How to quantify bilingual experience? Findings from a Delphi consensus survey

De Cat, C., Kašćelan, D., Prévost, P., Serratrice, L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5141-6186, Tuller, L., Unsworth, S., Consortium, T. Q.-B. and Nair, V. (2023) How to quantify bilingual experience? Findings from a Delphi consensus survey. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 26 (1). pp. 112-124. ISSN 1469-1841 doi: 10.1017/S1366728922000359

Abstract/Summary

While most investigations of bilingualism document participants’ language background, there is an absence of consensus on how to quantify bilingualism. The high number of different language background questionnaires used by researchers and practitioners jeopardises data comparability and cross-pollination between research and practice. Using the Delphi consen sus survey method, we asked 132 panellists (researchers, speech and language therapists, tea chers) from 29 countries to rate 124 statements on a 5-point agreement scale. Consensus was pre-defined as 75% agreement threshold. After two survey rounds, 79% of statements reached consensus. The need for common measures to quantify bilingualism was acknowledged by 96% of respondents. Agreement was reached to document: language exposure and use, lan guage difficulties, proficiency (when it cannot be assessed directly), education and literacy, input quality, language mixing practices, and attitudes (towards languages and language mix ing). We discuss the implications of these findings for the creation of a new tool to quantify bilingual experience.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/129504
Identification Number/DOI	10.1017/S1366728922000359
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM) Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Clinical Language Sciences
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
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