Abstract
Students in Lesotho secondary schools were given a test on the logical connectives “and”, “or”, and “if-then” in either English or Sesotho. In forms 1 and 2, the ‘Sesotho’ groups performed better than the ‘English’ groups, although both groups performed poorly. In form 4, the English group excelled. Analysis of responses to certain categories of questions was undertaken, for example, questions with negatives, questions which called for indirect reasoning, or questions whose answers were not determinable. Certain incorrect reasoning patterns, such as inverse reasoning, were investigated. Although certain differences between language groups were found, the differences were attributed to relative understanding of language rather than to Whorfian differences in logic between language groups.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gay, J. and Cole, M.: 1967, The New Mathematics and an Old Culture, Holt, Rinehart, New York.
Hayakawa, S. I.: 1953, Symbol, Status, and Personality, Harcourt, Brace, New York.
Jansson, L. C.: 1974, ‘Structural and linguistic variables that contribute to difficulty in the judgment of simple verbal deductive arguments’, Educational Studies in Mathematics 5, 493–505.
Jones, P.: 1980, ‘Language level of form A students in Lesotho’, Language in the Mathematics and Science Lesson, National University of Lesotho, pp. 38–44.
Jurdak, M. E.: 1977, ‘Structural and linguistic variables in selected inference patterns for bilinguals in grades six to ten’, Educational Studies in Mathematics 8, 225–238.
Lemon, N.: 1981, ‘Language and learning: some observations on the linguistic determination of cognitive processes’, In J.Gay and B.Lloyd (eds.), Universals of Human Thought, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 201–214.
Miller, G. A. and McNeill, D.: 1969, ‘Psycholinguisties’, In G.Lindzey and A.Aronson (eds.), The Handbook of Social Psychology 3, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass.
Neisser, U. and Weene, P.: 1962, ‘Hierarchies in concept attainment’, Journal of Experimental Psychology 64, 640–645.
Roberge, J. J.: 1969, ‘Negation in the major premise as a factor in children's deductive reasoning’, School Science and Mathematics, November, 1969, pp. 715–722.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zepp, R.A. Bilinguals' understanding of logical connectives in English and Sesotho. Educ Stud Math 13, 205–221 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00460711
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00460711