Gender differences in the quantity of caregiver word use- A cross-sectional study using the LENA system

Abstract

Children's early language exposure plays an essential role in shaping their linguistic development. Because most young children are taken care of by their family members in this important time period, their caregivers are the key contributors of talk to which the young children are exposed to. The objective of this study was to investigate caregiver gender differences in word count use per day (number of adult words), in a sample consisting of Norwegian children (N=17) with hearing impairment (HI) (n=8) and normal hearing (NH) (n=9), aged 18-56 months. The current study had a cross-sectional, descriptive study design. One all-day recording with the LENA technology was conducted to measure adult words in the home environment (Md length: 12.46 hours, 9.13-16 hours). Female caregivers used a significantly higher amount of words than male caregivers close to the children, regardless of their hearing status, HI: p=.01, NH: p=.01. All children in the present study were exposed to a higher number of words from female caregivers. However, there is a need to conduct more and further research and investigate not only the quantity of word use but also the possible differences and/or similarities in the qualitative interaction patterns between caregivers of different sexes and young children.