Adaptation of The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q) Into Kannada Language

What is it about?

Bilingualism is common in many parts of the globe, with almost one in three persons being bilingual or multilingual. However, the assessment of bilinguals is challenging as the bilingual research has yielded inconsistent findings, leading to a diagnostic dilemma. The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q) is a self-assessment tool that focuses on capturing the language experience and language proficiency of the bilingual individual across multiple language domains. As there are no such questionnaires to assess the experience and proficiency of bilingual/ multilingual Kannada speakers, the present study aimed to adapt and validate the LEAP-Q into the Kannada language cross-culturally.

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Photo by Joel Naren on Unsplash

Photo by Joel Naren on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Our findings revealed that the KLEAP-Q is a reliable and valid tool that can be used to document the language history and proficiency among Kannada-speaking bilinguals from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds having at least a high school level of literacy. As the KLEAP-Q is an easy-to-fill questionnaire that takes approximately 20 mins to complete, the KLEAP-Q can be a valuable tool to document language exposure and proficiency profiles in bilingual Kannada speakers.