Can bilinguals rate their proficiency accurately in a language background questionnaire?

A correlation between self-rated and objective proficiency measures

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18309/ranpoll.v52i1.1506

Keywords:

Proficiency, Self-rated Proficiency, Language Background Questionnaire

Abstract

Research with bilinguals apply different measures to assess proficiency, one of them being language background questionnaires, which include questions about individuals’ experience and self-rated proficiency. Studies suggest that bilinguals can report their proficiency consistently with objective measures (MARIAN et al., 2007; LUK et al., 2013; GERTKEN et al., 2014; BRANTMEIR et al., 2012). Within this context, the goal of the present study was to investigate the relationship between two distinct measures of proficiency. In order to do so, we correlated participants’ self-rated proficiency (N = 112) in the Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (QuExPLi - Questionário de Experiência e Proficiência Linguística) with their scores on the TOEFL ITP. We also carried out a simple linear regression between the mean scores of the two measures. Results show a significant weak correlation between participants’ self-rated proficiency and their scores on the TOEFL ITP, as well as a significant regression equation. Also, when the scores on individual skills were correlated with participants’ self-rated proficiency on those skills (N = 16), significant moderate to strong correlations were found. These results add to research that have found that bilinguals are able to report their proficiency accurately; however, more studies in different contexts are needed.

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Author Biographies

Ana Paula Scholl, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Possui Graduação em Letras - Licenciatura Português/Inglês (2013) pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) e Mestrado em Linguística Aplicada pela mesma universidade (2016). Tem experiência na área de Letras, com ênfase em Línguas Estrangeiras Modernas, atuando principalmente no tema bilinguismo. É membro do LABICO - Laboratório de Bilinguismo e Cognição na UFRGS. Atualmente, é aluna de doutorado do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).

Ana Beatriz Arêas da Luz Fontes, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Possui graduação em Jornalismo pela The University of Texas at El Paso - UTEP (2005) e mestrado e doutorado em Psicologia Social, Cognitiva e Neurociência também pela UTEP (2008, 2010). Tem experiência de pesquisa na área de Psicologia Cognitiva, com ênfase em Psicolinguística e Bilinguismo. Lecionou no Departamento de Psicologia da Penn State University, campus Beaver, de 2012 a 2014. Atualmente, é professora do Instituto de Letras e membro permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras, ambos da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. É membro do LABICO - Laboratório de Bilinguismo e Cognição na UFRGS desde 2014 e coordena o grupo de pesquisa ProLinGue - Processamento de Linguagem Bilíngue.

Ingrid Finger, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Professora Associada do Departamento de Línguas Modernas da UFRGS, com vínculo permanente ao PPG Letras. Possui Mestrado e Doutorado em Letras pela PUCRS, tendo realizado Estágio Doutorado-Sanduíche na City University of New York – CUNY. Realizou Estágio Sênior no Exterior no Brain and
Language Lab, da Georgetown University. Tem atuação nas áreas de Bilinguismo e Educação Bilíngue, Psicolinguística do Bilinguismo, Linguística Aplicada e Neurociência e Educação. Coordena o LABICO - Laboratório de Bilinguismo e Cognição na UFRGS desde 2006 e faz parte da Rede Nacional da Ciência para a Educação.

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Capa do v. 52, n. 1, 2021, da Revista da Anpoll, dedicado aos Estudos Linguísticos.

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Published

2021-05-31

How to Cite

Scholl, A. P., Fontes, A. B. A. da L., & Finger, I. (2021). Can bilinguals rate their proficiency accurately in a language background questionnaire? A correlation between self-rated and objective proficiency measures. Revista Da Anpoll, 52(1), 142–161. https://doi.org/10.18309/ranpoll.v52i1.1506

Issue

Vol. 52 No. 1 (2021): Language Studies

Section

Estudos Linguísticos (2021)

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