Characteristics of Children’s Media Use and Gains in Language and Literacy Skills

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Rebecca A. Dore¹  Jessica Logan²  Tzu-Jung Lin¹  Kelly M. Purtell¹  Laura Justice¹ 

[1] Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy, The Ohio State University, United States;Department of Educational Studies, The Ohio State University, United States;Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University, United States

关键词: media;    language;    literacy;    co-viewing;    joint media engagement;    interactivity;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02224

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Media use could be detrimental to children’s language and literacy skills because it may displace other language-enhancing activities like shared reading and caregiver-child interactions. Furthermore, the extent to which children use media with adults (joint media engagement), the extent to which they use interactive media (apps/games), and the time of the day and week during which media use occurs may attenuate any negative effects. The current study examines the relation between characteristics of children’s media use and gains in first graders’ language and literacy skills. Children ( N = 488) completed direct assessments of language and literacy skills in the spring of kindergarten and the spring of first grade. Parents reported how many hours children used both interactive and non-interactive media during different times of the day on the most recent weekday and weekend day and responded to items about the extent to which they engage with their children during media use. A quadratic relationship between media use and language gains showed that a moderate amount of media use was related to larger language gains, whereas high use was related to smaller gains. For literacy, an interaction between media use and joint media engagement showed a small negative effect of media use at low levels of joint media engagement and little to no relation between media use and literacy gains at higher levels of joint media engagement. Children’s language and literacy skills were not predicted by either the proportion of media time that was spent with apps/games or morning and weekday media use. These results show that moderate amounts of media use may not be a negative influence on children’s developing language skills, whereas high levels may displace other language-enhancing activities. Additionally, joint media engagement may play an important buffering role in the relation between media use and early literacy skills, aligned with current recommendations encouraging co-viewing.

【 授权许可】

CC BY