LexCHI: A quick lexical test for estimating language proficiency in Chinese

Wen, Yun; Qiu, Yicheng; Leong, Christine Xiang Ru; van Heuven, Walter J.B.

Abstract

A prominent methodological issue in cognitive research on bilingualism is the lack of consistency in measuring second language (L2) proficiency. To reduce the inconsistency in L2 proficiency measurements, brief and valid vocabulary tests have been developed as an objective measure of proficiency in a variety of languages (e.g., English, French, Spanish). Here, we present LexCHI, a valid lexical test to measure Chinese proficiency. This freely available short test consists of 60 two-character items presented in simplified Chinese. Although it only takes a few minutes to complete LexCHI, the LexCHI scores in two studies correlated significantly with L2 participants' performance in a translation task and a cloze test. We believe that LexCHI is a useful tool for researchers who need to objectively measure Chinese proficiency as part of their investigations.

Citation

Wen, Y., Qiu, Y., Leong, C. X. R., & van Heuven, W. J. (2024). LexCHI: A quick lexical test for estimating language proficiency in Chinese. Behavior Research Methods, 56(3), 2333-2352. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-023-02151-z

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 24, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jul 5, 2023
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 22, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 6, 2024
• Journal: Behavior Research Methods
• Print ISSN: 1554-351X
• Electronic ISSN: 1554-3528
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 56
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 2333-2352
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-023-02151-z
• Keywords: Chinese vocabulary test, Language proficiency, Bilingualism
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/22183044
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13428-023-02151-z
• Additional Information: Accepted: 24 May 2023; First Online: 5 July 2023