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Language in educational apps for pre-schoolers: A comparison of grammatical constructions and psycholinguistic features in apps, books and child directed speech

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Language in educational apps for pre-schoolers: A comparison of grammatical constructions and psycholinguistic features in apps, books and child directed speech. / Kolak, Joanna; Monaghan, Padraic; Taylor, Gemma.
In: Journal of Child Language, Vol. 50, No. 4, 31.07.2023, p. 895-921.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Kolak, J, Monaghan, P & Taylor, G 2023, 'Language in educational apps for pre-schoolers: A comparison of grammatical constructions and psycholinguistic features in apps, books and child directed speech', Journal of Child Language, vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 895-921. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000922000198

APA

Kolak, J., Monaghan, P., & Taylor, G. (2023). Language in educational apps for pre-schoolers: A comparison of grammatical constructions and psycholinguistic features in apps, books and child directed speech. Journal of Child Language, 50(4), 895-921. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000922000198

Vancouver

Kolak J, Monaghan P, Taylor G. Language in educational apps for pre-schoolers: A comparison of grammatical constructions and psycholinguistic features in apps, books and child directed speech. Journal of Child Language. 2023 Jul 31;50(4):895-921. Epub 2022 Apr 28. doi: 10.1017/S0305000922000198

Author

Kolak, Joanna ; Monaghan, Padraic ; Taylor, Gemma. / Language in educational apps for pre-schoolers : A comparison of grammatical constructions and psycholinguistic features in apps, books and child directed speech. In: Journal of Child Language. 2023 ; Vol. 50, No. 4. pp. 895-921.

Bibtex

@article{43537fd67f9149278affac4ee28b6911,
title = "Language in educational apps for pre-schoolers: A comparison of grammatical constructions and psycholinguistic features in apps, books and child directed speech",
abstract = "Language in touchscreen apps could be useful as an additional source of children{\textquoteright}s language input, alongside child directed speech (CDS) and books. Here we performed the first analysis of language in apps, as compared with books and CDS. We analysed language in 18 of the most popular educational apps targeting pre-schoolers and compared their language content to children{\textquoteright}s books and CDS with respect to types of constructions and psycholinguistic features of words. We found that apps contained lower frequency words and had lower lexical diversity compared to CDS, and shorter utterances compared to books. Apps may thus provide an enriched supplementary form of input for young children, due to containing less frequent words. However, apps do not expose children to a high proportion of questions and complex sentences, both of which are crucial for supporting child{\textquoteright}s development of structurally rich constructions.",
keywords = "language in touchscreen apps, children{\textquoteright}s books, child-directed speech",
author = "Joanna Kolak and Padraic Monaghan and Gemma Taylor",
year = "2023",
month = jul,
day = "31",
doi = "10.1017/S0305000922000198",
language = "English",
volume = "50",
pages = "895--921",
journal = "Journal of Child Language",
issn = "0305-0009",
publisher = "Cambridge University Press",
number = "4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Language in educational apps for pre-schoolers

T2 - A comparison of grammatical constructions and psycholinguistic features in apps, books and child directed speech

AU - Kolak, Joanna

AU - Monaghan, Padraic

AU - Taylor, Gemma

PY - 2023/7/31

Y1 - 2023/7/31

N2 - Language in touchscreen apps could be useful as an additional source of children’s language input, alongside child directed speech (CDS) and books. Here we performed the first analysis of language in apps, as compared with books and CDS. We analysed language in 18 of the most popular educational apps targeting pre-schoolers and compared their language content to children’s books and CDS with respect to types of constructions and psycholinguistic features of words. We found that apps contained lower frequency words and had lower lexical diversity compared to CDS, and shorter utterances compared to books. Apps may thus provide an enriched supplementary form of input for young children, due to containing less frequent words. However, apps do not expose children to a high proportion of questions and complex sentences, both of which are crucial for supporting child’s development of structurally rich constructions.

AB - Language in touchscreen apps could be useful as an additional source of children’s language input, alongside child directed speech (CDS) and books. Here we performed the first analysis of language in apps, as compared with books and CDS. We analysed language in 18 of the most popular educational apps targeting pre-schoolers and compared their language content to children’s books and CDS with respect to types of constructions and psycholinguistic features of words. We found that apps contained lower frequency words and had lower lexical diversity compared to CDS, and shorter utterances compared to books. Apps may thus provide an enriched supplementary form of input for young children, due to containing less frequent words. However, apps do not expose children to a high proportion of questions and complex sentences, both of which are crucial for supporting child’s development of structurally rich constructions.

KW - language in touchscreen apps

KW - children’s books

KW - child-directed speech

U2 - 10.1017/S0305000922000198

DO - 10.1017/S0305000922000198

M3 - Journal article

VL - 50

SP - 895

EP - 921

JO - Journal of Child Language

JF - Journal of Child Language

SN - 0305-0009

IS - 4

ER -