Conversational Time Patterns of Hawaiian Children as a Function of Ethnicity and Gender

Previous research concerned with conversational rhythms (i.e., the frequencies and durations of sound and silences in speech) has typically focused on the conversational behavior of Caucasian-American men and women. By comparison, there has been little attention given to the influence of ethnicity on conversational rhythms, which would attest to the cross-cultural consistency of temporal speech patterns. Similarly, little is known about the temporal patterning of children's speech, particularly with respect to the development of a stable vocal style. The present study examined the conversational behavior of eight-year-old Hawaiian boys and girls, of either Caucasian or Japanese descent, in same-ethnic and same-gender pairs or in mixed-ethnic and/or mixed-gender pairs. The results suggest that temporal speech patterns are stable characteristics of children's vocal behavior and that these conversational rhythms vary as a function of the ethnicity and/or gender of both speaking partners. Moreover, the pattern of differences obtained among the groups of children is believed to implicate established differences in personality, variations in socialization or differences in sex-role orientation.