Objective To understand the characteristics of children's normal language development process and the situation of language development retardation,and to provide scientific basis for the correct assessment of children's language development. Methods A total of 1 016 children aged 18~36 months from the Department of Child Health Care in Sichuan Provinicial Hospital of Women and Children were enrolled as subjects in the study,and the Language Development Screening Scale for infants and young children was used as the investigation tool. Results Boys aged 18～30 months had significantly lower scores than girls in the same age group (P<0.05),and the incidence of language development retardation of boys was significantly higher than that of girls (P<0.05).The rapid growth of language in boys and girls appeared in their 24 months,but the language development had no significant gender difference between from 30 months to 36 months (P>0.05). Conclusions Differences in the development of boys and girls should be correctly understood,and more attention such as language stimulation and evaluation should be paid in early stage.Also,children with language development retardation should get positive intervention.