Journal of Communication Disorders, Deaf Studies & Hearing Aids
Open Access

Abstract

The Influence of Technology and Social Media in Vocabulary Knowledge on Preschool Children: A Survey

Hala Jarrar*, Deema Ghawanmeh, Hadeel Mansour, Sabrine Abdullah, Fatima Yassin, Raneen Nada and Saja Yassin

Summary: There are many types of different means of social media and most of the information is obtained through these means, and it has become an essential tool even in schools for educating children or in receiving information. It is used for all age groups and for different purposes and is used in almost all homes. Whether for education, for entertainment or for receiving some services. The aim of this study is to study how social media affects vocabulary development and language semantic in preschool children and how the Internet and social media are changing language in preschool children.

Methods: In this study, a questionnaire was distributed in hard copy and in online form, and it was distributed in several cities to 159 parents of children. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire that was made by the researcher based on previous literature, and it included two main parts. The first part included questions about children and parents’ demographic data. The second part included multiple-choice and open-ended questions about parents’ and children habits of technology devices and social media platform use.

Results: This questionnaire was designed for preschool children from two to five years old. More than one-third of households have two to three electronic devices, while the rest have just one device. Furthermore, almost half of children spend one hour or less every day on electronic devices, while few spend more than 5 hours. The majority of them use mobile phones to watch YouTube as a social media platform more than other apps, which have negative as well as positive effect include being distracted, anxious, using other language phrases on other side included learning new terms from the mother tongue. The findings show that children who use their own device have a much higher language level than children who use another family member's electronic device. There is also a strong negative link between a child's number of siblings and language level.

Conclusion: The increased use of social media and easier access of children to electronic devices need attention because of the relationship between them and the developmental aspects of preschool children. Decrease in the number of siblings and using own device were associated with higher language level.

Published Date: 2023-09-22; Received Date: 2023-08-21