A meta-analysis by Jing and colleagues explored the impact of screen exposure on vocabulary development in early childhood (0-6 years). The review incorporated research focused on children screen-media use with receptive or expressive vocabulary assessment, inclusion criteria requiring a screen media exposure group for experimental studies and a measure of screen media exposure for correlational studies. Those involving adult aid or peer scaffolding to support children’s learning were excluded.
The multilevel meta-analysis included 266 effect sizes from 63 studies (44 experimental and 19 correlational) published between 1998 and 2022. Most studies assessed English vocabulary (76%). Ages ranged from 0.90 to 6.58 years with an average of 40.44 months. The combined results revealed a small yet positive effect size (r = +0.23), notably, with experimental studies showing a significant positive effect (ES =+0.30) and correlation studies nearly zero association (r= +0.07).
- Among experimental studies, media platform was a significant moderator with e-books exhibiting a larger effect size (ES = 0.40) compared to TV/videos (ES = +0.20) and games/apps (ES = +0.25). Video chat yielded the largest effect size (0.66), however, it was not significantly different from zero.
- Exposure to interactive media (ES = +0.39) produced a larger effect than exposure to non-interactive media (ES = +0.25).
- The effect of learning program-specific words (ES = +0.35) was significantly larger than that of general vocabulary (ES = +0.18). Expressive vocabulary (ES = +0.44) exhibited a higher effect than receptive vocabulary (ES = +0.26).
- The relation between screen media and vocabulary learning grew stronger with age (b =+0.005) in experimental studies.
- Among non-experimental studies, the only significant association was found between exposure to educational TV and vocabulary learning (r = +0.17).
The findings from the manipulative experimental studies indicated a higher likelihood of interactive educational design e-books fostering early literacy relative to other forms of screen media.
Source (Open Access): Jing, M., Ye, T., Kirkorian, H. L., & Mares, M. (2023). Screen media exposure and young children’s vocabulary learning and development: A meta‐analysis. Child Development, 94(5), 1398–1418. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13927