[Performance of Brazilian Portuguese and English speaking subjects on the Test of Early Language Development].
BACKGROUND
application of an American early language test in Brazilian Portuguese-speaking subjects.


OBJECTIVE
to compare the performance of normal Brazilian Portuguese and American English-speaking subjects on the Test of Early Language Development - Third Edition (TELD-3).


METHODS
participants of this study were 120 subjects of both genders, ranging in age from 2:00 to 7:11 years (20 subjects in each age range). Subjects were selected and tested individually by the researcher. A comparative analysis of the subjects' performances with that observed in English-speaking children was made.


RESULTS
the results indicated that Brazilian and American subjects presented similar performances until the age of 4:11 years. Portuguese-speaking children of 5, 6 and 7 years presented higher scores on the receptive subtest of Form A when compared to their American pairs. Portuguese-speaking subjects of 5 and 6 years presented lower scores on the expressive subtest of Form B when compared to their American pairs.


CONCLUSIONS
the translation of diagnostic instruments that are already available in other languages can lessen the lack of such resources in countries where these instruments are not yet available. Furthermore, this practice can allow cross-cultural studies which are relevant for researches on child language and language disabilities.
Giusti
Elisabete
E
Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas, Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Brazil. e.giusti@uol.com.br
Befi-Lopes
Débora Maria
DM
D017677:Age Distribution; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007804:Language Development; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012660:Semantics; D014481:United States; D014825:Vocabulary