Bassetti, B.
University of York (UK)
The English language differentiates factual and counterfactual conditionals by means of verb mood, whereas the Chinese language does not explicitly differentiate the two types of conditionals. Past research presented controversial evidence of differences between English and Chinese speakers’ inferencing from counterfactual stories (Bloom, 1981), which all subsequent studies failed to replicate (e.g., Au, 1984; Liu, 1985). The present study tested the hypothesis that Chinese-English bilinguals’ inferences about counterfactual stories differ when stories are presented in English or Chinese. Participants read two short stories (one in each language) and answered comprehension questions. Results confirmed effects of language of presentation. A second experiment compared Chinese-English bilinguals and (older) monolingual Chinese speakers performing the same task. Bilinguals and monolinguals performed differently. Results will be discussed in terms of linguistic relativity and bilingual cognition. REFERENCES Au, T.K. (1984). Counterfactuals: In reply to Alfred Bloom. Cognition, 17(3), 289-302.
Bloom, A. (1981). The Linguistic Shaping of Thought: A Study in the Impact of Language on Thinking in China and the West. Hillsfale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Liu, L.G. (1985). Reasoning counterfactually in Chinese: Are there any obstacles? Cognition, 21(3), 239-270.