Acclaimed author Philip Pullman urged parents to get off their mobile phones and speak to their young children to boost their vocabulary. He believes that families should help improve the language skills of children through conversation, games and nursery rhymes. He urged parents to not exclude children from conversations and to keep engaging them regardless of whether they understand everything that is being said.
The celebrated author’s comments come after a study found that nearly half of five and six-year-olds are at risk of underperforming because they have a limited vocabulary. In a bid to close the widening word gap, the UK government has announced that it would give parents advice on how to sing nursery rhymes and teach the alphabet to children before they start school.
Undoubtedly, physical and social interaction is always better when it comes to learning. No matter how advanced technology is, it can never replace the human touch. In fact, interacting with children not only builds their language literacy and vocabulary skills, but also enhances their psychological development. Thus, I concur with Mr. Pullman’s views that we adults have to avoid falling into the trap of overusing our phones in favour of interacting with our young ones.
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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/parents-phones-vocabulary-author-philip-pullman-language-skills-word-gap-a8433196.html