Television as a Language Tool

Time

Research regarding the amount of time young children watch television and the effect of viewing on later academic success is inconclusive, though the data clearly suggest that watching for many hours per day or week has a negative effect on children’s academic performance. Susan Neuman (1988) suggests that more than four hours of television viewing a day has a negative effect on children’s reading achievement. Likewise, Angela Clarke’s and Beth Kurtz-Costes’s (1997) study of low-socioeconomic African American preschool children shows that children who watched the most television (between thirty and fifty-five hours per week) exhibited poorer academic skills than their peers who watched fewer than twenty-five hours per week. On the other hand, moderate amounts of television viewing may be beneficial. The Center for the Study of Reading landmark report, “Becoming a Nation of Readers,” suggests that there is actually a positive link between watching up to ten hours of television a week and reading achievement (Rice, Huston, Truglio, & Wright, 1990). Clarke and Kurtz-Costes (1997) suggest that the variation in researchers’ findings may be due in part to the home climate. They suggest that who watches television with young children and how television is watched may have a greater effect on children’s learning than simply the amount of television viewing.

Choosing Programming for Young Children

Selecting appropriate children’s programming has become more challenging in recent years. In addition to regular public access, cable service may offer as many as 100 options to choose from each hour of the day. And while there are a number of proven classics—such as Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, and Mister Rogers—children’s programs change from year to year. One way parents can determine the quality of children’s programming is through considering children’s needs. Diane Levin and Nancy Carlsson-Paige (1994) created a list of children’s developmental needs and suggested program criteria to accommodate these concerns.

Active Viewing

“What do you think Dora will do, Shelly? Swiper took her cousin’s present! What would you do?” asks mom to her three-year-old daughter Shelly, who adores all things Dora the Explorer. Shelly replies, “Follow the triangula (Spanish for triangle).” Shelly’s mom marvels; her preschooler is learning her shapes in English and in Spanish!

Research suggests that when parents watch high-quality programming with their children, the opportunities for vocabulary development and story comprehension are tremendous (Close, 2004). Young children are extremely impressionable, and television’s visual imagery is a powerful force in their lives. Electronic programming also provides exceptional opportunities for shared visual attention, which may greatly stimulate vocabulary development in much the same way as a storybook (Walker, 2004). Therefore, it is important for parents to help guide and mediate the viewing process. Susan Miller (1997) suggests a number of ways parents and caregivers may interact with children as they view television.

• Watch television together—Help children interpret what is seen on the screen.
• Talk about the programs—Conversations initiated by television programming offer opportunities to discuss a wide variety of issues.
• Observe children’s reactions—Ask children to label or describe their feelings.
• Foster critical thinking—Ask children what they think about a program. Would they have handled the problem differently? Did they agree with the character’s actions?
• Extend viewing activities—Children are often motivated to learn more about a topic or activity once television has sparked their interest.

For instance, Annie’s interest in the hatching sequence in the video inspired her to find her Egg Becomes Chick book. She pored over this early science text, which features actual photographs of the development of a chick inside the egg. A trip to the zoo in early spring also provided her with the opportunity to see more chicks being hatched in a large incubator.

In short, television/videos/DVDs can be a powerful tool in children’s learning, but how much, what, and how children view television programs should be carefully considered.