How ''Proficient'' Is Proficient? Comparison of English and Relative Proficiency Rating as a Predictor of Bilingual Listeners' Word Recognition.

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Title:	How ''Proficient'' Is Proficient? Comparison of English and Relative Proficiency Rating as a Predictor of Bilingual Listeners' Word Recognition.
Authors:	Lu-Feng Shi¹ lu.shi@liu.edu
Source:	American Journal of Audiology. Jun2013, Vol. 22 Issue 1, p40-52. 13p.
Subject Terms:	Speech perception, Comparative studies, Multilingualism, Research methodology evaluation, Fisher exact test, T-test (Statistics), U-statistics
Abstract:	Purpose: The current study attempted to validate that English proficiency self-ratings predict bilinguals' recognition of English words as reported in Shi (2011) and to explore whether relative proficiency ratings (English vs. first language) improve prediction. Method: One hundred and twenty-four participants in Shi (2011) and an additional set of 145 participants were included (Groups 1 and 2, respectively) in this study. All listeners rated their proficiency in listening, speaking, and reading (English and first language) on an 11-point scale and listened to a list of words from the Northwestern University Auditory Tests No. 6 (Tillman & Carhart, 1966) at 45 dB HL in quiet. Results: English proficiency ratings by Group 2 yielded sensitivity/specificity values comparable to those of Group 1 (Shi, 2011) in predicting word recognition. A cutoff of 8 or 9 in minimum English proficiency rating across listening, speaking, and reading resulted in the best combination of prediction sensitivity/specificity. When relative proficiency was used, prediction of Group 1 performance significantly improved as compared to English proficiency. Improvement was slight for Group 2, mainly due to low specificity. Conclusion: Self-rated English proficiency provides clinically acceptable sensitivity/specificity values as a predictor of bilinguals' English word recognition. Relative proficiency has the potential to further improve predictive power, but the size of improvement depends on the characteristics of the test population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of American Journal of Audiology is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	Purpose: The current study attempted to validate that English proficiency self-ratings predict bilinguals' recognition of English words as reported in Shi (2011) and to explore whether relative proficiency ratings (English vs. first language) improve prediction. Method: One hundred and twenty-four participants in Shi (2011) and an additional set of 145 participants were included (Groups 1 and 2, respectively) in this study. All listeners rated their proficiency in listening, speaking, and reading (English and first language) on an 11-point scale and listened to a list of words from the Northwestern University Auditory Tests No. 6 (Tillman & Carhart, 1966) at 45 dB HL in quiet. Results: English proficiency ratings by Group 2 yielded sensitivity/specificity values comparable to those of Group 1 (Shi, 2011) in predicting word recognition. A cutoff of 8 or 9 in minimum English proficiency rating across listening, speaking, and reading resulted in the best combination of prediction sensitivity/specificity. When relative proficiency was used, prediction of Group 1 performance significantly improved as compared to English proficiency. Improvement was slight for Group 2, mainly due to low specificity. Conclusion: Self-rated English proficiency provides clinically acceptable sensitivity/specificity values as a predictor of bilinguals' English word recognition. Relative proficiency has the potential to further improve predictive power, but the size of improvement depends on the characteristics of the test population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	10590889
DOI:	10.1044/1059-0889(2012/12-0029)