Dual-Dimension Naming Speed and Language-Dominance Ratings by Bilingual Hispanic Adults

Abstract

This study compared the efficacy of measures of naming speed, verbal fluency and self-ratings for establishing language dominance in 25 bilingual English–Spanish adults with college degrees. Naming speed was measured by total naming times (in seconds) for five Alzheimer's Quick Test tasks (Wiig, Nielsen, Minthon & Warkentin, 2002) and verbal fluency with the Word Listing by Domain (Lambert, Havelka, & Crosby, 1958; Fishman & Cooper, 1969). Self-ratings of English–Spanish competence (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and frequency of use of each spoken language served as standards for comparisons. For the aggregate sample, color–form, color–animal, and color–object naming times were significantly shorter for English than Spanish (p < .01). There was 100% agreement in language-dominance judgments between self-ratings of language competence and frequency of use, and color–form, color–animal, and color–object naming-time differences in the two languages. Word Listing by Domain quotients for language dominance showed a lower degree of agreement (52%) with self-ratings and naming-time differences. The findings suggest that cross-linguistic comparisons of naming times for color–form, color–animal, and color–object naming may be helpful in screening adults for language dominance for psychoeducational assessment purposes.