The Benefits of Media and Entertainment in Creating Low-Anxiety Learning Environments for Early Language Acquisition:
A Systematic Review
Abstract
The cognitive development period is at its zenith during one’s early childhood, especially in language acquisition. This study aims to inspect the direct benefits of media and entertainment exposure on second language acquisition among young learners by employing Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis (1982). It investigates the notion that media and entertainment used in instructions and low-anxiety activities may lead to better language acquisition of multidisciplinary than that of the traditional counterparts. A literature review of recent publications was conducted to document and attest the Affective Filter hypothesis. The findings show that there are major benefits of the employment of entertainment for informal learning activities in terms of better vocabulary, polished pronunciation, improved sentence structure and comprehension. This emphasises the importance of the use of entertainment as one of the major fundamentals to build the foundation of English proficiency (function over form) among young learners in preparation for the future years of schooling. This research encourages further investigations into the other factors in a holistic manner in influencing early language acquisition trajectories among young children.
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