The Boston naming test is a valid psychometric marker of English proficiency in bilingual Cubans

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to evaluate the utility of the short form of the Boston Naming Test (BNT-15) as an index of English proficiency and its relationship with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). METHOD: The BNT-15 was administered to a sample of 51 Cuban university students (native speakers of Spanish) with various levels of English proficiency as part of a battery of neuropsychological tests administered in both Spanish and English. RESULTS: The BNT-15 and CEFR were positively correlated with each other and relative language proficiency. A linear relationship emerged between levels of English proficiency operationalized using BNT-15 scores or CEFR ratings for tests with high verbal mediation. However, English proficiency was unrelated to performance on tests with low verbal mediation. Item-level responses on the BNT-15 suggest culture- and language-specific influences independent of overall level of English proficiency. CONCLUSIONS: The BNT-15 and CEFR provide valid measures of English proficiency, although both leave a high percentage of variance in test performance unexplained. Large-scale replications are needed to further explore the utility of the BNT-15 as an index of English proficiency.