Effect of Television on Language Development - Essay Example

Effect of Television on language development In the world of technological events, where the ways of live are totally defined by radical changes that seem to revolutionize society, the analysis of these emerging events becomes certainly imperative. Modern life is a haven of myriad issues that subject humanity to series of arguments and researches that seek to demystify and define these complex occurrences. Television, though relatively old, is a device that totally revolutionized the social lives of humanity. It brought into focus several issues of concern and continues to elicit heated debates regarding its effects on various aspects of human development and social life. Indeed, it must be emphasized that any technological invention must have its special repercussions on a particular sector of human life. Children today make up much of the population that spends much time in front of the television sets. Perhaps this occurs due to the ample time that children will usually have contrary to their parents and other adults. In that manner, several researches have been conducted with an aim of establishing the influences of television on children and establishing whether these effects are positive or detrimental. One particular issue regards the influence of television on children’s language development and the ascertainment of the myriad hypothesis that abound regarding this heated topic. It must be remembered that this concern actually arose out of the noticeable differences that were established after several years of observation that necessitated the commencement of this search of facts. Television programs are very many today with particular programs specifically meant for children through adults. For children, such programs mostly include comedies and other comical scenes that are meant for a child’s enjoyment. In most cases, these programs inhibit language development since the language used is never proper. In several cases, children organizations have raised concerns on the type of language used in some of these situations. The ability of a child to internalize basic concepts like language is normally very high in the early stages of development. As such, a television program that uses improper English may impart a lifelong discrepancy in a child. It is therefore appropriate that the concerned parties be very vigilant in their effort to ensure effective language use in television programs meant for children. In adults, this is never an issue, since most adults watch mostly news and documentaries, which are normally addressed in good languages. In most developed countries, it is established that by the time most children join high school, they shall have spent 15000 hours watching television. Well, that demands serious attention. The effect of such addiction emerges considering that in most of these countries; family planning has reduced most families to have two children. It then implies that a child will spent almost half of their pre-high school waking hours completely alone or with a brother or sister watching television. Indeed, the actual speaking of the language mostly enhances the development of proper language in children. The failure to frequently practice the language will mean that a child will limit their ability of learning a language and will therefore be impaired in a way. Without doubt, television influences the mental occurrences of children as they simply sit and watch without stimulating their minds and subjecting themselves to reasoning that enhances their aptitude. The several arguments regarding the effects of television on language development majorly revolve around the lack of social interaction in children because of being too much glued to the sets. However, the role of parents in children development is an important aspect that needs much analysis. Several cases abound where parents also become addicted to watching television and thereby spent several hours alongside their children glued to their sets. In such a case, the language interaction between the children and the parents is greatly reduced. Parents are known to be the first teacher for their children and should therefore play very integral roles in ensuring their language and cognitive development. The failure to switch off the sets becomes a certain boost to the problem that continues to raise many concerns. The negative effect of television in this respect therefore centered on the reduced vocalizations that emanate from the child when the television sets are switched on. When the sets are on, children spent their time in silence and solitude that greatly limits their ability to learn new worlds and develop their language. In the United States, 30% of all the households have their television sets turned on all the time. The effect of this is a radical reduction in the total vocalizations a child gets from their parents by almost 30% in several families. The whole picture becomes even clearer with respect to the developments like monitors, ipads, and video games that totally consume children’s time. Most experts will recommend specific programs to assist children in language development with the sole hope that a child will see, hear, and learn from what they watch and hear. In a way, it is uncommon for children to learn through such ideal means. Language development in children is mostly enhanced by practice and interaction coupled direct confrontations. However, that is what lacks in the modern systems and families. Moreover, the conventional modes of language development like books have slowly been shunned and considered retrogressive by most families. In any case, the failure to read sufficient books not only hampers language development in children but also reduces their appetite for new knowledge. The effect of television on a toddler rises above and affects them even in their late childhood. It has been noticed that most children who spent much of their time, as toddlers watching television tend to live very sedentary lifestyles that further mitigates their ability develop their language and learn new things in life. Sure enough, the effects of television go beyond language development and transcend into such other effects as poor aptitude and cognitive development and in most cases, instances of overweight and obesity that emanate from the adoption of sedentary lifestyles. The exposure to television becomes very addictive with time and the much time spent on the activity replaces the very meaningful time which would have instead be spent in enriching and developmental activities that enhances language, motor and cognitive development. Several pediatric opinions are in support of the noticeable influence that sadly robs children of a very vital component for their development (Hoff 89). Advances in this research have continued to reveal very astonishing realizations regarding the effect of television on toddlers. A recent study confirmed that language acquisition in infants is normally greatly inhibited by the presence of television noise around. Toddlers are very keen beings and will therefore react positively to the stimuli around them .This mostly affects babies under 2 years through the common baby DVDs that are normally used by most parents. It has to be remembered that once a child becomes impaired in their ability to learn and acquire new language skill, they will develop very poor language that greatly affects their future lives. Further, it must be emphasized that human character and orientation is shaped and molded at the infant stage. Infantry stage should therefore be the concern for most parents. In such a case, any improper activity that affects a toddler’s ability to learn a new language is therefore very destructive to both late childhood and adult life. The importance of play in a child’s development cannot be overemphasized. As the saying goes, work without play makes Jack a dull boy. The time spent playing is a very enriching session for any child and should therefore form part of their social lives. Too much time spent on the television greatly deprives children this very vital component of life. As such, children under such situations are greatly disadvantaged in their language development capabilities as they lack the imperatives of development gained through conventional play. In reality, language can never be effectively developed through the various alternatives availed. In the modern era, several television and video programs have been specifically designed with the objective of enhancing language development in children. These alternatives can never be compared to the might of social interaction and play. In any case, most of the programs are meant to provide interactive sessions with the children thereby engage them in stimulating activities. However, it should be stressed, that television is an inanimate device that cannot engage a child effectively. These programs are normally meant to mimic human actions with a view of replacing parents and other natural forms of interaction. The art of reading and writing is a very indispensable component of learning since the beginning of civilization. In fact, human knowledge is normally closely associated with these key skills. In most households today, reading and writing is greatly reduced and replaced by technological aspects such as television and computers. In whichever respect, the development of language is greatly hampered in such situations. Sadly enough, that is the common occurrence in most situations in conventional households. When parents encourage their children to spend more time on the television through the popular child programs and other means, the effect of such ignorance on child’s language development becomes difficult to rectify. It is therefore imperative that parents realize the importance of limiting the time spent on television both for themselves and for their children. The development of language in a child should never be taken for granted since its effects advance well into adulthood. On the contrary, some benefits of television in a child’s language development should always be realized. It can be noticed that most children in developing countries who have television sets in their homes tend to develop better communication skills than other children. For instance in learning English, programs in English are will usually improve the abilities of children to master the language through what they see on the television. In the same vein, television programs supplement the learning process in children through many developed programs that are specifically developed for the purpose. On the total scorecard, it can be stated that language development is mostly a function of the activities conducted during lifetime and mostly shaped at childhood. Moreover, the ability to learn a new language is molded at the infantry stage in human beings. Television greatly impaired the ability to develop a child’s language through the limiting interaction and exposure to inappropriate materials. In such a case, language is impaired. Work cited Hoff, Erika. Language development. 2009: Cengage Learning, Seattle. Read More