Findings from a recent study posted in Science News on September 21, 2009 sent a message to adults that language development in children under the age of three is not supported by watching videos and television if the children are left alone to view the programs. Very young American children under the age of three spend an average of two hours a day watching educational programming or videos. Data indicates that children in the study who watched by themselves learned less than the children who had interaction with an adult during viewing times. Researchers from Temple University and Delaware University collaborated on the project. The full article may be found in the September/October 2009 issue of Child Development.
“Without adult support, children under three could not learn the words directly from the program, nor could they understand them when they appeared in a different context within the video. When they watched with an adult who reinforced what they were viewing, they could learn the words. In contrast, children over the age of three were able to learn the verbs from the video program and understand them later, even without an adult interacting with them.”
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