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The development of vocabulary and grammar: a longitudinal study of European Portuguese-speaking toddlers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2019

Irene CADIME Open the ORCID record for Irene CADIME [Opens in a new window] ,
Célia S. MOREIRA Open the ORCID record for Célia S. MOREIRA [Opens in a new window] ,
Ana Lúcia SANTOS Open the ORCID record for Ana Lúcia SANTOS [Opens in a new window] ,
Carla SILVA ,
Iolanda RIBEIRO  and
Fernanda Leopoldina VIANA
Irene CADIME*
Affiliation:
Research Centre on Child Studies, University of Minho, Portugal
Célia S. MOREIRA
Affiliation:
Psychology Research Center (CIPsi), University of Minho, Portugal
Ana Lúcia SANTOS
Affiliation:
Centre of Linguistics of the University of Lisbon (CLUL), Portugal
Carla SILVA
Affiliation:
Research Centre on Child Studies, University of Minho, Portugal
Iolanda RIBEIRO
Affiliation:
Psychology Research Center (CIPsi), University of Minho, Portugal
Fernanda Leopoldina VIANA
Affiliation:
Research Centre on Child Studies, University of Minho, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author: Research Centre on Child Studies, University of Minho, Gualtar Campus, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal. E-mail: irenecadime@ie.uminho.pt
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Abstract

The goals of this study were to analyze the growth and stability of vocabulary, mean length of the three longest utterances (MLLUw), and sentence complexity in European Portuguese-speaking children aged 1;4–2;6, to explore differences in growth as a function of personal and family-related variables, and to investigate the inter-relationships among the three language dimensions. Fifty-one European Portuguese-speaking toddlers were longitudinally assessed at 1;4, 1;9, 2;1, and 2;6, through parent reports. Exponential growth models best described acquisition patterns during this period, but the vocabulary growth accelerated across the full age-range, whereas the growth of grammar dimensions accelerated mainly after 1;9. High variability was observed in the scores, but the toddlers’ relative positions were mostly stable over time. Gender approached significance as a predictor of vocabulary growth. Maternal educational level did not predict the growth of any of the three language dimensions. Both vocabulary and MLLUw predicted sentence complexity.

Keywords

vocabularysentence complexitymean length of utterance
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , July 2019 , pp. 653 - 681
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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