Children Need Human Interaction for Optimal Language Development: Kids’ Candor Makes It Easier

See all articles

Language development begins at birth. Although tiny babies are not speaking yet, they are learning a lot about communication by listening and interacting with others. They need human interaction for optimal language development. This is also true for learning more than one language.

“Can’t I just give him a few apps and tv shows to learn another language?” a friend asked me. The answer is no. Online games, Smartphone apps, YouTube clips, tv shows, and DVDs at a certain age are helpful tools, and there are many convenient and accessible options. But these are supplemental sources, not primary, and we cannot solely rely on them.

Human interaction is crucial to children’s language development. Research shows that the interactions of children, caregivers, and the environment influence the rate and quality of language, speech, and communication development. This influence is believed to be more sensitive to caregiving practices than any other sensorimotor skill (1). When considering all the sensorimotor skills and the rate of development in the early years of life, this is profound. In developmental science, these continuous dynamic interactions of children, caregivers, and the environment is referred to as the transactional model. Broadly speaking, everything is affected by something else and affects something else. It is bidirectional and reciprocal in that we are impacted by the interplay of nature and nurture within our own contexts (2).

 

With respect to bilingualism, all three components of the transactional model are necessary. The combination of secure, affectionate relationships and a stimulating environment that provides ample interaction opportunities motivates children to communicate and provides feedback (3; 4). The attachment and bonding between children and their parents and caregivers plays a role in supporting bilingualism and its cognitive and social benefits. Infants with strong attachment are more eager to produce sounds and syllables and the same is seen with toddlers producing words, phrases, and short sentences (5). The social interaction of a live human reinforces cues that attract attention, motivation, and referential information such as one’s gaze and facial expressions. These opportunities are needed as children learn most effectively through rich experiences in talking, listening, engaging in two-way conversations, and playing with adults and other children (4). When children engage in language-rich activities with their parents and caregivers, it promotes a positive attitude towards languages, helps children internalize the language, builds self-confidence as a bilingual speaker, and promotes communicative and academic linguistic proficiency (3).

Although aspects of language can be heard through television and other screen and audio sources of edutainment, infants can only acquire reciprocal language with responsive sources that are saturated with affect. Young children need more than raw auditory sensory information to learn the phonetics of a language (6). Removing the parents and caregivers from the transactional model impacts the child’s bilingual development and the environment. Furthermore, one-way digital sources of content, without human interaction, have been found to have negligible effects on infants’ language development (1). If you plan to use these sources, then make an extra effort to interact with your child during these times with the understanding that dinner doesn’t make itself and sometimes these sources can be supplemental. We would not expect our children to learn their native languages primarily through apps, clips, and tv shows, and we cannot expect the same for additional languages.

The creators of Kids’ Candor, a new bilingual early child development program for parents to use at home, recognize the importance of human interaction on children’s language development. Kids’ Candor makes it easier for parents to raise their children bilingual since birth. Its curriculum encompasses games, original music, educational activity materials, toys, and easy-to-use guide cards in monthly kits called “educational modules.” Every month, parents receive everything they need for their child’s optimal bilingual early development. The materials and activities are all in one place, which saves parents time and effort on researching how to create an engaging environment for their children. Offering 5 stages to choose from, each kit is specifically crafted for the child’s age and development stage starting from birth until preschool. All the materials are bilingual (Spanish and English), and the users don’t have to know both languages to use it.

 

In a recent pilot test of its educational modules, parents responded extremely positively. A parent of two children shared, “I really enjoyed doing the activities with my children. It was also a learning experience for me as well as for them. To be able to teach them Spanish in a fun way was amazing because usually it is not easy to come up with creative ways to do so. Kids' Candor helped achieve all this.”

 

Kids’ Candor launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for the month of July and expects to launch by the end of summer 2015. You can join Kids’ Candor by supporting the Kickstarter here.

 

For more information on Kids’ Candor, see www.KidsCandor.com.

 

To receive updates, news, free music, tools and much more: sign up for our mailing list, like us on Facebook, subscribe to our YouTube channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.


