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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.
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Language Development Children Evaluation