Evaluating aphasia in bilingual individuals through monolingual assessment presents significant clinical limitations that may obscure the full spectrum of post-stroke linguistic impairments in Maltese - English speakers. Bilingual individuals typically demonstrate varying proficiency levels across their languages, with aphasia potentially affecting each language distinctively—sometimes manifesting greater severity in the dominant rather than the non-dominant language. Single - language assessment risks producing an incomplete profile of linguistic capabilities and impairments in the Maltese - English bilingual adult, potentially leading to diagnostic inaccuracies. 

The research project addresses a critical gap in the aphasia assessment landscape through the development of the first standardised, psychometrically robust Maltese - English aphasia assessment tool. The research methodology encompasses these sequential phases: 1) Review of existing English aphasia assessment tools alongside instruments that have been translated and adapted for multiple languages. This analysis provides the foundation for selecting the B-EBLT as the instrument for adaptation to the Maltese - English bilingual context in post-stroke aphasia assessment;  2) Translation and adaptation of the Brisbane Evidence-Based Language Test (B-EBLT) into the Maltese - English Aphasia Assessment (MEAA); 3) pilot testing and data collection from neurotypical bilingual participants; and 4) the stroke study comparing MEAA Maltese - English scores of bilingual individuals with post-stroke aphasia and stroke survivors without aphasia.