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Dads Influence Language Development in Infants More Than Moms?

From Jerry Kennard, About.com GuideOctober 25, 2006

Researchers at the University of North Carolina have found that children who had fathers whose vocabulary was more varied when the child was two had more advanced language skills at three years of age. Mom's vocabulary did not have the same significant impact.

Ninety-two families were observed talking to their children. Words and sentence structure, how much each parent spoke to the child and the type of questions they asked were measured. Lynne Vernon-Feagans and her colleagues found that men asked fewer questions and spoke less than mothers who used many more and more varied words. Yet, what father's did say obviously appears to have had more impact.

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