by Chethana Gunarathne
Children's language development and socialization begin at home with the parents and it is always good to know the effective ways in which the parents can help the child in those aspects. With the advancement of technology, there are many platforms that provide children with opportunities for developing language. One such channel is the YouTube channel of ‘Peppa Pig’ .
'Peppa Pig' began as a British preschool animated television series and it is now available on Youtube as a channel, has its series on DVDs and also has Peppa Pig related games apps and toys.
Peppa Pig official YouTube Channel: Peppa Pig - Official Channel - YouTube
Can be used in any device that has access to YouTube.
The stories in the show revolve around a female piglet Peppa and her family members: George (Peppa’s little brother), Mommy Pig, Daddy Pig and Peppa's friends. The plot of each story is based within the context of family and friends of Peppa and the use of soft music, voice overs of little kids for the child characters in the story and the funny giggling sound throughout the show make it very enjoyable and succeeds in retaining the attention of the kids.
Here is why Peppa Pig is a show that strengthens children's language development. The techniques used in the show, like repetition of lexical chunks within an episode, help children get used to the words and the context in which they should be used. Such lexical chunks in the show include, ‘thank you’, ‘I am fine’, ‘Bye -bye’, ‘Don’t worry’, ‘night night’ and ‘well done’. When talking about child language development, ‘behaviorism’ which simply means that all behaviors are acquired through interaction with the environment, comes into play. It plays a significant role in this show as it creates an environment that helps kids’ language development through repetitive content, that makes them imitate the words used by the characters in the show and form certain habits in relation to the words. Things that happen between family members, like Grandpa Pig and Granny Pig and friends like Suzy Sheep, Wendy Wolf, and so on, help the kids understand the manner in which children are expected to behave in certain contexts with their family members and friends. The show highlights the importance of good behavior through the character of Peppa Pig, like going to sleep at night after bedtime stories, that night time is not for play and also shows how they should take care of their younger sisters and brothers. The use of Baby Talk in the show also makes it appealing to the kids and overall, the childishness kept throughout its plot makes them get attached to it.
However, the instances where the character of Peppa Pig sometimes acts meanly towards her little brother or does not listen to her parents or George Pig crying over everything, might give the kids some mistaken ideas, although by adding instances like such to the show the producers are only trying to create a realistic picture of a domestic environment with little kids in it. Also, certain mischievous actions done by the little animals in the show could result in kids imitating them just like they imitate the words used by the characters. The use of Baby Talk in the show can also result in negative effects within environments where Baby Talk is not encouraged by the parents. The giggling of the pigs and the ‘oink’ sound made by them could result in children imitating them and creating a noisy atmosphere within the household. Although the show keeps the kids engaged with it, too much screen time might be harmful for kids. Therefore it is the responsibility of the parents to be mindful of that.
The Overall :
Taking into consideration the good and the bad of the show, it can be concluded that Peppa Pig is a good platform which promotes child language development and socialization, however, it is in the hands of the parents to decide what is best for their kids.