Non-Standard English in Children’s Movies: A Gender Perspective

Abstract

Sociolinguists have repeatedly demonstrated that men use more nonstandard forms of English than women do and that this gender-related variation develops in early childhood. The present study has investigated whether these differences are reflected in gender-oriented movies targeting young children. Five movies intended primarily for boys and five movies targeting girls were examined for the use of one phonological and five grammatical features of non-standard English. The results supported the hypothesis that all six linguistic variables would be more prevalent in the boys’ movies compared to the girls’ movies. The present findings are discussed in relation to the respective findings of previous studies on gender expression in language as well as in reference to the gender of scriptwriters. Considering the fact that children spend an increasing amount of time watching television programs and movies, the language which they are exposed to through mass media requires further research.