Language dominance effects on verbal list memory in older Spanish-English bilinguals

The present study characterized how language dominance and language of testing affect word list learning in older bilinguals, using picture naming in the two languages as a continuous objective measure of bilingual proficiency level. No previous study examined language dominance effects on list learning in older bilinguals or provided detailed information about language dominance effects over multiple learning trials, even though these measures provide critical diagnostic information.

Forty older Spanish-English bilinguals were tested on two 10-word lists in each language, with two learning trials for each list, and with language of testing order counterbalanced between participants.

Bilinguals recalled fewer words in both primacy and recency regions in the nondominant than in the dominant language, especially on Trial 1 (language dominance effects were 8.5 times larger on Trial 1 than Trial 2, after adjusting proportionally for baseline recall). The extent of language dominance was significantly correlated across picture naming and list learning, but only on Trial 1. Finally, language dominance effects were proportionally weaker on list learning (even on Trial 1) than in picture naming.

List learning is a hybrid comprehension/production task that is less affected by bilingualism than pure production tasks. However, testing list learning in a nondominant language can distort assessment of memory, particularly on some critical measures. Use of an independent objective measure of language proficiency provides a more precise indication of the extent to which language dominance should affect list learning in older bilinguals. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).