TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of the Multilingual Naming Test (MINT) as a quick and practical proxy for language proficiency
AU - Liu, Hong
AU - Chaouch-Orozco, Adel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© John Benjamins Publishing Company.
PY - 2024/8/30
Y1 - 2024/8/30
N2 - The present study compares the performance of two quick lexical tests, the Multilingual Naming Test (MINT) and the Lexical Test for Advanced Learners of English (LexTALE), to evaluate their suitability to serve as proxies for English proficiency in second language learners. Specifically, it investigates how well these tests’ results align with those of the Quick Placement Test (QPT), an objective placement test employed in previous validations of the LexTALE. Considering recent findings by Puig-Mayenco et al. (2023) suggesting the LexTALE is apt for measuring advanced proficiencies but is less reliable with lower ones, our study aims to test the performance of both the LexTALE and MINT across different proficiencies. Two hundred nineteen Chinese learners of English, spanning both higher and lower proficiency levels, participated in the study. The results showed that the relationship between the MINT and QPT was similar to that between the LexTALE and QPT. However, the MINT demonstrated better performance than the LexTALE in assessing lower proficiency levels. These results underscore the MINT’s potential to serve as a quick and valid proxy for proficiency across all levels, particularly in research contexts where the use of longer and more comprehensive assessment tools is not possible.
AB - The present study compares the performance of two quick lexical tests, the Multilingual Naming Test (MINT) and the Lexical Test for Advanced Learners of English (LexTALE), to evaluate their suitability to serve as proxies for English proficiency in second language learners. Specifically, it investigates how well these tests’ results align with those of the Quick Placement Test (QPT), an objective placement test employed in previous validations of the LexTALE. Considering recent findings by Puig-Mayenco et al. (2023) suggesting the LexTALE is apt for measuring advanced proficiencies but is less reliable with lower ones, our study aims to test the performance of both the LexTALE and MINT across different proficiencies. Two hundred nineteen Chinese learners of English, spanning both higher and lower proficiency levels, participated in the study. The results showed that the relationship between the MINT and QPT was similar to that between the LexTALE and QPT. However, the MINT demonstrated better performance than the LexTALE in assessing lower proficiency levels. These results underscore the MINT’s potential to serve as a quick and valid proxy for proficiency across all levels, particularly in research contexts where the use of longer and more comprehensive assessment tools is not possible.
KW - MINT
KW - LexTALE
KW - L2 proficiency
KW - language proficiency
KW - proficiency test
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85196023576&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1075/lab.23066.liu
DO - 10.1075/lab.23066.liu
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1879-9264
VL - 14
SP - 759
EP - 773
JO - Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
JF - Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
IS - 5
ER -