The document discusses the impact of television viewing on language development in young children. It examines this impact on various aspects of language development, including comprehension, vocabulary, expressive language, grammar, and pre-literacy skills. The analysis involves discussing research that has looked at the relationship between television viewing and these language outcomes. The conclusion is that television viewing has both positive and negative effects, depending on factors like the age of the child, amount of viewing time, and parental involvement. The claim that television viewing is universally detrimental to language development is deemed to not be entirely true based on the discussion.

1. Television and Language Development
Effects of Television on Language Development in Young
Children
Over the last one decade, there has been increasing concern that
the language abilities of children entering school for the first
time are rapidly declining. There has also been concern over the
possible negative effects that exposure of young children to
television may have on their language development (Close,
2009). Fundamental changes in television technology have
resulted in improved quality and quantity of television viewing
in many places. The presence of multiple televisions in the same
household as well as in the bedrooms of young children is now a
common phenomenon (Hudon, 2012). It is necessary to find out
and fully understand the impact that television viewing have on
the language development of children in early years.
This paper examines the impact of television on language
development by analyzing the accuracy of the claim made by
the following Language Development Hypothesis: The effects
of watching television for young children are detrimental to
language development. The analysis involves a discussion of the
impact of television on various aspects of language
development, including comprehension, vocabulary, expressive
language, grammar and pre-literacy skills. Based on the
discussion, a conclusion is drawn supporting and/or refuting the
claim made by this hypothesis.
Attention and Comprehension
Research carried out on the attention of children to television
has examined the relationship between this attention and
linguistic comprehension; finding that there is a high
correlation between the two. In order to give attention to
television, the presence of a certain level of language
comprehension is necessary in children. Attention to television

2. increases from birth to five years of age (Duch, Fisher, Ensari,
& Harrington, 2013). It has been hypothesized that the attention
children give to television increases their comprehension of the
programs and improves their receptive vocabulary. Pre-school
children have the ability to give selective attention to
comprehensible content and take in information during
television viewing. Due to their poorly developed linguistic
ability, the attention levels of infants are low, and as such,
watching television has little or no role in their development of
linguistic comprehension. Studies have shown that children
below two years of age benefit more from live conversation than
from watching television in their development of linguistic
comprehension (Zimmerman, Christakis, & Meltzoff, 2011).
Programs designed to develop children’s attention to television,
for example, Sesame Street, can draw the attention of children,
even below the age of three years and can be utilized in
encouraging children to talk. However, this utilization leans
heavily on the age of the child, linguistic maturity, how
valuable they are and how responsive the parents are to the
child (Hudon, 2012).
Development of Vocabulary
Research has revealed that the presence of a positive correlation
between childrens' viewing of television and their development
of language vocabulary. Vocabulary is not only receptive, but
also expressive. Receptive vocabulary refers to the
comprehension of the words that are being spoken (for example,
nouns or verbs) while expressive vocabulary refers to the
production of words. Most educational television programs have
been found to have a significant positive impact on the
development of syntactic and lexical abilities in the receptive
vocabulary of young children (Hudon, 2012). Children gain a
wide range of vocabulary and also extend their understanding of
words with which they are already familiar through the viewing
of educational television. Educational television has also been

3. found to enhance children’s lexical development, especially the
distinction of words and what they mean while they are being
spoken. Children between the ages of four and ten years are
capable of acquiring quick and partial comprehension of the
meanings of new words in their first exposure in television,
which is the initial phase of lexical acquisition prior to gaining
and storage of further information as the children encounter the
words thereafter (Hudon, 2012). Studies carried out on
programs targeting children below two years reveal that this
quick gaining of partial meaning of new words is not present in
children in this age group, except in situations where an adult
actively assisted the children to gain the meaning of new words
spoken in television (Close, 2009).
Development of Expressive Language
Expressive language (language output), which is speaking or
engaging in communication verbally or in form of gestures, is
associated with a significantly high level of comprehension.
Television viewing encourages children to make verbal
responses and raises the extent of their oral language (Duch,
Fisher, Ensari, & Harrington, 2013). Children aged two and five
years imitate noises and sounds, and name the characters heard
in television. By referring to the favorite television programs,
adults can encourage increased amount of talking in pre-school
children. However, research has shown that some television
programs inhibit the development of receptive language,
especially in children aged below two years due to their
presentation of excessive stimuli (Zimmerman, Christakis, &
Meltzoff, 2011). There is also a more negative correlation
between heavy television viewing and expressive language
development (especially among boys), as compared to light
television viewing. Studies have revealed that prolonged
viewing of poor content programs results in underdeveloped
expressive language, and poor oral communication in many
children. This suggests the absence of adequate interpersonal

