Verbal communication abilities checklist as an instrument to assess Brazilian children’s pragmatic profile

Objective: The aim of this research was to develop a checklist to assess the pragmatic profile of Brazilian children aged 3–8 years. Methods: The Verbal Communication Abilities (VCA) checklist was adapted from the Protocol for Verbal Communicative Abilities (Lopes, 2000). In order to evaluate the checklist’s reliability and effectiveness, the pilot version of the VCA checklist was used by three speech-language pathologists (SLPs) for the analysis of two identical 30-minute videos of parent–child interactions: one of a child with typical language development and the other of a child with language-impairment. The SLPs suggested adjustments to the checklist, which were then integrated and led to a final version. Next, the final checklist’s effectiveness and sensitivity to pragmatic deficiencies were assessed using a sample size of 30 children. Data were gathered by two SLPs, who employed the checklist when analyzing 30 videos of parent–child interactions. Participants were divided into two groups: G1, composed of 15 children previously diagnosed with language disorders, and G2, composed of 15 children with typical language development; both groups were matched for age and gender. Results: Significant differences were found between the two groups in the dialogue and narrative discursive categories. Conclusion: The checklist is an efficient and reliable tool for identifying pragmatic deficiencies faster and more easily than existing pragmatic tests and protocols.