When do gender differences start to emerge in children’s speech?

Across Acoustics

Even though the vocal tract is the same regardless of a child’s sex before puberty, researchers have found time and again that adults can perceive gender differences in speech as early as four years of age. In this episode, we talk to Priscilla Fung, lead author of “The development of gendered speech in children: Insights from adult L1 and L2 perceptions,” which appeared in the January 2021 issue of JASA Express Letters. We talk about how her team’s research about gendered speech shows that gender differences may be apparent even earlier than previously studied, how acoustic measures play into those differences, and the role the first language of the child and the listener will affect those perceptions.

Associated paper:

Priscilla Fung, Jessamyn Schertz, and Elizabeth K. Johnson. “The development of gendered speech in children: Insights from adult L1 and L2 perceptions.” JASA Express Letters 1, 014407 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0003322.
Read more from JASA Express Letters.

Learn more about Acoustical Society of America Publications

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