4. interaction, which is substituted for by prolonged television
viewing (Hudon, 2012).
Development of Grammar
The viewing of television has been found to have a very little
input in the development of grammar in young children. On the
contrary, television has a negative impact on grammar
development, which may be attributed to the absence of
participation or interactivity in television viewing, or the fact
that grammar learning requires a comparatively long period of
time. For children between the age of two and three years,
natural influences of language are more useful in the
development of grammar than the influence of television
viewing. Children above the age of three years tend to master
sentences incorporating passive voice, negation and multiple
clauses, while aspects such as word order, the complexity of
sentences, imperatives as well as modal words have not been
associated with television viewing (Duch, Fisher, Ensari, &
Harrington, 2013). These findings further point out the negative
effects of television viewing on children less than two years
since the measures found to be negatively related to television
are usually acquired by children at this age (Zimmerman,
Christakis, & Meltzoff, 2011).
Development of Pre-literacy Skills
This section examines the association between television and
skills such as phonological awareness, storytelling, and the
knowledge about works of literacy among young children. Most
children television programs incorporate the use of songs,
poems and play games, which place a lot of emphasis on rhyme
and involve some form of sound patterns. Therefore, they are
associated with the phonological structure of words that are
spoken. Researchers have found that children engage in some
form of role playing by dressing and also acting like various

5. favorite characters in television narratives (Close, 2009).
Children also gain knowledge of storytelling and the ability to
remember and repeat brief stories, and perform some level of
explanatory talk. These abilities, knowledge and skills are one
of the most crucial aspects of basic literacy learning. Some
researchers argue that children cannot understand television
narratives, and their perception of events in television that they
are separate fragments, rather than one sequence of events,
which limits their memory and ability to comprehend content.
This argument is particularly true in cases where children are
exposed to complex narratives, which are often featured in adult
programs (Close, 2009).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the claim that the effects of watching television
for young children are detrimental to language development is
not entirely true. Television viewing has both positive and
negative effects on various aspects of linguistic development in
children, including grammar development, comprehension,
vocabulary development, pre-literacy skills and development of
expressive language. Whether or not the impact of television
viewing on language development in young children is positive
or negative heavily leans on a number of factors. The most
significant of these factors are the age of the children, the
amount of time spent watching television and the involvement
and monitoring of parents over children’s television viewing.
Generally speaking, television viewing has little or no positive
effects on the linguistic development of children aged two years
and below (Zimmerman, Christakis, & Meltzoff, 2011).
Spending too much time viewing television also has negative
effects on the linguistic development in young children (Hudon,
2012). Parents should; therefore, monitor the viewing of
television by their children in order to match the content with
the most appropriate age group, as well as prevent excessive
television viewing by children, which in most cases inhibits
interpersonal interaction (Close, 2009).

6. References
Close, R. (2009). Television and language development in early
years: a review of the literature. National Literacy Trust, 6-34.
Duch, H., Fisher, E. M., Ensari, I., & Harrington, A. (2013).
Screen time use in children under 5 years old: a systematic
review of correlates. Journal of Clinical Pediatrics, 123-177.
Hudon, T. M. (2012). Association of screen time use and
language development in young children. International Journal
of Behavior, 77-118.
Zimmerman, F. J., Christakis, D. A., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2011).
Associations between Media Viewing and Language
Development in Children Under Age 2 Years. Journal of
Pediatrics, 55-108.
Appendix 1
The articles used to obtain the information contained in this
research paper were found using five databases. These are
PubMed, Linguistics and Language Behavior, Communication
and Mass Media, ERIC and CINAL Plus. Two of the articles
used n this paper were found using PubMed, one was found
using Communication Mass Media while the fourth was found
using ERIC. The strategy used to search for the articles
involved using selected keywords relating to the topic under
research. The terms used were television viewing among
children, language development, and television and language
development. The terms were designed to include a wide range
of information so as not to exclude articles that may have highly
relevant information. One of the articles (Screen time use in
children under 5 years old: a systematic review of correlates), is
cited as an example of primary research while the rest are forms

