Television viewing and language development in young children

¶ … Television on Study Habits

The TV is believed to be an electronic vehicle that appears to transport throngs of individuals to far-away places on a daily basis. It is a relatively recent entertainment and communication medium, which has left its mark on all aspects of everyday life. Television signals bounce off space satellites; the mode makes use of oceanic cables for transmitting live broadcasts to audiences. The general consensus is that the TV has transformed into a rather powerful medium whose contact, undoubtedly, can influences people's likes, dislikes, social habits, and learning. Young audiences watch television for wishful identification, thus, preferring it. Of late, it has become immensely clear that the TV can greatly impact children's and teens' behavior and development. Programs on television are utilized for aiding them in several subject areas; they are used as supplemental teaching materials, for giving children comprehensive education. This application of the TV has proved effective, as young children favor a visual mode of learning. Research into numerous aspect of TV viewing and its effects has been conducted by a large number of scholars. TV viewing in moderation appears to aid children with reading (Dudala 226).

Prior and recent researches have attempted to ascertain the relationship between TV viewing and performance at school, including cognitive and language skills. Correlation research depicts a small, though consistent, negative link between overall concurrent viewing and different school achievement indices. However, there is also a positive correlation of television viewing with cognitive and language development. Multiple studies have concluded that television may be able to promote positive learning outcomes and development among younger children, but negative outcomes among older children; the opposite has also been concluded by some researchers (Dudala 226).

Two researches conducted on the popular series, Sesame Street reported a negative link between language development and program viewing in kids aged below two years. However, a positive result in language development was observed among older children watching the show (i.e., children aged two and above). Program producers have always claimed that their audience is, indeed, children aged two years and above; it may be that the show is too advanced for kids who are younger, thus impeding, instead of promoting, their language development. Another study conducted on English-language kindergarten children whose native tongue is Spanish, with respect to animated children's TV program, Arthur, concluded that attentive, regular viewing of the program could help non-mainstream bilinguals to learn English narrative techniques matching mainstream school norms more quickly, even before formal literacy teaching. This proves that for successful promotion of language development among young children, parents and tutors must take care to introduce language learning using TV as a mode only to children aged above 24 months, since a majority of pre-school educational programs are designed for kids aged 2+, and also, perhaps, because younger kids' brains aren't ready to grasp such advanced-level information (Dudala 226).