title: How "proficient" is proficient? comparison of English and relative proficiency rating as a predictor of bilingual listeners' word recognition.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The current study attempted to validate that English proficiency self-ratings predict bilinguals’ recognition of English words as reported in Shi (2011) and to explore whether relative proficiency ratings (English vs. first language) improve prediction.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and twenty-four participants in Shi (2011) and an additional set of 145 participants were included (Groups 1 and 2, respectively) in this study. All listeners rated their proficiency in listening, speaking, and reading (English and first language) on an 11-point scale and listened to a list of words from the Northwestern University Auditory Tests No. 6 (Tillman & Carhart, 1966) at 45 dB HL in quiet.
  
  
  RESULTS
  English proficiency ratings by Group 2 yielded sensitivity/specificity values comparable to those of Group 1 (Shi, 2011) in predicting word recognition. A cutoff of 8 or 9 in minimum English proficiency rating across listening, speaking, and reading resulted in the best combination of prediction sensitivity/specificity. When relative proficiency was used, prediction of Group 1 performance significantly improved as compared to English proficiency. Improvement was slight for Group 2, mainly due to low specificity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Self-rated English proficiency provides clinically acceptable sensitivity/specificity values as a predictor of bilinguals’ English word recognition. Relative proficiency has the potential to further improve predictive power, but the size of improvement depends on the characteristics of the test population.
authors.affiliation: Long Island University–Brooklyn Campus, NY, USA. lu.shi@liu.edu
authors.forename: Lu-Feng
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019303:Multilingualism; D011932:Reading; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D057566:Self Report; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013060:Speech; D013067:Speech Perception; D055815:Young Adult