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Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
Published on: February 26, 2020
A theoretically driven and empirically grounded calculation for language dominance and degree of multilingualism
Xuanyi Jessica Chen1, Esti Blanco-Elorrieta1,2
1Department of Psychology, New York University, USA.
Abstract:
Bilingualism research has long been challenged by a lack of a unified approach to quantifying language dominance and degree of multilingualism. While numerous questionnaires (e.g., LHQ, BLP, LEAP‑Q, and LUQ) provide valuable data on language background variables, they lack a standardized formula to compute key measures from it. We introduce two formulas that synthesize critical linguistic variables to efficiently calculate language dominance and a multilingualism score that ranges from perfect monolingualism to native-like proficiency in multiple languages. Validation across two large datasets shows our dominance measure closely aligns with more complex PCA methods while being simpler and more efficient.
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