Vocabulary assessment in portuguese children aged 3 to 7 years with and without developmental language disorder: preliminary results
Vocabulary assessment in portuguese children aged 3 to 7 years with and without developmental language disorder: preliminary results

Summary/Abstract: Vocabulary is one of the language components that is most evident at an early age. Therefore, this research aims to analyse the vocabulary assessment from the application of the vocabulary measure of the Brazilian Portuguese ABFW Child Language Test (Andrade, C., Befi - Lopes, D., Fernandes, F., & Wertzner, H., 2004), adapted to European Portuguese. The participants of this study are 480 children, aged 3 to 7 years, male and female, with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), from the northern region of Portugal. The objectives are a) to analyse vocabulary performance in relation to age, b) to analyse vocabulary performance in relation to gender, c) to analyse vocabulary performance in children with and without DLD, and d) to present the internal consistency of the ABFW Vocabulary Measure (European Portuguese Version). The results show that: a) performance on the vocabulary measure is progressive and proportional to age; b) boys show higher vocabulary performance than girls; c) typical children show slightly higher vocabulary performance than DLD; d) the measure has very good levels of internal consistency, with Cronbach’s Alpha .95. The ABFW Vocabulary Measure (European Portuguese Version) shows potential as a vocabulary assessment tool and may contribute to the identification of Portuguese children at risk for language disorders.

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