The Effect of Exposure to Short Video Content on the Complexity of Adolescents' Spoken Sentences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64268/jllm.v2i01.14Keywords:
Short Video Exposure, Spoken Sentence Complexity, Adolescents, Psycholinguistics, Digital Media, Language ProductionAbstract
Background:The rapid growth of short-form video platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts has transformed adolescent media consumption patterns. While previous research has primarily examined the effects of short-form video exposure on attention, memory, and academic achievement, research exploring its impact on the structural characteristics of spoken language is limited.
Objective:This study aims to investigate the effect of exposure to short videos on the complexity of adolescents' spoken sentences.
Method:A quantitative explanatory approach with a cross-sectional survey design was used. This study involved 312 Indonesian teenagers aged 15–24 who actively consume short video content. Participants were selected using purposive sampling. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire measuring Short Video Exposure and Spoken Sentence Complexity. The instrument demonstrated satisfactory validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and simple linear regression with IBM SPSS Statistics Version 27.
Results:Findings revealed a significant negative relationship between exposure to short videos and spoken sentence complexity (r = −.467, p < .001). Regression analysis showed that exposure to short videos significantly predicted spoken sentence complexity (β = −.431, t = −8.642, p < .001). The model explained 21.8% of the variance in spoken sentence complexity (R² = .218), indicating that higher exposure to short videos was associated with shorter utterances, reduced syntactic variation, fewer subordinate clauses, and less elaborate idea development.
Conclusion:Exposure to short-duration videos had a significant negative effect on adolescents' spoken sentence complexity. These findings support Information Processing Theory, Cognitive Load Theory, and Language Production Theory, which suggest that intensive exposure to rapidly changing audiovisual content can affect linguistic planning and syntactic organization during speech production. Encouraging balanced digital media consumption and strengthening oral language development activities are recommended to support adolescents' communication skills in the digital age.
References
Agmon, G., Pradhan, S., Ash, S., Nevler, N., Liberman, M., Grossman, M., & Cho, S. (2024). Automated Measures of Syntactic Complexity in Natural Speech Production: Older and Younger Adults as a Case Study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(2), 545–561. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00009
Al-Leimon, O., Pan, W., Jaber, A. R., Al-Leimon, A., Jaber, A. R., Aljahalin, M., & Dardas, L. A. (2025). Reels to Remembrance: Attention Partially Mediates the Relationship Between Short-Form Video Addiction and Memory Function Among Youth. Healthcare (Switzerland), 13(3), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13030252
Alroqi, H., Serratrice, L., & Cameron-Faulkner, T. (2023). The association between screen media quantity, content, and context and language development. Journal of Child Language, 50(5), 1155–1183. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000922000265
Arouch, S., Silva, K. da, Edgcumbe, D., & Pezaro, S. (2025). The Impact of Short-Form Video Use on Cognitive and Mental Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review. MedRxiv, 2025.08.27.25334540. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.27.25334540
Asma, H., & Dallel, S. (2020). Cognitive Load Theory and its Relation to Instructional Design: Perspectives of Some Algerian University Teachers of English. Arab World English Journal, 11(4), 110–127. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol11no4.8
Baxter, K. A., Sachdeva, N., & Baker, S. (2025). The Application of Cognitive Load Theory to the Design of Health and Behavior Change Programs: Principles and Recommendations. Health Education and Behavior, 52(4), 469–477. https://doi.org/10.1177/10901981251327185
Bhargava, H. K. (2023). Infinite Scroll: Addiction by Design in Information Platforms.
Chen, X. (2024). A Psycholinguistic Analysis of Spoken Language Production. Applied & Educational Psychology, 5(1), 33–37. https://doi.org/10.23977/appep.2024.050105
Chiossi, F., Haliburton, L., Ou, C., Butz, A. M., & Schmidt, A. (2023). Short-Form Videos Degrade Our Capacity to Retain Intentions: Effect of Context Switching On Prospective Memory. In Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings (Vol. 1, Issue 1). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580778
Dembe, T. (2024). The Impact of Social Media on Language Evolution. European Journal of Linguistics, 3(3), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.47941/ejl.2049
Ezeizabarrena, M. J., & Fernandez, I. G. (2018). Length of utterance, in morphemes or in words?: MLU3-w, a reliable measure of language development in early basque. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(JAN), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02265
Giglio, L., Hagoort, P., & Ostarek, M. (2024). Neural encoding of semantic structures during sentence production. Cerebral Cortex, 34(12). https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhae482
Gowenlock, A. E., Norbury, C., & Rodd, J. M. (2024). Exposure to Language in Video and its Impact on Linguistic Development in Children Aged 3–11: A Scoping Review. Journal of Cognition, 7(1), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.385
Guo, J., & Chai, R. (2024). Adolescent short video addiction in China: unveiling key growth stages and driving factors behind behavioral patterns. Frontiers in Psychology, 15(December 2023). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1509636
Haliti-Sylaj, T., & Sadiku, A. (2024). Impact of Short Reels on Attention Span and Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10(3), 60–68. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.10306
Head Robert, K. (2025). Short - form Video Use and Sustained Attention : A Narrative. International Journal of Community Empowerment & Society Administration, 2(4), 60–67.
