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What do they say and how? A comparative syntactic characterization of children with and without Developmental Language Disorder in European Portuguese.

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Τίτλος: What do they say and how? A comparative syntactic characterization of children with and without Developmental Language Disorder in European Portuguese.
Συγγραφείς: Azevedo M; RISE-Health - Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro, Portugal. Electronic address: mafalda.azevedo@ua.pt., Martins A; Center of Linguistics of the University of Lisbon, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; School of Health, Polytechnic of Porto E2S, Porto, Portugal; Porto Municipal Chamber, Educational Programs Division, Porto, Portugal., Lousada M; RISE-Health - Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro, Portugal; School of Health Sciences, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
Πηγή: Journal of communication disorders [J Commun Disord] 2026 Sep-Oct; Vol. 123, pp. 106683. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Aug 05.
Τύπος έκδοσης: Journal Article; Comparative Study
Γλώσσα: English
Στοιχεία περιοδικού: Publisher: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0260316 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-7994 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00219924 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Commun Disord Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s): Publication: New York Ny : Elsevier Scientific Publishing
Original Publication: Amsterdam, North-Holland Pub. Co.
Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): Language Development Disorders*/psychology , Language Development Disorders*/diagnosis , Child Language* , Linguistics*, Humans ; Portugal ; Female ; Male ; Child, Preschool ; Language Tests ; Child
Περίληψη: Syntactic difficulties are widely reported in children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), yet detailed evidence from European Portuguese (EP) remains scarce. Language Sample Analysis (LSA) offers an ecologically valid approach to examining children's syntactic production; however, its application requires language-specific data and validated, multidimensional measures. This study aimed to provide a detailed syntactic comparison between children with DLD with syntactic impairment and typically developing (TD) peers acquiring EP, using a multidimensional LSA framework complemented by standardized assessments. Thirty-two children (60.22 ± 8.04 months) with DLD were individually matched to 32 TD peers (60.50 ± 5.96 months) on age, sex, and socioeconomic status. All participants produced picture-based narratives, which were segmented into C-units and coded for syntactic productivity, complexity, diversity, accuracy, and the production of specific structures. Group differences and associations among LSA measures and between standardized assessments were analyzed. Across all dimensions, children in the DLD group produced significantly shorter utterances (t(62) = 6.91, p < .001, d = 1.73), fewer multi-argument predicates, lower syntactic diversity, and less subordination than their TD peers. Accuracy differences were large (PGU: TD.96 vs. DLD .62), with error patterns dominated by omissions and structural errors. Several syntactic constructions that emerged in TD narratives were not observed in the narratives produced by children in the DLD group. LSA measures showed moderate-to-strong correlations with standardized assessment scores, supporting their convergent validity. These findings provide a detailed characterization of syntactic production in EP-speaking children with DLD with syntactic impairment, and underscore the value of multidimensional LSA for identifying clinically relevant syntactic vulnerabilities that may not be fully captured by standardized assessments.
(Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Contributed Indexing: Keywords: Developmental Language Disorder; European Portuguese; Language Sample Analysis; Preschool-age children; Syntax
Entry Date(s): Date Created: 20260813 Date Completed: 20260908 Latest Revision: 20260908
Update Code: 20260909
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2026.106683
PMID: 42594694
Βάση Δεδομένων: MEDLINE
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  Data: Syntactic difficulties are widely reported in children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), yet detailed evidence from European Portuguese (EP) remains scarce. Language Sample Analysis (LSA) offers an ecologically valid approach to examining children&#39;s syntactic production; however, its application requires language-specific data and validated, multidimensional measures. This study aimed to provide a detailed syntactic comparison between children with DLD with syntactic impairment and typically developing (TD) peers acquiring EP, using a multidimensional LSA framework complemented by standardized assessments. Thirty-two children (60.22 &#177; 8.04 months) with DLD were individually matched to 32 TD peers (60.50 &#177; 5.96 months) on age, sex, and socioeconomic status. All participants produced picture-based narratives, which were segmented into C-units and coded for syntactic productivity, complexity, diversity, accuracy, and the production of specific structures. Group differences and associations among LSA measures and between standardized assessments were analyzed. Across all dimensions, children in the DLD group produced significantly shorter utterances (t(62) = 6.91, p &amp;lt; .001, d = 1.73), fewer multi-argument predicates, lower syntactic diversity, and less subordination than their TD peers. Accuracy differences were large (PGU: TD.96 vs. DLD .62), with error patterns dominated by omissions and structural errors. Several syntactic constructions that emerged in TD narratives were not observed in the narratives produced by children in the DLD group. LSA measures showed moderate-to-strong correlations with standardized assessment scores, supporting their convergent validity. These findings provide a detailed characterization of syntactic production in EP-speaking children with DLD with syntactic impairment, and underscore the value of multidimensional LSA for identifying clinically relevant syntactic vulnerabilities that may not be fully captured by standardized assessments.&lt;br /&gt; (Copyright &#169; 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
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