The LexTALE as a measure of L2 global proficiency: A cautionary tale based on a partial replication of Lemhöfer and Broersma (2012) Puig-Mayenco, Eloi Chaouch-Orozco, Adel Liu, Hong Martín Villena, Fernando LexTALE L2 Global Proficiency Vocabulary Size Partial Replication The role of proficiency is widely discussed in multilingual language acquisition research, and yet, there is little consensus as to how one should operationalize it in our empirical investigations. The present study assesses the validity of the LexTALE (Lemhöfer and Broersma, 2012) as a ‘quick and valid’ measure of global proficiency. We first provide an overview review of how the LexTALE has been used since its publication, showing that although the test has gained popularity in the last few years, its reliability has not been thoroughly examined. Thus, herein we present results of a partial replication of Lemhöfer and Broersma (2012), where we empirically assess the validity of the LexTALE as a measure of L2 global proficiency in two groups of learners of English with various degrees of proficiency (L1 Spanish, n = 288; L1 Chinese, n = 266). The results indicate that if we are to use LexTALE in our investigations, we should do so with caution as the analyses show that irrespective of the L1 and level of proficiency of the targeted participants, its reliability as a measure of global proficiency is under question evidenced by the low and moderate correlations found with a standardised measure of global proficiency across groups. 2023-10-03T10:12:54Z 2023-10-03T10:12:54Z 2022-11-14 journal article Published version: Puig-Mayenco, E., Chaouch-Orozco, A., Liu, H. & Martín-Villena, F. (In press). A word of caution for the use of the LexTALE as a measure of global L2 proficiency: a partial replication of Lemhöfer and Broersma (2012). Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism. [https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.22048.pui] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/84804 10.1075/lab.22048.pui eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional John Benjamins Publishing Company