Skip to main content

Back to the starting blocks: language development study


Children’s toys and games at an early age – from baby ipads to other electronic gadgets – are increasingly designed to improve language development. A study published in December 2015 in the JAMA Pediatrics journal found that electronic gadgets may be no more than a distraction, and getting back to the starting blocks – the simple wooden alphabet blocks – and books, may still be the best toys for language development (Well, December 23, 2015).

Associate professor of communications science and disorders at Northern Arizona University in America, Anna V. Sosa, led a study on babies and electronic toys that were specifically advertised as language-promoters. The study is not new, as it buids on previous research into electronic toys and e-books and their impact on child development. However, the aim of the study was to capture ‘real world parent-child playtime in their homes without researchers watching.’

The study involved 26 families in America – most were white, female, and educated. Parents were given three sets of toys: (1) electronic toys including baby laptops, cellphones, and a talking farm, (2) traditional toys such as alphabet blocks and farm animal puzzles, and (3) board books about colours, shapes, and animals. Over three days, parents and their babies (aged 10 to 16 months) played for two 15-minute sessions with each set of toys. Parents were given audio recording devices that were turned on for the full three days, including the play sessions.

The results showed that when parents and babies played with electronic toys, that were designed as language-promoters, parents spoke less and responded less to baby babbling than when they played with traditional toys like blocks and books. Babies vocalized less when playing with electronic toys. The results were consistent for all families. The results were the same regardless of the gender of the baby, the age of the baby, the gender or age of the parent, or whether the parent was a ‘more chatty person’ or not.

When language-promoting electronic toys were used, parents said about 40 words per minute, on average, compared with 56 words per minute when they played with traditional blocks and 67 words per minute when they played with books.

Parents used fewer words that were relevant to the content of the toy. For example, when playing with books and blocks, parents were more likely to say ‘that’s a piggy’ or ‘that barn is red.’ Words and sentences, such as these reinforcer sentences, were said over four times more often with books than with electronic toys, and more than twice as often with traditional toys than with electronic toys.

Sosa said that it seemed as if parents were letting the baby interact with the electronic toy and therefore placing themselves on the sidelines. The electronic toys were providing some feedback – which the parents did for the traditional toys. Therefore parents let the electronic gadgets provide the feedback – do the talking – instead of the parents talking as much as they would during the play sessions with traditional toys and books.

Sosa said that for language-promoter toys and games, ideally, ‘a toy should be 10% toy and 90% child’ and added that ‘with a lot of these electronic toys, the toy takes over 90% and the child just fills in the blank.’

The researchers admitted that the sample size of just 26 families was a small study. Therefore there was little diversity of the families. A larger study would enable a more diversified group to be studied.

In addition, the study does not actually examine language development, per se – what it does is study the interaction between parent and baby during playtime with different sets of toys. It does not measure language development over a period of time. While the study aimed to be  a ‘real world’ view of playtime, it was still managed by the researchers – in that it was only for three days – therefore it didn’t study other interactions with other children and adults (as with brothers and sisters, carers, grandparents visiting the home etc.) or single parents versus non-single parents, and a range of other factors. In the real world, often there is a combination of toys during playtime – such as books, blocks, stuffed animals, and other objects around the home (spoons, pets, paper, parent’s fingers, etc.)

Image credit : krro.com

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/traditional-toys-may-beat-gadgets-in-language-development/?_r=0


MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...
1 comment
Read more

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...
2 comments
Read more

The Knight in the Panther Skin by Shota Rustaveli (2015 translation): book review

The Knight in the Panther Skin (12th century, this edition 2015) is a recent translation by American poet and author, Lyn Coffin. The author, Shota Rustaveli, is Georgia’s most loved poet. This poem is mammoth, a magnum opus – it is 1,656 verses long, separated by chapters. But readers, don’t give up, because every verse is worth reading. It is akin to 1001 Arabian Knights, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, or Shakespearean poetry. King Rostevan of Arabia has a daughter, Tinatin. She loves the knight Avtandil and he loves her. Verse 368 from Avtandil: ‘The doctor’s could do nothing. A dark twilight on my heart now pressed, I was on fire because of love, but nobody knew or guessed. They blamed my blood. The king decided bleeding my arm would be best; I let it be done to hide the suffering I had not confessed.’ But a knight in panther skin is seen weeping, and subsequently kills the king’s soldiers, sparing the king. Before Tinatin weds Avtandil she r...
Post a Comment
Read more