Expressive Vocabulary

We measured bilingual expressive vocabulary using the bilingual Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Bilingual Version (EOWPVT-IV; Martin and Brownell, 2010). This test was created and normed on bilingual children from the United States and contains 180 items. We began presenting the items at word one and stopped when children missed six consecutive words (ceiling), as recommended in the manual. The test was presented in PowerPoint and each slide contained a picture children had to name using one word. The test was used twice, once in English and once in Spanish, counterbalanced. The instructions were given in English and Spanish (respectively) for bilinguals and in English for monolinguals. Given that Spanish is a common language in the United States, the monolingual participants were also given the opportunity to name pictures in Spanish. Overall, the test provided an estimate of the expressive words the participants knew in English, Spanish, and in total (English + Spanish). We used raw scores instead of standard scores because the bilingual EOWPVT-VI does not offer standard scores for each language separately. This test only provides a global conceptual score (i.e., concepts across languages). Raw scores in each language were used to establish language dominance.