On the relationship between language dominance and fluency in bilingual speakers of Low and High German

Aims and objectives: Bilingual speakers are rarely equally proficient in both languages, making the determination of language dominance a major challenge. For a regional language like Low German, an additional challenge is the absence of a standard variety as a reference. To assess language dominance in both standardized and non-standardized languages, examining oral fluency provides a promising, non-invasive source of information. In this paper, we investigate several variables of speed and breakdown fluency to assess how well they reflect variations in language dominance among bilingual speakers of Low and High German, while also examining the role of the speaking task. Design: We recruited 95 bilingual speakers of Low and High German. The participants ranged in age from 15 to 88 years (47 female and 48 male). They completed four different tasks in each language (narrative task, picture-story task, direction-giving task, and reading task). Data and analysis: We analyzed seven fluency variables: articulation rate, speech rate, phonation/time ratio, mean length of runs, mean length of silent pauses, duration of silent pauses per minute, and number of silent pauses per minute. Generalized linear mixed models were fitted for these variables with language, dominance score, and gender as fixed effects and age as a covariate. Findings: Six of the seven fluency variables were found to be sensitive to variations in language dominance. Mean length of runs, duration of silent pauses per minute, and number of silent pauses per minute yielded the most consistent results across speaking tasks. Originality: This study links fluency measures with language dominance in a demographically changing group of speakers of an endangered regional language. Implications: We conclude that variables of speed and breakdown fluency are sensitive to variation in language dominance, even for two closely related languages such as Low and High German.