  1. Augustyn, Marilyn, Deborah A. Frank, and Barry S. Zuckerman. “Infancy and Toddler Years.” Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics. 4th ed. Ed. William B. Carey. Saunders, 2009. 24-38. Print.
  2. Sameroff, Arnold (Ed). “The Transactional Model of Development: How Children and Contexts Shape Each Other.” Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association, xiv. 2009. 3-21. 
  3. Buckley, Belinda. “Children’s Communication Skills: From Birth to Five Years.” London: Routledge, 2003. Print.
  4.  Brock, Avril. “Let’s Get Talking: Communication, Language, and Literacy in the Early Years.” Chapter 6, World Class Initiatives and Practices in Early Education: Moving Forward in a Global Age. Educating the Young Child, Vol. 9. Ed. Louise Boyle Swiniarski. Springer Netherlands, 2014. 81-100. Print.
  5. Jaramillo, James and Olga Jaramillo. “Six Differentiated Strategies for ESL Literacy for Birth to Third Grade Developmentally Disabled and Normal Students of Hispanic Heritage,” Eric. 29 Jan. 2013. PDF. 20 Jan. 2015. <http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED539139.pdf>.  
  6.  Kuhl, Patricia K., Feng-Ming Tsao and, Huei-Mei Liu. “Foreign-Language Experience in Infancy: Effects of Short-Term Exposure and Social Interaction on Phonetic Learning,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 100.15 (2003): 9096-9101.

 


Jessica Carley Badolato
Jessica Carley Badolato

Author



13 Responses

https://www.gamja888.com/ - 바카라 잘하는방법
https://www.gamja888.com/ - 바카라 잘하는방법

March 02, 2023

온라인카지노
카지노사이트
카지노게임사이트
바카라사이트
퀸즈슬롯
맥스카지노
비바카지노
카지노주소
바카라추천
온라인바카라
밀리언클럽카지노
안전카지노사이트
바카라사이트추천
우리카지노계열
슬롯머신777
로얄카지노사이트
크레이지슬롯
온라인블랙잭
인터넷룰렛
카지노검증사이트
안전바카라사이트
모바일바카라
바카라 필승법
메리트카지노
바카라 노하우

온라인카지노
카지노사이트
카지노게임사이트
바카라사이트
퀸즈슬롯
맥스카지노
비바카지노
카지노주소
바카라추천
온라인바카라
밀리언클럽카지노
안전카지노사이트
바카라사이트추천
우리카지노계열
슬롯머신777
로얄카지노사이트
크레이지슬롯
온라인블랙잭
인터넷룰렛
카지노검증사이트
안전바카라사이트
모바일바카라
바카라 필승법
메리트카지노
바카라 노하우

https://youube.me/
https://instagrme.com/
https://youubbe.me/
https://Instagrm.me/
https://Instagrme.net/
https://instagrme.site/
https://instagrme.live/
https://naverom.me/
http://facebookom.me/

Unlorie
Unlorie

May 01, 2021

comprar cialis online

Unlorie
Unlorie

March 28, 2021

http://vskamagrav.com/ – kamagra gold 100mg review

vgllrjwzea
vgllrjwzea

March 14, 2021

Muchas gracias. ?Como puedo iniciar sesion?

udezaxoqo
udezaxoqo

February 06, 2021

http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/ – Buy Amoxicillin Amoxicillin 500mg wsa.ypif.kidscandor.com.zjs.dy http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/

rasiifivedef
rasiifivedef

February 06, 2021

http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/ – Amoxicillin 500mg Dosage Buy Amoxicillin izi.rxtc.kidscandor.com.kev.tt http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/

ofukueviuj
ofukueviuj

February 02, 2021

http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/ – Amoxicillin 500mg Capsules Buy Amoxil Online fjq.vykr.kidscandor.com.duo.gp http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/

ixovwex
ixovwex

February 02, 2021

http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/ – Buy Amoxil Amoxicillin 500 Mg Dosage uux.amdw.kidscandor.com.jda.yu http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/

uumobacam
uumobacam

February 02, 2021

http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/ – 18 Amoxicillin On Line ulu.wwvs.kidscandor.com.yvo.em http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/

ewamzup
ewamzup

February 02, 2021

http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/ – Amoxicillin Online Amoxicillin 500 Mg udl.cwzd.kidscandor.com.nky.yq http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/

ufagoduti
ufagoduti

January 28, 2021

http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/ – Amoxicillin 500 Mg Buy Amoxicillin Online Without Prescription drn.ttdq.kidscandor.com.xsr.hu http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/

ebbaiyabijev
ebbaiyabijev

January 28, 2021

http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/ – Buy Amoxicillin Online Amoxicillin Online zdg.ubap.kidscandor.com.pmq.ku http://mewkid.net/when-is-xuxlya3/

Unlorie
Unlorie

December 12, 2020

Indian Pharmacy Online Mastercard damadjussy purchase cialis Kizbailarl Zithromax Asthma

Leave a comment