Sex Differences in Listening Vocabulary*

Abstract

Not enough attention has been paid in the past to the variable of sex differences in language‐learning research. This may be because it is taken as proven that girls are superior to boys in language ability. Although the majority of evidence does favor this conclusion, there is one area of language ability in which boys seem to be superior to girls, even in view of overall female superiority in language proficiency. This area is the comprehension of heard vocabulary. Evidence from first‐language studies prompted an experiment with second‐language subjects: two sets of Chinese college students (n= 285 and 205). Ten tests were used to establish general language proficiency, and two tests of listening vocabulary were included in the battery. With both sets of subjects, the females were superior in general language proficiency, but the males had higher mean scores in both tests of listening vocabulary. The difficulties of conducting such an experiment are discussed, notably the problem of constructing satisfactory listening vocabulary tests. Reasons for the phenomenon of male superiority in this select area of language ability are suggested, and similar experiments are encouraged.

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