Background noise makes it difficult for toddlers to learn, says study
Posted on: 23/Jul/2016 2:50:32 PM
A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison has found that the presence of background noise in the home or at school makes it more difficult for toddlers to learn new words. It also found that providing additional language cues may help young children overcome the effects of noisy environments. The study was published in the journal Child Development.
Say the researchers, Learning words is an important skill that provides a foundation for children`s ability to achieve academically. Modern homes are filled with noisy distractions such as TV, radio, and people talking that could affect how children learn words at early ages. Our study suggests that adults should be aware of the amount of background speech in the environment when they`re interacting with young children.
106 children took part in the study. They were aged between 22 and 30 months. They went through three experiments. During the experiments, they were taught names of unfamiliar objects and then tested on their ability to recognise the objects when they were labelled.
Results showed that while louder background speech hindered toddlers` ability to learn words, cues in the environment helped them overcome this difficulty.
Speaking about this, the researchers said, Hearing new words in fluent speech without a lot of background noise before trying to learn what objects the new words corresponded to may help very young children master new vocabulary. But when the environment is noisy, drawing young children`s attention to the sounds of the new word may help them compensate.
