Banca de DEFESA: TALITA GABRIEL DA SILVA

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : TALITA GABRIEL DA SILVA
DATE: 21/05/2026
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: Via plataforma Conferência Web.
TITLE:

Applicability of the Token Test for analyzing receptive language in preschool children.

KEY WORDS:

Language Development, Child Language, Comprehension, Language Tests, Speech-Language Pathology

PAGES: 82
BIG AREA: Ciências da Saúde
AREA: Fonoaudiologia
SUMMARY:

When assessing language skills in pre-school children, it is essential to consider their performance in comprehension skills. However, in Brazil, there is still a lack of tools designed for this purpose for this age group. The Token Test is an instrument that assesses auditory comprehension by varying the length and linguistic complexity of verbal instructions. It is frequently used with adults; however, over the years, versions have been developed for school-age children. Its short form comprises 36 instructions involving geometric shapes, colours and sizes, and is considered a low-cost and easy-to-administer assessment tool. This master’s thesis set out to evaluate the applicability of the shortened version of the Token Test with pre-school children in the Brazilian context. The primary cross-sectional study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (opinion no. 7.617.506). Data collection took place at two public early years education centres in the municipality of Natal. The participants were monolingual children who spoke Brazilian Portuguese, aged between 4 years and 5 years and 11 months, with no reported language difficulties or history of speech and language therapy. The assessment battery included, in addition to the short version of the Token Test, a questionnaire on life history and family socioeconomic status, and instruments for assessing phonology and expressive vocabulary. Data from 48 participants were analysed, and the results are presented in two articles. The aim of article 1 is to characterise the performance of pre-school children on the Token Test (short form) by age and gender. Article 2 aims to investigate whether there is a relationship between performance on the Token Test and expressive vocabulary and phonology. In this way, this dissertation reinforces the importance of practical instruments for assessing receptive language in childhood; furthermore, this study fills a gap in the national landscape by providing initial data on performance in this age group and exploring correlations between assessment tests.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 2321749 - ANA MANHANI CACERES
Interno - 1312141 - IVONALDO LEIDSON BARBOSA LIMA
Externa à Instituição - RAPHAELA BARROSO GUEDES-GRANZOTTI - UFS