Welsh–English bilingual adolescents’ performance on verbal analogy and verbal classification tasks: the role of language exposure and use on vocabulary knowledge

Figures & data

Table 1. Number of participants according to age and home language background.

Age	L1W	2L1	L2W	Total
12–13	27	10	17	54
16–17	40	26	22	88
Total	67	36	39	142

Table

Example 1: Verbal Analogy
Cow – Milk : Chicken
Feather	Dinner	Egg	Hen	Bird
Buwch – Llaeth : Iâr –
Pluen	Cinio	Ŵy	Cyw	Aderyn
Example 2: Verbal Categorisation
	Rain	Fog	Sunshine
Winter	Snow	Weather	Dark	Night
	Glaw	Niwl	Haul
Gaeaf	Eira	Tywydd	Tywyll	Nos

Figure 1. Performance (%) of Welsh-English adolescents on measures of vocabulary knowledge across bilingual group.

Graph demonstrates the performance of both age groups on measures of Verbal Analogies and Verbal Categorisation in both English and Welsh. In the younger age group, performance across bilingual groups are fairly similar, however, the differences are more apparent in the older age group, with L1 Welsh bilinguals averaging higher on Welsh vocabulary that L2 Welsh bilinguals.

Table 2. Number of participants per type of language use measure and per percent use.

	Percentage of Use
	Under 40%	50–70%	Over 80%	Total
Overall Use of Welsh	13	46	42	101
Welsh with Friends	14	48	46	108

Figure 2. Performance (%) of Welsh-English adolescents vocabulary knowledge based on overall use of Welsh.

A line graph demonstrating how performance on Verbal Categorisation and Verbal Analogies differs based on adolescents’ overall use of Welsh. Performance of children who reported more than 80% of use of Welsh outperformed those who used it less than 40%.

Figure 3. Performance (%) of Welsh-English adolescents vocabulary knowledge based on use of Welsh with friends.

A line graph demonstrating how performance on Verbal Categorisation and Verbal Analogies differs based on adolescents overall use of Welsh with friends. Performance of children who reported more than 80% of use of Welsh with friends outperformed those who used it less than 40%.