The purposes of this study were to assess the development of hemispheric dominance for language function among children of 4, 7, and 10 years of age and to determine whether age predicts hemispheric dominance. Within 2 weeks of the beginning of data collection, middle-class subjects selected from private nursery schools and elementary schools passed a hearing screening administered by an audiologist. Experimental testing then consisted of an individually administered dichotic listening examination in which each subject heard two different words simultaneously through stereo headphones. Twenty-four groups of two pairs of dichotically presented words were heard by each subject. After hearing each group of words, the subject was asked to report, in any order, all of the words he or she remembered. Scores were calculated by subtracting the right-ear score from the left-ear score and then dividing by the total number of correct responses for both ears. The dichotic listening task included four identical trials in order to assess the reliability of the instrument. Higher right-ear (left hemisphere) scores were found across all groups. The number of subjects with little difference between right and left hemisphere scores increased with age. In view of the traditional emphasis on left hemisphere learning in schools it is concluded that hands-on curriculum experiences providing young children with the opportunity to learn more right brain strategies would be beneficial. (RH)