The Impact of Film Watching on Preschoolers' Language Development: A Comparative Study

This study investigates the impact of film watching versus traditional narrative listening on the language development of Iranian preschoolers across three age groups. The primary objective is to assess and compare language development in preschoolers exposed to narratives through both traditional listening and animated film watching. The study investigates differences in language skills, such as topic maintenance and descriptive abilities, between these two exposure methods.Conducted in Iran, the study encompasses various settings where children were exposed to both narrative listening and animated film watching, followed by story recounting over five sessions. The collected data were meticulously coded to identify disparities in topic maintenance and the length of story descriptions. Key findings reveal that traditional narrative listening resulted in more consistent topic maintenance and longer descriptions compared to film watching. Older children consistently crafted similar stories, demonstrating a deeper understanding of literacy concepts. Additionally, children with more educated mothers exhibited extended and fluent language skills, while others excelled in the context of film watching. This research underscores the significance of considering different media in preschoolers' language development, highlighting their distinct impacts on language skills. These findings carry implications for literacy practices, parenting, materials development, and policymaking.