Are discourse comprehension and cognitive processes influenced by the type of language (English and Spanish)? A cross-language study based on elaborative inferences generation

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether discourse comprehension processes, focusing on the type of inferences activated during reading, would be influenced by the language (English and Spanish) as supported by linguistic relativity theories. 20 U.S. and 20 Spanish undergraduates took part in this study using a think-aloud task. The results suggest that inference generation was not restricted by language differences. In contrast, these data support the idea that inference activation reflects a universal cognitive processes pattern. © 2011 Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia.