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In:Variation in Language Acquisition: Unity in diversity
Edited by Laura Rosseel and Eline Zenner
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 34] 2025
► pp. 64–85

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Chapter 3
Telling tales

Tracking the real time development of gendered narrative style in children

 | Queen Mary University of London
 | Queen Mary University of London
 | Queen Mary University of London
Published online: 4 November 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.34.03hol
Abstract
Research into the development of gendered language shows that girls make greater use of linguistic variation and its symbolic function, and do so from an earlier age (Cheshire, 2000; Kiesling, 1997; Fivush & Grysman, 2019; Holmes-Elliott & Turner, 2019). This study examines this asymmetry through an analysis of the development of gendered narratives in real time child speech data, further contextualised by an analysis of adult narratives from the same speech community. Narratives afford an opportunity to simultaneously examine different (socio)linguistic competencies, providing a site of comparison for a range of gendered language patterns and their development. More broadly, stories and their telling are a lens through which to observe the effects of general maturation, processes of socialization, and identity development during adolescence.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Socialization through language
    • 1.2Mastering storytelling through narratives
    • 1.3Gender, development and narrative
    • 1.4Research questions
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Data and sample
    • 2.2Analysis
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1The tale: Number and length
    • 3.2The tale: Topic and setting
    • 3.3The telling: Mode
    • 3.4The telling: Reported speech
    • 3.5The teller: Protagonist
    • 3.6Teller: Evaluation
  • 4.Discussion
  • Notes
  • References
References (39)
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