Now Offering Accurate and Affordable AI-powered Captioning & Transcription

The statistics are astounding: 42 million American adults are illiterate and 50 million are unable to read higher than a 4th-grade reading level. Studies show that frequent reading improves reading proficiency, although sadly, according to the “Washington Post,” only one in four Americans actually read a book in the past year. Instead of reading books, the average child in America watches 20 hours of TV each week. How do we remedy this ongoing problem? What if watching television could actually improve literacy?

According to studies conducted in Finland, it can! Children in Finland watch as much TV as Americans and even attend school less. Yet, they rank higher in educational achievement and literacy. Jim Trelease states in “The Read-Aloud Handbook” that Finland’s high test scores are due to their use of closed captions.  Children in Finland want to watch American sitcoms but are only able to understand them by watching the Finnish words at the bottom of the screen. Therefore, they must read to watch!

Victoria Winterhalter Brame conducted her own study after reading Trealease’s book. In her article “TV that Teaches: Using Closed Captions,” she writes about introducing her daughter to closed captioning at a young age and that once her daughter started Kindergarten, she began to recognize her vocabulary words on the screen while watching television.

Perhaps there is a simple solution to this nationwide problem of illiteracy and reading deficiency: turn on the closed- captions!

It is estimated that over 1 billion people in the world are learning to speak English! English is now the most widely spoken language in the world. With adults and children across the world needing accessible ways of learning English, what better way to assist this population than with captioning?

English is a second language for 30 million people living in the United States. Studies show that Limited English Proficient (LEP) students represent nearly 10% of public school enrollment. ESL Adult Education courses are rapidly growing—it is estimated that nearly 25% of Adult Education courses are ESL. 

Additionally, literacy still remains a problem in the United States. The National Center for Education Statistics showed that over 40 million adults in the United States have limited reading and writing skills.

Captioning becomes the perfect solution for increasing English language and literacy in this country. Television is a huge part of American culture. 99% of homes in the United States contain at least one television! Children on average spend nearly 30 hours a week watching television. Studies have shown that children who watch captioned programs can increase fluency, comprehension, and language development. With this in mind, captioning of television programs becomes a readily accessible way to improve English language and literacy amongst the population.