Abstract

This study was designed to replicate earlier reports of the utility of the Boston Naming Test – Short Form (BNT-15) as an index of limited English proficiency (LEP). Twenty-eight English-Arabic bilingual student volunteers were administered the BNT-15 as part of a brief battery of cognitive tests. The majority (23) were women, and half had LEP. Mean age was 21.1 years. The BNT-15 was an excellent psychometric marker of LEP status (area under the curve: .990–.995). Participants with LEP underperformed on several cognitive measures (verbal comprehension, visuomotor processing speed, single word reading, and performance validity tests). Although no participant with LEP failed the accuracy cutoff on the Word Choice Test, 35.7% of them failed the time cutoff. Overall, LEP was associated with an increased risk of failing performance validity tests. Previously published BNT-15 validity cutoffs had unacceptably low specificity (.33–.52) among participants with LEP. The BNT-15 has the potential to serve as a quick and effective objective measure of LEP. Students with LEP may need academic accommodations to compensate for slower test completion time. Likewise, LEP status should be considered for exemption from failing performance validity tests to protect against false positive errors.

摘要

本研究旨在复制早期关于波士顿命名测试 - 简表 (BNT-15) 作为英语能力有限 (LEP) 指标的效用的报告。二十八名英语-阿拉伯语双语学生志愿者接受了 BNT-15 作为一组简短的认知测试的一部分。大多数 (23) 是女性，其中一半患有 LEP。平均年龄为 21.1 岁。BNT-15 是 LEP 状态的优秀心理测量指标（曲线下面积：.990–.995）。LEP 参与者在多项认知测量（语言理解、视觉运动处理速度、单字阅读和性能有效性测试）上表现不佳。尽管没有 LEP 参与者未通过单词选择测试的准确度截止，但其中 35.7% 的参与者未通过时间截止。总体而言，LEP 与性能有效性测试失败的风险增加有关。先前发布的 BNT-15 有效性截止值在 LEP 参与者中具有令人无法接受的低特异性 (.33–.52)。BNT-15 有可能作为 LEP 的快速有效的客观测量方法。患有 LEP 的学生可能需要学术调整以弥补较慢的测试完成时间。同样，应考虑 LEP 状态免除未通过的性能有效性测试，以防止误报错误。