Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: NYARA GABRIELLE FERNANDES AGUIAR

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : NYARA GABRIELLE FERNANDES AGUIAR
DATE: 19/11/2025
TIME: 10:00
LOCAL: Sala RUTE
TITLE:

Applicability of graph analysis in the assessment of early childhood language

KEY WORDS:

Graph neural networks, Language development, Child preschool, Language tests, Speech-Language Pathology

PAGES: 50
BIG AREA: Ciências da Saúde
AREA: Fonoaudiologia
SUMMARY:

A common way to evaluate narrative is through storytelling, using logical-temporal sequences or wordless picture books. However, another way to evaluate narrative is to use graph analysis, which consists of a visual representation of the narrative composed of a network with nodes and edges, where the nodes are words and the edges are the relationships between words. From this visual representation, it is possible to highlight mathematical and computational patterns, such as narrative connectivity and word recurrence. Although it has been used with various populations, graph analysis has not yet been tested with young children. Thus, the overall objective of this dissertation is to verify the applicability of graph analysis in the assessment of children's language. The research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (process 7617506). Data collection involves two public early childhood education institutions located in the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, and to date, data has been collected from 38 children between the ages of 4 and 5 years and 11 months of both sexes. To characterise their life history and family environment, guardians respond to a standardised questionnaire. To characterise their linguistic development, each child undergoes a language assessment that encompasses expressive vocabulary, phonology, and phonological short-term memory. The experimental narrative assessment follows a protocol that has already been described and consists of presenting three positive stimulus images to the child and asking them to tell a story about what they remember for at least 30 seconds. After the assessment, the child's production is transcribed and analysed using SpeechGraphs software. This dissertation is organised into two articles, with the objective of Article 1 being to verify the association between expressive vocabulary (usual verbal designation) and the parameters obtained in graph analysis. Article 2 aims to explore the association between socioeconomic status and other variables in the family environment with the parameters obtained in graph analysis.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 2321749 - ANA MANHANI CACERES
Externa ao Programa - 1666189 - JANAINA WEISSHEIMER - nullExterna à Instituição - MARINA LEITE PUGLISI - UNIFESP
Externa à Instituição - NATÁLIA BEZERRA MOTA - UFRJ