Word Frequency Estimation as a Measure of Degree of Bilingualism*

Abstract

headings: rating scales, tests of verbal fluency, tests of flexibility and tests of dominance.1 The rating scales most frequently used are language background questionnaires and self ratings of language use. On the other hand, tests of verbal fluency are usually either measures of speed of response to verbal stimuli or of the number of responses produced within time limits. Ervin,2 for example, compared the speed with which bilinguals were able to name pictures in each language and Johnson' and Macnamara4 contrasted the number of different words produced in each language within equal time limits. An example of a flexibility measure is Macnamara's richness of vocabulary tests in which subjects (Ss) are presented with a series of phrases in each language, of the type is drunk, and are asked to write as many words or expressions as possible that are synonymous with the word underlined in the phrase. In dominance tests the bilingual is confronted with an ambiguous stimulus and is asked to pronounce or interpret it. It is assumed that his behavior indicates the language which he controls most fully. Recently, the possibility of using word frequency estimation as a measure of bilingual proficiency has been suggested by the finding that individuals can accurately estimate the frequencies with which words appear in print. Thus CarrollP reported that rankings of printed word frequencies obtained from monolingual Ss had substantial correlations with the rankings found in the Thorndike-Lorge frequency counts.