A Maltese adaptation of the Boston Naming Test : a shortened version

Abstract

The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is the most widely used naming testworldwide in research and clinical settings. This study aimed to developa method for adapting the BNT to suit different linguistic and culturalcharacteristics using the example of Maltese in a bilingual context. Inaddition, it investigated the effects in Malta of age and level of educationon naming performance.The words of the BNT were first translated into Maltese. The test wasthen piloted to establish target and alternative responses. Namingperformance data were later collected from individuals of differentages and levels of education.Only 38 BNT items had at least 70% name agreement. Main effects ofage and education were found. A Maltese adaptation was proposed using38 items and lenient scoring. Similar procedures may be used in otherbilingual populations. The study suggests that normative data should bestratified according to age and education.