The Gender Variable in Language Development in the Early Childhood Period: A Meta-Analysis of the Studies Carried Out in Turkey

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of gender variable in studies conducted on language development in the early childhood period and obtain a general point of view on this issue.A meta-analysis method was used in the study.The thesis studies and research articles published in Turkey between 1995 and 2009 on the gender variable in language development in the early childhood period were investigated under the scope of this study.A total of 49 data sets from 36 studies which conformed the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study were included in the current study.The data analysis was performed through CMA Version 2.0 statistical program.Due to the diversity of the sample sizes of the covered studies, the random-effects model was adopted to calculate and interpret the effect size.The results of the study revealed that the effect of gender on children's language development is quite low.Based on this finding, it can be stated that gender has a negligible effect on children's language development.Therefore it is suggested that later studies on this issue may focus on other primary factors rather than variables such as gender.