Children learn to talk as they participate in the usual, everyday communication that they experience during their initial years. The extent of their learning depends on their exposure to language knowledge and skills. In order to comprehend and communicate effectively, development of strong verbal skills is vital, right from the birth of children. Research has proven the role of audio- visual books in this regard. The ease of using audio- visual books contributes to its success in developing verbal skills in children.
Reading a book with concentration can be a difficult journey for some children. Inability to read big, long texts could potentially affect their interest in learning a language. Audio-Visual books help children to understand complex language. Through pictures and music, children are able to grasp information better. Audio-visual books attract children towards stories, texts and content and boost their interest in understanding language, thus fostering their verbal skills.
Effective verbal or spoken communication depends on your ability to listen to what others have to convey or communicate to you. Active listening is an important skill and should be instilled in children right from a young age. In order to interact with others, expressing thoughts, sharing information and proper understanding of context is important. Audio-Visual books are very engaging and spark the imagination of children. These books help children understand what others are trying to say, build a context and communicate better themselves. Children love listening to these stories and thus develop the ability to listen critically and carefully.
Visual images stick in the long- term memory of children. They are able to pay more attention and understand better through images rather than textual form. Visuals transmit the message faster to children and help them comprehend information so that they can put their thoughts into words clearly. Children are able to find patterns and relationships through visualization techniques and thus it helps to increase their retention ability.
Listening to Audio-Visual books carefully helps children to learn enunciation and punctuation effectively. By listening to well written and enunciated audio-visual stories, children pick up on correct diction, pace and pronunciation. This not only helps them to capture the essence of information effortlessly, but also share it with others effectively. Audio-visual books help children to understand unusual dialects, accents and pronunciations. These books help in improving children’s vocabulary, reading and speaking skills.
Audio – visual books are an interesting and fascinating medium for children as they give pure entertainment as well as a great learning experience to them. Children enjoy hearing and watching different narrator’s stories, accompanied with sound effects. Audio-visual books associate how words sound with how they appear on a page and help children to correlate the meaning of words, which increases their understanding. Audio- Visual books are easily accessible, portable and can be listened to over- and- over again. When children show reluctance towards hard book covers, audio-visual books act as the perfect tool to attract children through their stories, pictures and music, providing a pleasurable reading and learning experience.
