Abstract
PURPOSE: to analyze the Mean Length of Utterance-words (MLU-w) in children aged 4;00-5;05 years. METHODS: ninety two Portuguese children with normal development were observed: 49 girls and 43 boys, divided in age range groups of six months. A sample of 100 utterances produced in spontaneous discourse was collected from each child. The utterances were transcribed and analyzed.RESULTS: MLU-w was shown to vary between 4,5 to 5 words, progressing with age. This progression had been previously observed in US English and in Brazilian Portuguese speaking children, although in European Portuguese the number of words is overall a little higher. Both boys and girls performed similarly. Years of parents formal education showed some influence, but not in all age groups. Results showed a positive and significant correlation with a formal test for language assessment, both in comprehension as in language production. CONCLUSION: the MLU-w is a good measure of language development up to 5 years. The values found can serve as a normative reference for Portuguese children, but also in comparative studies on the development of spontaneous language.
| Translated title of the contribution | Extensão média do enunciado-palavras em crianças de 4 e 5 anos com desenvolvimento típico da linguagem |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Pages (from-to) | 1143-1151 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Revista CEFAC |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2015 |
Keywords
- Language
- Development
- Children
- Evaluation