Language development is one of the many cognitive milestones that infants experience. Even though their language capacities are not fully developed, research supports the hypothesis that children's experiences in the earliest years influence language. Children reared in poverty use shorter and less complex sentences than peers from affluent homes. The richness and variety of language is highly significant and the amount a child is read to and spoken to is critical to future language development (Boyd & Bee, 2006, chap. 4).
Why does it matter that children hear a large quantity of language from their caregivers? Wouldn't watching TV be good enough?