Ethnicity and Performance on Language Tests in Indonesia: A Comparison between Five Ethnic Groups

Authors

  • Gilles van Luijtelaar

    Donders Centre of Cognition, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6500 HD, The Netherlands

    Faculty of Psychology, Maranatha Christian University, Bandung 40164, Indonesia
  • Ni Made Swasti Wulanyani

    Psychology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University, Bali 80361, Indonesia
  • Heni Gerda Pesau

    Faculty of Psychology, Atma Jaya University, Makassar 12930, Indonesia
  • Aria Immanuel

    Psychology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University, Bali 80361, Indonesia

    College of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
  • Augustina Sulastri

    Faculty of Psychology, Soegijapranata Catholic University, Semarang 50234, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i11.10906
Received: 5 July 2025 | Revised: 21 July 2025 | Accepted: 25 August 2025 | Published Online: 20 October 2025

Abstract

Assessing cognitive performance across diverse ethnic groups in Indonesia poses a challenge due to the multitude of ethnic groups and their languages. Compounding this issue is the absence of distinct cultural norms for assessment measures. This study explored the effects of spoken language differences between five ethnic groups in Indonesia on three commonly used language tests. The ultimate objective was to determine whether new norms that incorporate Indonesian ethnic groups are warranted, akin to established practices for demographic factors such as age, and years of education. A dataset comprised of 690 individuals across five ethnic groups assessed in Bahasa Indonesia was used to examine performance differences on the Indonesian Boston Naming Test (I-BNT), a phonemic verbal fluency test, and the Token Test, and the role of spoken languages, at home and in public. Medium-sized ethnicity and small spoken language effects were observed with a Multivariate analysis of covariance, along with large education, medium age, and small sex effects in performance. In particular, the I-BNT and the fluency test showed opposite ethnic differences. The variations in these differences across ethnic groups suggest that multiple factors contribute to the observed score disparities. It can be concluded that the study's findings underscore a need to develop new norms for two of the three language tests for different ethnic groups. Future research will be imperative to determine if there may be performance differences in other cognitive domains to warrant further adaptations of the Indonesian norms.

Keywords:

Ethnicity; Cognitive Assessment; Language Tests; Neuropsychology

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van Luijtelaar, G., Wulanyani, N. M. S., Pesau , H. G., Immanuel, A., & Sulastri, A. (2025). Ethnicity and Performance on Language Tests in Indonesia: A Comparison between Five Ethnic Groups. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(11), 255–271. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i11.10906

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Copyright © 2025 Gilles van Luijtelaar, Ni Made Swasti Wulanyani, Heni Gerda Pesau , Aria Immanuel, Augustina Sulastri

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