Smartphone-savvy kids today not so word-savvy

Experts say that using computers, tablets and smartphones can stunt children's linguistic development.

Our brains function in a way that we learn a new language by hearing others speak, according to a report by the Daily Mail. When conversations among parents and teachers are replaced with visuals from tablets and computers, kids lose the opportunity to hear a wide range of words.

The traditional method of learning by hearing is slowly eroding as adults and children both spend more time staring at the screen.

"We have less time to talk to each other and our children are taught through devices," said Marco Catani of the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.

"They have access to the Internet, iPhones, mobile phones and tablet computers. These are visual rather than auditory, so it is likely that they will end up with a lower average number of words than previous generations," she added.

In a study led by Dr. Catani, brain scans of 27 volunteers, who were asked to learn made-up words, showed verbal imitation is key to learning a language.

Arcuate fasciculus, a bundle of nerve fibers, connects the part of the brain that hears and deciphers sounds and the part that controls the movement of the mouth. Research showed volunteers with a stronger arcuate fasciculus were more adept at learning the made-up words.

“When you learn a new word, you start by hearing a sound, then you try to repeat it until you get it right. Through this you increase your vocabulary from age one until you get to 30,000 words as an adult,” Dr. Catani said.

The study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).