Assessing Bilingual Language Proficiency with a Yes/No Vocabulary Test: The Role of Form- Meaning Vocabulary Knowledge

Lee, Soon Tat; Van Heuven, Walter J B; Price, Jessica M; Leong, Christine Xiang Ru

Abstract

Validated yes/no vocabulary tests that measure bilinguals’ language proficiency based on vocabulary knowledge have been widely used in psycholinguistic research. However, it is unclear what aspects of test takers’ vocabulary knowledge is employed in these tests, which makes the interpretation of their scores problematic. The present study investigated the contribution of bilinguals' form-meaning knowledge to their item accuracy on a Malay yes/no vocabulary test. Word knowledge of Malay first- (N = 80) and second-language (N = 80) speakers was assessed using yes/no, meaning recognition, form recognition, meaning recall, and form recall tests. The findings revealed that 59% of the variance in the yes/no vocabulary test score was explained by the accuracy of Meaning Recognition, Form Recognition, and Meaning Recall tests. Importantly, the item analysis indicated that yes/no vocabulary tests assess primarily knowledge of form recognition, supporting its use as a lexical proficiency measure to estimate bilinguals’ receptive language proficiency.

Citation

Lee, S. T., Van Heuven, W. J. B., Price, J. M., & Leong, C. X. R. (in press). Assessing Bilingual Language Proficiency with a Yes/No Vocabulary Test: The Role of Form- Meaning Vocabulary Knowledge. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition,

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 13, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jan 15, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 15, 2025
• Journal: Bilingualism: Language and Cognition
• Print ISSN: 1366-7289
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-1841
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: L1 proficiency, L2 proficiency, yes/no vocabulary test, LexMAL, vocabulary knowledge
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/44228790