Child language with mother and with stranger at home and in the laboratory: a methodological study

Abstract

This methodological study in 33 two-year-olds shows that child speech (total utterances, word roots, MLU) occurs at about the same level in different settings (the familiar home vs. the unfamiliar laboratory), but that children speak more and in more differentiated ways with different people (mother vs. stranger). Child speech also shows significant short- term stability. Girls use more different word roots and speak in longer utterances than do boys. In spontaneous child speech, cross-context generalizations appear warranted, but they also depend on conversational partner and gender of child.

Evidence from the Wider Use of the BSL Receptive Skills Test

“…This finding is in line with previous research which has repeatedly shown girls to outperform boys on verbal measures (Bornstein, Haynes, Painter and Genevro, 2000).…”

Gender Differences in Children’s Arithmetic Performance Are Accounted for by Gender Differences in Language Abilities

“…Bornstein et al, 2000;Burman et al, 2008;Hyde & Linn, 1988;Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974). The current study shows that such advantages lead to girls' superior performance in arithmetic, because of the important role verbal processing plays in arithmetic performance.…”

“…Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) remarked that "female superiority on verbal tasks has been one of the more solidly established generalizations in the field of sex differences" (p. 75). Compared with boys, girls experience an earlier onset of verbal ability and faster vocabulary acquisition, have better reading skills, use more word roots, and speak in longer utterances (Bornstein, Haynes, Painter, & Genevro, 2000;Roulstone, Loader, Northstone, & Beveridge, 2002), and girls' advantage in reading skills appears to be consistent throughout the highschool years (Mann, Sasanuma, Sakuma, & Masaki, 1990). The risk of language disorders also varies by gender.…”

Longitudinal Effects on Early Adolescent Language: A Twin Study

“…Hengst, 2015), and prior literature has documented the impact of factors such as attention, motivation, compliance, frustration tolerance, persistence, anxiety, and cultural background on test-taking performance (Allan, 1992;Dreisbach & Keogh, 1982;Erickson, 1972;Fleege, Charlesworth, Burts, & Hart, 1992;Peña, Iglesias, & Lidz, 2001;Speltz, DeKlyen, Calderon, Greenberg, & Fisher, 1999). Productive measures such as MLU, NTW, and NDW have similarly been noted to differ depending on such factors as motivation, genre, modality, place, and partner (e.g., Bornstein, Haynes, Painter, & Genevro, 2000;Fields & Ashmore, 1980;Nippold, 2009Nippold, , 2014Scott & Windsor, 2000).…”