The Bilingual Is Not Two Monolinguals of Same Age: Normative Testing Implications for Multilinguals

Area of Science:

• Psychological and intelligence testing
• Psychometrics
• Linguistics and cognitive development

Background:

• Standardized testing relies on comparing individuals to a normative group of similar age.
• This age-based comparability is challenged in multilingual individuals due to varying language exposure and development.
• Previous attempts to address language differences in testing (e.g., simplified instructions, translations) have not established validity and fairness for multilinguals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the primary moderators of test performance in multilingual individuals.
• To demonstrate that language development, not age, is a more significant factor in cognitive test performance.
• To advocate for test construction methods that ensure fairness and validity for multilingual populations.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of existing research on psychological testing and multilingualism.
• Examination of how language exposure and development influence cognitive test outcomes.
• Review of specific test norms (e.g., BESA, Ortiz PVAT) that control for age and language development.

Main Results:

• Multilingual individuals' test performance is primarily moderated by their exposure to and development in the test's language.
• Language development, particularly receptive vocabulary, explains more variance in test performance than chronological age.
• Controlling for differential language development eliminates historical race-based performance disparities.

Conclusions:

• True peer comparisons in testing must account for language development differences among multilinguals.
• Tests like BESA and Ortiz PVAT offer a model for creating equitable norms by controlling for age and language proficiency.
• Developing valid and fair tests for multilinguals requires careful attention to language development, enabling accurate assessments across diverse linguistic backgrounds.