 1st grade to 3rd grade with reading comprehension in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. Data from 12,536 children who were followed from kindergarten to 3rd grade longitudinally were used. These children were administered Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills subtests, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third

Developmental and Educational PsychologyPsychology
4
Article|165 citations·2014
Cognitive Correlates of Listening Comprehension
Youngsuk Kim, Beth M. Phillips
SJR Q1Reading Research Quarterly

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Social PsychologyPsychology
5
Article|156 citations·2012
Developmental relations between reading fluency and reading comprehension: A longitudinal study from Grade 1 to Grade 2
Youngsuk Kim, Richard K. Wagner, Danielle Lopez
SJR Q1Journal of Experimental Child PsychologyOA
Developmental and Educational PsychologyPsychology
6
Article|139 citations·2014
Kindergarten predictors of third grade writing
Youngsuk Kim, Stephanie Al Otaiba, Jeanne Wanzek
SJR Q1Learning and Individual DifferencesOA
EducationSocial Sciences
7
Article|139 citations·2014
Evaluating the Dimensionality of First-Grade Written Composition
Youngsuk Kim, Stephanie Al Otaiba, Jessica Sidler Folsom, Luana Greulich, Cynthia S. Puranik
SJR Q1Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research

PURPOSE: This study examined dimensions of written composition by using multiple evaluative approaches such as an adapted 6 + 1 trait scoring, syntactic complexity measures, and productivity measures. It further examined unique relations of oral language and literacy skills to the identified dimensions of written composition. METHOD: A large sample of 1st-grade students (N = 527) was assessed on their language, reading, spelling, letter writing automaticity, and writing in the spring. Data were

EducationSocial Sciences
8
Article|135 citations·2007
Phonological awareness and literacy skills in Korean: An examination of the unique role of body-coda units
Youngsuk Kim
SJR Q1Applied Psycholinguistics

This study examines a salient intrasyllabic phonological unit in Korean, the body-coda unit, its role in literacy skills in Korean, and a possible source of the salience of body-coda units in the spoken language. Data were collected from Korean-speaking, monolingual beginning readers (41 kindergarteners, 40 first graders). The results indicate that body-coda boundary (e.g., ca-t ) is more salient than onset–rime boundary (e.g., c-at ) for Korean children and show that children's body-coda awaren

Developmental and Educational PsychologyPsychology
9
Article|128 citations·2014
Toward an understanding of dimensions, predictors, and the gender gap in written composition.
Youngsuk Kim, Stephanie Al Otaiba, Jeanne Wanzek, Brandy Gatlin
SJR Q1Journal of Educational PsychologyOA

We had three aims in the present study: (1) to examine the dimensionality of various evaluative approaches to scoring writing samples (e.g., quality, productivity, and curriculum based writing [CBM]) , (2) to investigate unique language and cognitive predictors of the identified dimensions, and (3) to examine gender gap in the identified dimensions of writing. These questions were addressed using data from second and third grade students (<i>N</i> = 494). Data were analyzed using confirmatory fa

EducationSocial Sciences
10
Article|108 citations·2007
The relationship between home literacy practices and developmental trajectories of emergent literacy and conventional literacy skills for Korean children
Youngsuk Kim
SJR Q1Reading and Writing
Developmental and Educational PsychologyPsychology
11
Article|105 citations·2010
The contributions of phonological awareness and letter-name knowledge to letter-sound acquisition—a cross-classified multilevel model approach.
Youngsuk Kim, Yaacov Petscher, Barbara R. Foorman, Chengfu Zhou
SJR Q1Journal of Educational Psychology

In the present study, we investigated critical factors in letter-sound acquisition (i.e., letter-name knowledge and phonological awareness) with data from 653 English-speaking kindergartners in the beginning of the year. We examined (a) the contribution of phonological awareness to facilitating letter-sound acquisition from letter names and (b) the probabilities of letter-sound acquisition as a function of letter characteristics (i.e., consonant-vowel letters, vowe-consonant letters, letters wit

Developmental and Educational PsychologyPsychology
12
Review|104 citations·2018
Stable Organic Radicals Derived from N‐Heterocyclic Carbenes
Youngsuk Kim, Eunsung Lee
SJR Q1Chemistry - A European Journal

Over the past decade, numerous stable organic and main-group radicals have been synthesized from N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). The structure of NHCs, in particular, offers electronic stabilization that helps to delocalize the unpaired electron over the molecule. In addition, the sterically bulky substituents of NHCs protect the radical center to prevent detrimental reactions such as dimerization. These advantages enable the straightforward synthesis and characterization of various interesting

Organic ChemistryChemistry
13
Article|100 citations·2011
Eye movements and parafoveal processing during reading in Korean
Youngsuk Kim, Ralph Radach, Christian Vorstius
SJR Q1Reading and Writing
Developmental and Educational PsychologyPsychology
14
Article|92 citations·2008
The foundation of literacy skills in Korean: the relationship between letter-name knowledge and phonological awareness and their relative contribution to literacy skills
Youngsuk Kim
SJR Q1Reading and Writing
Developmental and Educational PsychologyPsychology
15
Article|90 citations·2013
Is oral/text reading fluency a “bridge” to reading comprehension?
Youngsuk Kim, Chea Hyeong Park, Richard K. Wagner
SJR Q1Reading and Writing
Developmental and Educational PsychologyPsychology

Research Areas

Developmental and Educational PsychologyMaterials ChemistryOrganic ChemistryEducationPhysiologyInformation Systems

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