Hu, H., Ehsan Mohd Said, N., & Hashim, H. (2025). Human Ratings and Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency (CAF) Indices: A Correlational Study of a Standardised Monologic English-Speaking Test in China. SAGE Open, 15(2), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251343944
Jindal, M., Sood, S., Singh Brar, A., Chopra, M., & Singh bal, S. (2025). Scrolling minds: how short- form videos shape teenagers’ attention span. International Journal of Marketing and Technology, 15(11), 1–13.
Ku, Y. (2018). Selective attention on representations in working memory: Cognitive and neural mechanisms. PeerJ, 2018(4). https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4585
Lalor, J. P., & Guo, H. (2022). Measuring algorithmic interpretability: A human-learning-based framework and the corresponding cognitive complexity score. 1–42. http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.10207
Levey, K. (2025). Scholar Commons Scholar Commons The Role of Platform Design in Excessive Short Form Video Use The Role of Platform Design in Excessive Short Form Video Use and the Resulting Impacts on Cognitive Processes and the Resulting Impacts on Cognitive Processes. 27–37.
Li, H., Li, J., Hao, X., & Liu, W. (2025). Behavioral and eye-tracking investigation of event segmentation following short video watching. Npj Science of Learning, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00378-3
Liu, E., Han, K., Zhan, M., Zhao, B., Mu, G., & Song, Y. (2026). Relative Advantage Debiasing for Watch-Time Prediction in Short-Video Recommendation. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 40(18), 15296–15305. https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v40i18.38555
Lora, S. K., Purba, S. A., Hossain, B., Oriana, T., Seum, A., & Sharmin, S. (2025). Infinite Scrolling, Finite Satisfaction: Exploring User Behavior and Satisfaction on Social Media in Bangladesh. 1–20. http://arxiv.org/abs/2408.09601
Maghfur, A. ‘Ali, Masruhan, M., & Indah, R. (2020). Language Used in Social Media and Its Impact Toward Teens Language Acquisition. https://doi.org/10.4108/eai.2-10-2018.2295456
Masood, M., Kannan, S., Liu, Z., Vasisht, D., & Gupta, I. (2026). Counting How the Seconds Count: Understanding TikTok Behavior via ML-driven Analysis of Video Content. In Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings (Vol. 1, Issue 1). arXiv. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3790311
Mayer, R. E., & Johnson, C. I. (2008). Revising the Redundancy Principle in Multimedia Learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2), 380–386. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.100.2.380
Model, P., Applications, I., Shebani, A., & Klila, A. (n.d.). From Thought to Speech: A Critical Review of Levelt’s Speech Production Model and Its Applications. 1–23.
