Incidental Video-Based Foreign Language Learning in Young Children: A Pilot Study in Home Settings

In the present pilot study, we explore in how far a self-developed video-based app could lead to incidental foreign language learning in young children with a migration background. Four children (3-7 years old; 2 boys, 2 girls) participated in the study together with their parents. Pre- and post-intervention language skills tests were used to quantify their language proficiencies; interviews with the children and their parents were used to get a grasp of how engaging the learning app was for the children and in how far the children transferred what they heard in the videos to everyday life situations. Results suggest that the use of the app did lead to increases in language skills and that it was engaging and extended beyond the concrete exposure phase. Incidental foreign language learning using mobile video apps should be further explored as a promising tool to prepare minority children for formal language learning.