Philippine E-Journals

Television: Its Effects and Implications to Children’s Learning: An Argumentative Essay

Sally M. Lopez

Discipline: Media

 

Abstract:

 

The first category involved hypotheses that show negative effects on development in school, particularly reading, which was named as “Inhibition Hypotheses”. Under this category are Displacement hypothesis (TV viewing displaces reading time), Passivity hypothesis (low level of mental effort children usually invest in watching TV may lead to reduced effort when learning to read or write), Concentration Deterioration hypothesis (the fast pace and rapid context changes in TV programs may negatively affect children’s ability to concentrate on a given task) and Reading Depreciation hypothesis (children’s pleasant experiences with TV will reduce their motivation to invest energy in school contexts).   On the other hand, the second category showed the benefits of TV viewing particularly facilitating children’s reading development. The two hypotheses under the second category are called “Facilitation Hypothesis”. These hypotheses are Book-Reading Promotion hypothesis (children may want to read books about TV programs that they enjoyed watching) and On-screen Reading hypothesis (children’s reading skills, in particular reading speed, improve as a result of reading subtitles in TV programs).