Abstract
In order to study possible differential effects of language on reasoning and to control educational factors, bilingual subjects of two linguistic origins (Chinese and South Indian) studying in the same university were asked to solve two-term deductions between quantified sentences in their second language (English or Malay). No systematic differences were observed between subjects whose native languages were different nor between subjects reasoning in different languages. Thus no support was provided for Whorl's hypothesis. The opposing hypothesis, however, received support, that is, that the interpretation of quantified sentences is based on universal grammatical and pragmatic factors.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
