Learning vocabulary from educational media: The role of pedagogical supports for low-income preschoolers.

Abstract

This article reports on two studies designed to examine the landscape of online streamed videos, and the features that may support vocabulary learning for low-income preschoolers. In Study 1, we report on a content analysis of 100 top language-and literacy-focused educational media programs streamed from five streaming platforms. Randomly selecting two episodes from each program, we identified the prevalence of vocabulary opportunities, and the pedagogical supports-techniques or features in these media that are designed to orient children to specific vocabulary words. In over the 2,000 scenes coded, we identified two overriding categories of supports: ostensive cues, designed to provide definitional information to children; and attention-directing cues, designed to signal children's attention to a target word. In Study 2, we use eye-tracking technology to examine which of these pedagogical supports might predict children's ability to identify program-specific vocabulary. Results indicated that although ostensive cues predicted overall attention to scenes, attention-directing cues were most effective in directing children to target words and their subsequent word identification. Children with higher language scores were more likely to use these cues to their advantage than their lower language peers. These results may have important implications for designing digital media to enhance children's opportunity to learn vocabulary. Educational Impact and Implications StatementScreen media use on mobile devices for children ages 8 and under has risen rapidly in recent years to an average of 48-minutes day. Recognizing its potential to engage children's interest, this study examines the current landscape of educational media programs for children's word learning and vocabulary development. Our study shows both the prevalence and wide variation of word learning opportunities and highlights the production cues that appeared to differentially elicit children's attention to words and media content. These results could support a more intentional approach to media design to enhance children's opportunity to learn vocabulary.

Using strategic pauses during shared reading with preschoolers: Time for prediction is better than time for reflection when learning new words

“…Rather, we would argue that the pause allowed the time and encouraged the effort to make predictions when it occurred before the monster names, and it was the effort to predict and how that effort may have heightened children’s attention that made the new names that followed a pause more memorable. In a recent review of educational media supports for teaching vocabulary, Neuman, Wong, Flynn, and Kaefer (2019) categorized the use of a pause before the introduction of a target vocabulary item as an attention-directing cue. Rice et al (1992) also suggested that pauses before novel words could be potentially helpful for making words easier to segment from the stream of speech.…”

Young Children’s Mathematical Learning From Intelligent Characters

“…Parasocial interaction is used to elicit small talk to build rapport and educational replies to foster learning. Preschool children who respond to television prompts learn more of the targeted lessons (Anderson et al, ), understand the program plot better (Calvert, Strong, Jacobs, & Conger, ), and master more vocabulary (Neuman, Wong, Flynn, & Kaefer, ). A limitation of this approach is that the child can say anything to a character in a television program, whether it be correct or incorrect, on‐topic or off‐topic, and the character will continue as if they heard a meaningful reply, whether the child made one or not (Roseberry et al, ).…”

Coviewing Educational Media: Does Coviewing Help Low-Income Preschoolers Learn Auditory and Audiovisual Vocabulary Associations?

“…They additionally promoted attention to the appropriate portions of the screen when providing word labels or naming pictured examples. Prior research suggests that cues within media that direct attention to relevant parts of the screen and provide repetition of vocabulary are particularly beneficial to vocabulary learning from educational media (Neuman, Wong, Flynn, & Kaefer, 2019). Coviewers were able to enhance the learning environment by including repetition and visual attention-directing elements through pointing and vocalizations indicating interest.…”

“…showing that those with stronger vocabularies are able to learn new words more easily (e.g., Blewitt et al, 2009;Neuman et al, 2019). As such, it seems that the same exposure to educational media for children with higher and lower baseline vocabularies is likely to exacerbate rather than ameliorate the gap in vocabularies between these groups.…”