Dora The Explorer is a children's educational program that follows a young Hispanic girl and her monkey friend Boots as they go on different adventures and overcome many obstacles. I believe this program is targeted to slightly older toddlers/children as there is some amount of cognitive and social skills required for the viewer to participate with the program. Compared to other educational programs, say like Sesame Street, where the show acts as a method of teaching children the idea of numbers, letters, shapes, and using repetition to reinforce said ideas; Dora The Explorer requires kids to use that knowledge and apply it in various situations to help Dora get to her destination. A study conducted by, Kokla, Natassa. (2016). Dora the Explorer: A TV character or a preschoolers' foreign language teacher? "suggests that older children viewing the programme are better in vocabulary acquisition and retention than younger ones." However the study also finds that the vocabulary used is two thirds of the time considered inappropriate for its viewers.
A big part of the format of the show is audience participation. Dora is meant for children who are ready to begin their educational career in a classroom. A common phrase Dora asks the viewers is, "Can you find the ____?" This requires them to have an understanding of the blank and to apply that to identify it on screen. The way Dora asks questions echoes the way children will be taught in school and how their teachers will ask them questions. On top of all this cognitive development, Dora The Explorer also introduces children to the Spanish language and spatial skills with the help of our friend, The Map. A study conducted by Duriye Esra Angın (2017) The Effects of Dora the Explorer on Preschool Children's Spatial Concept Acquisition and Spatial Ability, suggested that between an experimental and control group, "preschool children are able to improve their spatial abilities and spatial concept acquisitions when appropriate educational conditions are provided for them" Overall there are many concepts taught by Dora, although some of them may be to advanced for children just starting out to learn, it can also be helpful to bridge the gap for bilingual Latinx children to learn Spanish aand English.
A big part of the format of the show is audience participation. Dora is meant for children who are ready to begin their educational career in a classroom. A common phrase Dora asks the viewers is, "Can you find the ____?" This requires them to have an understanding of the blank and to apply that to identify it on screen. The way Dora asks questions echoes the way children will be taught in school and how their teachers will ask them questions. On top of all this cognitive development, Dora The Explorer also introduces children to the Spanish language and spatial skills with the help of our friend, The Map. A study conducted by Duriye Esra Angın (2017) The Effects of Dora the Explorer on Preschool Children's Spatial Concept Acquisition and Spatial Ability, suggested that between an experimental and control group, "preschool children are able to improve their spatial abilities and spatial concept acquisitions when appropriate educational conditions are provided for them" Overall there are many concepts taught by Dora, although some of them may be to advanced for children just starting out to learn, it can also be helpful to bridge the gap for bilingual Latinx children to learn Spanish aand English.