Media and Child Language Development

Abstract

This theoretical thesis aimed to investigate and review the type of effect media has on a child's language development. While this topic has great relevance given the remarkable increase in screen time experienced by children in the last decades (Karani et al., 2022), the literature remains unclear about whether media viewing is deleterious or beneficial for children's language development. On the one hand, some prior research has found media to be associated with negative child outcomes, including lessened language development (e.g., Mustonen et al., 2022). Conversely, other studies argue that impacts of media viewing may depend on the content of programming; in particular, some researchers have found that media programs (especially quality educational programming) may have a positive effect on language development (e.g., Ferguson & Donnellan, 2014). Recent research indicates that there may be several factors moderating the relationship between child media viewing and child language development which could explain, at least in part, these discrepant findings. This current study will conduct a thorough critical literature review to investigate the relationship between children and educational media, language outcomes, and factors that moderate this relationship, such as co-viewing, child age, and immigration status.