7. of secondary research.
MTH 242 FALL 2014
Instructions: Answer all questions. All questions carry equal
points. I expect you to show as detailed work as possible to
enable you earn full credit. Also remember to begin a new
question on a fresh page as you have been doing for your
homework problems. Present neat and eligible work.
QUESTION 1.
(a). A biologist assumes that there is a linear relationship
between the amount of fertilizer supplied to tomato plant and
the subsequent yield of tomatoes obtained. Eight(8) tomato
plants of the same variety, were selected at random and treated,
weekly, with a solution in which x grams(g) of fertilizer was
dissolved in a fixed quantity of water. The yield y kilograms
(kg) of tomatoes was recorded as follows.
Plant
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
x
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0

8. 4.5
y
3.9
4.4
5.8
6.6
7.0
7.1
7.3
7.7
(i). Plot a scatterplot of yield, y against amount of fertilizer, x.
( 3 points)
(ii). Calculate the equation of the least square regression line of
y on x. ( 8 points)
(iii). Estimate the yield of a plant treated, weekly, with a 3.2
grams of fertilizer.
( 2 points)
(iv). Indicate why it may not be appropriate to use your
equation to predict the yield of a plant treated weekly with 20
grams of fertilizer. ( 2 points)
(b). The table below shows a Verbal Reasoning test scores, x
and an English test scores, y for each of a random sample of
eight (8) children who took both tests
Child
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
x
112

9. 113
110
113
112
114
109
113
y
69
65
75
70
70
75
68
76
(i). Calculate the value of the product moment correlation
coefficient between the scores in Verbal Reasoning and English.
( 8 points)
(ii).Comment briefly, in context on the result obtained in
part(i). ( 2 points)
QUESTION 2.
(a).(i).Suppose that the variables X and Y satisfy the four
assumptions for regression inferences such that for samples of
size n, each with the same values X1, X2, X3……………………
Xn, for the predictor variable, List the three properties that
must hold for the slope b1 of the sample regression line.
(ii).What distribution is used for the inferences for β1 (2
point).
(iii).In a hypothesis test for the slope β1 such that Ho: β1=0 vs.
Ha: β1≠0, write the formula for the test statistic and state its
degrees of freedom. (2 point).
(b).When you are asked to use the critical value approach to

10. conduct a Regression t-test state the following.
(i).Purpose (2 point).
(ii).Assumptions (2 point).
(iii).All the six steps (7 points) required to enable you to
complete such a test.
(c). Consider the following data on the age and price for a
sample of eleven (11) Honda cars as displayed below.
Age(yr) x
5
4
6
5
5
5
6
6
2
7
7
Price($100) y
85
103
70
82
89
98
66
95
169
70
48
At a 5% significance level, do the data provide sufficient
evidence to conclude that age is useful as a linear predictor of

11. price for the cars? .Use the critical value approach for your test.
[Hint: Regression equation is yhat=195.47-20.26x, and Standard
error of the estimate Se=12.58](10 points).
QUESTION 3.
The following are the age and price (thousands of dollars) data
for Corvettes from a car dealership in Sterling, Virginia. Find
attached the DDXL output of the data from regression analysis.
x(Age)
6 6 6 2 2 5 4 5
1 4
y(Price)
290 280 295 425 384 315 355 328 425
325
Dependent variable is y and independent variable is x.
No Selector, 10 total cases.
R2=93.7% R2 (adjusted)=92.9%
S=14.25 with 10-2=8 degrees of freedom
Source Sum of Squares df Mean Square
F-ratio
Regression 24057.9 1 24057.9
119
Residual 1623.71 8 202.964
Variable Coefficient s.e of Coeff t-ratio
prob
Constant 456.602 11.43 39.9
<0.0001
X -27.9029 2.56 -10.9
<0.0001
(a).(i). From the DDXL output write the regression equation. (2
points)
(ii).From the DDXL output, figure out the value of Se. (1 point)
(iii). Calculate the value of Sxx from the data by using the
values of x. (5 points).

12. (b).Obtain a 90% confidence interval for the mean price of all
3-year old cars by using the conditional mean t-interval
procedure on page#17 & page#18 of section E class lecture
notes.[By using the values of Se from (a)-(ii) and Sxx from(a)-
(iii), you can find (b)] (7 points)
(c).Obtain a 90% prediction interval for the price of a 3-year
old car by using the predicted value t-interval procedure on
page#20 & page#21 of section E class lecture notes. .[By using
the values of Se from (a)-(ii) and Sxx from(a)-(iii), you can find
(c)] (7 points)
(d). By comparing your results from (b) and (c) which interval
is wider? and give two reasons why such results is expected. (3
points)