Mona, A. E., Roshith, V., Peter, R., Roy, P., Hassan, A., Devika, M., & Trishala, M. (2026). Short video addiction and its impact on cognitive functioning in adolescents and youth: a systematic review. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 31(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2026.2623337
Naik, V. S., Mathias, E. G., Krishnan, P., & Jagannath, V. (2025). Impact of social media on cognitive development of children and young adults: a systematic review. BMC Pediatrics, 25(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-025-06041-5
Nie, M. (2025). Algorithmic Addiction by Design: Big Tech’s Leverage of Dark Patterns to Maintain Market Dominance and its Challenge for Content Moderation. http://arxiv.org/abs/2505.00054
Öğmen, H., & Herzog, M. H. (2016). A new conceptualization of human visual sensory-memory. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(JUN), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00830
Park, S. (2022). Journal Of Language And Linguistic Studies Syntactic complexity in a learner written corpus and L2 speaking quality: Suggestions for distinguishing L2 speaking proficiency. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 18(1), 361–371. https://doi.org/10.52462/jlls.187
Rathore, D. G. S. (2024). Cognitive Load and Syntactic Complexity: A Cross-Linguistic Analysis of Sentence Processing. International Journal Online of Humanities, 10(3), 45–50. https://doi.org/10.24113/ijohmn.v10i3.354
Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27(4), 763–797. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.27.4.763
Salazar-Rosas, A. G., Sandoval-Palomares, J., & López-Salazar, C. H. (2023). TikTok as a learning strategy for English language proficiency in higher education. ECORFAN Journal Colombia, 9(17), 24–35. https://doi.org/10.35429/EJC.2023.17.9.24.35
Salles, J. (2025). Affect and prediction in short-video social media recommendation algorithm: TikTok and the missing half-second. New Media and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251385086
Sanetullaev, A. (2026). A pedagogical MKS-based electromagnetic unit convention with ε 0 = μ 0 = 1 / c . European Journal of Physics, 47(3), 035206. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6404/ae703e
Shadloo, F., Ahmadi, H. S., & Ghonsooly, B. (2019). Exploring syntactic complexity and its relationship with writing quality in EFL argumentative essays. Topics in Linguistics, 20(1), 68–81. https://doi.org/10.2478/topling-2019-0005
Siddique, S., Khan, W. M., & Farooq, M. U. (2025). Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Youth Linguistic Behavior and Identity Formation. International Premier Journal of Languages & Literature (Ipjll), 3(3), 2025.
Siregar, P. Y., Heridayani, H., Siregar, N. S., Wariyati, W., & Ani, F. (2025). EFL Learners’ Experiences in Using Tiktok to Enhance Pronunciation and Speaking Fluency. Edu Society: Jurnal Pendidikan, Ilmu Sosial Dan Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat, 5(3), 280–292. https://doi.org/10.56832/edu.v5i3.1823
Sulistiani, T., Syahid, A., & Qamariah, Z. (2025). The Effect of TikTok on English Pronunciation of EFL Secondary School Learners. Journal of English Language and Education, 10(2), 602–613. https://doi.org/10.31004/jele.v10i2.826
Swaller, john. (1988). Cognitive Load, as Defined by John Sweller John Sweller’s (1988) article,.
Tabatabaee, S. S., Jambarsang, S., & Keshmiri, F. (2024). Cognitive load theory in workplace-based learning from the viewpoint of nursing students: application of a path analysis. BMC Medical Education, 24(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05664-z
Toth, C., Osser, B., Osser, G., Bondar, L. I., Fazakas, R., Pascalau, N. A., Suciu, R. N., Toderescu, C. D., & Dogaru, B. G. (2026). Screen Time, Digital Content Quality, and Parental Mediation as Predictors of Linguistic and Pragmatic Development: Implications for Pediatric and Preventive Health. Children, 13(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.3390/children13010157
Vercellotti, M. Lou. (2019). Finding variation: assessing the development of syntactic complexity in ESL Speech. International Journal of Applied Linguistics (United Kingdom), 29(2), 233–247. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12225
W, N. S. (2017). Cognitive load theory: Research that teachers really need to understand. Centre for Education Stratistics and Evaluation, August.
Wang, Q., Guo, Y., Lan, Z., & Liu, H. (2025). The fog of short videos among adolescents: the interwoven influence of family environment, psychological capital, and self-control. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-04292-8
Wang, Y., & Buschmeier, H. (2024). Revisiting the Phenomenon of Syntactic Complexity Convergence on German Dialogue Data. 20th Conference on Natural Language Processing, KONVENS 2024 - Proceedings of the Conference, 75–80.
Weirick, J. D., & Lee, J. (2024). Syntactic flexibility and lexical encoding in aging sentence production: an eye tracking study. Frontiers in Psychology, 15(August), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1304517
Xu, P. (2023). Reconsidering the syntactic complexity measures on L2 spoken English: A multi-dimensional perspective. Heliyon, 9(6), e16856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16856
Xu, Z., Liu, X., Chen, J., & Zhang, Y. (2024). Neural Correlates of Short-Video Application Addiction and Adolescents’ Executive Functions. Proceedings of International Conference of the Learning Sciences, ICLS , 147–153. https://doi.org/10.22318/icls2024.131890
Yan, Y., He, Y., & Li, L. (2023). Why time flies? The role of immersion in short video usage behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 14(April), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1127210
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Erfha Nurrahmawati, Eca Gesang Mentari
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
