PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN PAY ATTENTION TO THEIR ADDRESSEES - EFFECTS OF GENDER COMPOSITION ON PEER DISPUTES

The aim of this study was to examine whether preschool children take t he gender of the addressee into account when disputing during peer exc hanges. There are mixed findings on whether young children take their listeners into account (termed audience design); very little is known about whether the gender of the addressee is an influential variable o n children's use of language, particularly during disputes. It was hyp othesized that pre school children would alter their language use in m ixed-sex groups more than in same-sex groups, based on findings that s how gender-typed behavior to be more predominant in same-sex than mixe d-sex interactions. Preschool-age children were videorecorded during s eminaturalistic peer group triadic sessions in which children played w ith small toys at a table. Children's disputes (n = 195) were coded fo r their discourse content and structure. The results showed that both boys and girls modified their language use in mixed-sex groups. Boys u sed fewer commands when more girls were present, and girls used more c ontradictions in mixed-sex than same-sex groups. These and other resul ts are discussed in terms of how they contribute to the literature on children's language use and the role of gender.