Table 1.
Overview of current literature on gender differences in children’s language input. This sample of studies shows the inconsistencies in study methods and findings across the literature.
Paper | Age (mos) | Language | N | Caretaker | Language Sampling Method | Dependent Variable | Results |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Johnson, et al., 2014 | 0–7 | English | 33 | both parents concurrently | automated language analyses of 16-hr audio recordings | responsiveness | girls > boys |
Cherry & Lewis, 1976 | 24 | English | 12 | mothers | transcriptions of 15-min in-lab video recordings | utterances, questions, repetition, and utterance length | girls > boys |
Clearfield & Nelson, 2006 | 6–14 | English | 36 | mothers | transcriptions of 10-min in-lab video recordings | engagement, interpretations and conversation | girls > boys |
Huttenlocher, et al., 1991 | 14–26 | English | 22 | mothers | transcriptions of 3-to-5-hr audio and video recordings | tokens | girls = boys |
Pinar, Ozturk, Ketrez, & Ozcaliskan, 2021 | 10–40 | Turkish | 97 | various | transcriptions of 12-min in-lab video recordings | tokens, types, utterance length | girls = boys |
Laflamme, 2002 | 15 | French | 85 | both parents separately | coding of in-lab video recordings | vocalizations | girls = boys |
Clearfield & Nelson, 2006 | 6–14 | English | 36 | mothers | transcriptions of 10-min in-lab video recordings | comments, attentionals, and instructions | girls < boys |
Weitzman, Birns, & Friend, 1985 | 30–42 | English | 40 | mothers | transcription of at-home audio recordings (semi-structured tasks) | questions, teaching, action verbs | girls < boys |
Laflamme, 2002 | 9 | French | 87 | both parents separately | coding of in-lab video recordings | vocalizations | girls < boys |