Purpose: The present study aimed to assess specific aspects of speech fluency in children with specific language impairment (SLI). This included examining the typology of speech disruption and rate (in words and syllables per minute), across different age groups. Methods: A total of 50 children, aged 3 to 7 years old, presenting with nonverbal IQ and hearing thresholds within normal limits (without the presence of stuttering) participated in the study. Children were divided into two groups: G1 (SLI) included 25 children (7 girls and 18 boys) and G2 that children aged 3 to 4 years old in G1 had lower speech rate than their age-matched peers from G2. Within-group analyses revealed no differences in disruption typologies between age groups in G1 participants. In contrast, hesitation was the most frequent typology for 4-to 5-year-old G2 children, whereas hesitation and word repetition typologies were observed in 6-to 7-year-old G2 children. Conclusion: Children with suspected SLI between the ages of 3 to 4 years old showed a reduction in word and syllable production. Hesitation-type speech disruptions were prominently used by typically developing children, regardless of age, and were not observed in SLI children.

Objective to investigate the performance of European Portuguese children in a Brazilian test of expressive vocabulary, seeking to identify differences between age groups and gender, and to verify its applicability in this population. Methods the sample consisted of 150 typical developed children, of both genders, between the ages of 5 and 6. All children attended public schools in the north area of Portugal. To assess the semantic performance, the expressive vocabulary sub-test of the language test (ABFW) was used, considering the percentage of usual verbal assignments and the classification (adequate/inadequate) according to the Brazilian reference values. Results the performance of the European Portuguese children indicated that at age 6 they have a higher percentage of correct answers in expressive vocabulary. As for the gender, there were only occasional differences: the girls showed a greater dominance in the semantic fields of clothing (both ages) and furniture and utensils (at age 5), whereas the boys showed more dominance in the semantic field means of transportation (6 years). Regarding classification, there was no difference between age groups in overall performance. Only the semantic field shapes and colors had more individuals of 6 years with inadequate performance. Conclusion the reference values adopted in the Brazilian population for semantic performance indicated that more than 80% of the children of each age group could have their performance classified as adequate. Such evidence suggests that this tool shows potential as an instrument of quantitative vocabulary's assessment of 5 and 6-years old children in European Portuguese.

This study aimed to investigate the behavior and social profile of Brazilian children with specific language impairment (SLI) and explore whether the severity of language deficits was associated with behavioral problems and low social competence. Twenty-four children with SLI aged from 6 to 11 years who showed substantial expressive language problems and were receiving speech-language therapy were assessed through the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Children with SLI showed high rates of behavioral problems and low levels of social competence. With the exception of two subscales ("somatic" and "rule breaker"), the percentage of children with SLI at risk of behavioral problems was significantly higher than the same proportion in the general population; and almost all children with SLI (95.2 %) demonstrated problems with social competence. The severity of language deficits was associated with the risk of behavioral problems according to only one criterion. No associations were found between the severity of language problems and social competence. The study provides cross-cultural evidence to support the existence of behavior problems and reduced social competence in children with SLI. Our findings point to the need of using a combination of measures to classify the severity of language problems rather than a single dimension.

Objetivo Caracterizar a alteração fonológica e o desempenho na memória de curto prazo fonológica de escolares com distúrbio específico de linguagem (DEL), além de investigar se há correlação entre essas variáveis. Métodos O grupo foi composto por 15 escolares com DEL, de ambos os gêneros (14 meninos), com idades variando entre 7 anos e 12 anos e 11 meses. Todos estavam em terapia fonoaudiológica. A alteração fonológica foi caracterizada pela Porcentagem de Consoantes Corretas Revisada (PCC-R) das provas de Fonologia do ABFW. A memória de curto prazo fonológica foi avaliada a partir da porcentagem de acertos na similaridade e na extensão das pseudopalavras do Teste de Repetição de Pseudopalavras. A correlação foi investigada a partir do PCC-R, em cada prova, e da porcentagem total de acertos na repetição das pseudopalavras. Resultados Não houve diferença entre o PCC-R na nomeação de figuras e na imitação de palavras e o desempenho na memória de curto prazo fonológica foi melhor quando a similaridade das pseudopalavras era maior e o número de sílabas menor. Houve correlação positiva entre a fonologia e a memória de curto prazo fonológica. Todavia, enquanto o desempenho na fonologia esteve próximo do máximo de acertos possíveis, na memória de curto prazo o desempenho médio não alcançou a metade dos acertos possíveis. A média de acertos na porcentagem de consoantes corretas foi superior a 85%. Conclusão O desempenho dos escolares com DEL na memória de curto prazo fonológica diferiu quanto à similaridade e à extensão das pseudopalavras. Constatou-se ainda correlação positiva entre estas variáveis.

Due to their linguistic impairment, children with SLI had longer silent pauses in their narratives. Story complexity influenced the average time of silent pauses in the narratives of children with typical language development, but this difference did not occur in the narratives of children with SLI.

RESUMO Objetivos Comparar o uso funcional de verbos e substantivos por crianças com alterações específicas de linguagem (AEL) falantes do Português Brasileiro e investigar se o uso destes tipos de palavras difere das crianças em desenvolvimento típico de linguagem (DTL). Além disso, comparar a utilização de cada tipo de verbo entre os grupos. Método Participaram do estudo 80 pré-escolares, 20 com AEL e 60 com DTL. A faixa etária dos sujeitos com AEL variou entre 3 e 6 anos, e do grupo com DTL variou entre 2 e 4 anos. O pareamento dos sujeitos foi baseado na idade linguística expressiva. A amostra de fala foi eliciada por meio de interação lúdica, e dessa amostra foram selecionados os substantivos e verbos produzidos. Resultados Os pré-escolares com AEL utilizaram mais verbos do que substantivos em fala espontânea. O uso de substantivos não diferiu entre os grupos, mas nos verbos o subgrupo de 3 anos com AEL os utilizou com mais frequência que seus pares. Os tipos de verbos mais utilizados por sujeitos com AEL foram de ligação, intransitivo e transitivo direto. A comparação entre os grupos neste aspecto diferiu pontualmente para os verbos transitivo direto, bitransitivo e de ligação; apenas o verbo transitivo circunstancial foi mais utilizado pelos sujeitos em DTL para todas as idades. Conclusão O uso de substantivos e verbos em crianças com AEL respeita o padrão do desenvolvimento típico, mas ocorre de forma mais lenta. O uso de verbos com menos complementos é predominante nesta população.

Study carried out at São Paulo (SP) and Natal (RN), Brazil.

Children with SLI showed more speech disfluencies during narrative production than their age-matched peers, and the most common disfluencies used by them were not typical of people who stutter (interjection, revision/abandoned utterances, and multisyllable/phrase repetition).