Measuring Language Dominance in Early Spanish/English Bilinguals
This paper analyzes the comparability of language dominance assessments with the purpose of determining whether they yield similar results. Language dominance is an important construct in the field of bilingualism as it allows for a more thorough classification of bilinguals and is thought to play a...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2019-08-01
|
| Series: | Languages |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/4/3/62 |
| _version_ | 1811306846606065664 |
|---|---|
| author | Cecilia Solís-Barroso Sara Stefanich |
| author_facet | Cecilia Solís-Barroso Sara Stefanich |
| author_sort | Cecilia Solís-Barroso |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper analyzes the comparability of language dominance assessments with the purpose of determining whether they yield similar results. Language dominance is an important construct in the field of bilingualism as it allows for a more thorough classification of bilinguals and is thought to play a role in both bilingual production and perception. Yet, there is no unified methodology for assessing language dominance. To that end, we ask the following research question: Do different language dominance measures predict the results of one another? Twenty-nine Spanish/English early bilinguals completed four language dominance assessments. Results indicate that three of the four assessments are highly correlated with each other while the fourth, a repetition task, is not significantly correlated with any of the assessments. Further, twenty of the participants were categorized differently across the individual measures; the more “balanced” a bilingual was, the greater likelihood of being categorized differently. These results indicate that certain language dominance assessments are not comparable with one another and suggest that it could be the case they do not even measure the same variable. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:52:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0de7c6b9e44d4fbfb559ad909e831a2c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-471X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:52:50Z |
| publishDate | 2019-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Languages |
| spelling | doaj.art-0de7c6b9e44d4fbfb559ad909e831a2c2022-12-22T02:53:25ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2019-08-01436210.3390/languages4030062languages4030062Measuring Language Dominance in Early Spanish/English BilingualsCecilia Solís-Barroso0Sara Stefanich1Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USADepartment of Spanish and Portuguese, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USAThis paper analyzes the comparability of language dominance assessments with the purpose of determining whether they yield similar results. Language dominance is an important construct in the field of bilingualism as it allows for a more thorough classification of bilinguals and is thought to play a role in both bilingual production and perception. Yet, there is no unified methodology for assessing language dominance. To that end, we ask the following research question: Do different language dominance measures predict the results of one another? Twenty-nine Spanish/English early bilinguals completed four language dominance assessments. Results indicate that three of the four assessments are highly correlated with each other while the fourth, a repetition task, is not significantly correlated with any of the assessments. Further, twenty of the participants were categorized differently across the individual measures; the more “balanced” a bilingual was, the greater likelihood of being categorized differently. These results indicate that certain language dominance assessments are not comparable with one another and suggest that it could be the case they do not even measure the same variable.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/4/3/62bilingualismlanguage dominanceSpanishmethodologyheritage speakers |
| spellingShingle | Cecilia Solís-Barroso Sara Stefanich Measuring Language Dominance in Early Spanish/English Bilinguals Languages bilingualism language dominance Spanish methodology heritage speakers |
| title | Measuring Language Dominance in Early Spanish/English Bilinguals |
| title_full | Measuring Language Dominance in Early Spanish/English Bilinguals |
| title_fullStr | Measuring Language Dominance in Early Spanish/English Bilinguals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Measuring Language Dominance in Early Spanish/English Bilinguals |
| title_short | Measuring Language Dominance in Early Spanish/English Bilinguals |
| title_sort | measuring language dominance in early spanish english bilinguals |
| topic | bilingualism language dominance Spanish methodology heritage speakers |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/4/3/62 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ceciliasolisbarroso measuringlanguagedominanceinearlyspanishenglishbilinguals AT sarastefanich measuringlanguagedominanceinearlyspanishenglishbilinguals |