Children's Understanding of English Television Programmes in EFL Contexts

This study explores how Korean children aged 4 to 6 construct the understanding of English televised narratives in a foreign language context. Based on sociocultural theory, which assumes children as active meaning makers and language learners in social processes, this study focuses on the social nature of children’s engagements which shows how their social and cultural resources are adapted in making sense of the world presented in media.
6 Korean preschool children participated in this study. From visiting each child’s home, the children watched English television progarmmes in a similar way of his or her home viewing experiences, retold the stories viewed, and drew a picture. Through looking at the children’s engagement with the television programmes, what meanings they constructed, how they interpreted the world where English narratives are presented, and how they constructed their understanding of English narratives were explored.
Data illuminated the ways children drew on their linguistic, social, and cultural resources moving meaningfully across contexts. The participant children were able to build on their own internal knowledge through social interactions. The children’s narrative-related experiences in early years allowed them to make sense of the characteristics of narratives, to develop their social and linguistic knowledge, and to bring with them their understandings and knowledge in different contexts.
The findings of this study thus suggest that children’s experiences of various types of narratives are meaningful to them. It was also indicated that English learning might take place through interacting with the world where English is used without direct instruction. The children were able to formulate their own hypotheses in the light of their prior knowledge and experiences. The process of hypothesis formation leading to their understanding of the narratives in English may enhance their narrative and language learning. This might indicate the possibilities that if children build on their understanding and knowledge of narratives regardless of the language, they might be able to adapt them in foreign language contexts.