Bilingual Ability and Verbal Memory Performance in a Hispanic Adult Sample

The study assessed the relationship between bilingual status (e.g. balanced bilingual Spanish-English, Spanish dominant, or English dominant) and verbal memory performance in a bilingual Hispanic adult sample. The study hypothesized differences within the groups on verbal memory tests based on the language of administration and differences between groups, such that relative to the performance of others, individuals would perform better on the verbal memory assessment given in their language of dominance. A sample of 29 bilingual, Hispanic, community college students participated in the study. Participants were placed into groups based on performance on a measure of expressive language. Findings identified significant within group differences for the Spanish-dominant group based on language of administration for the measure of verbal memory. No significant differences were found for the balanced bilingual and English dominant groups. Significant between-group differences were identified between the balanced bilingual group and the Spanish-dominant group on the English language measure of verbal memory, between the balanced bilingual group and the English-dominant group on the Spanish language measure of verbal memory (Memoria Verbal-Prosa), and between the Spanish dominant and English dominant groups on the Spanish language measure of verbal memory. Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests were conducted to compare within-group and between-group performance differences for the three groups. The results from this study provide guidance to neuropsychologists working with bilingual Spanish-speaking patients in regards to the implementation of bilingualism assessments and the utilization of standardized measures for evaluating memory, based on the level of bilingual ability of the individual.