LSAT 111 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q11

LR Question 11 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Linguist: Some people have understood certain studies…

QUESTION TYPE: Method of Reasoning

CONCLUSION: The studies that showed bilingual children have smaller vocabularies were flawed.

REASONING: Bilingual children often know a word in only one of their two languages. The tests were only given in one language.

ANALYSIS: This is a good argument, assuming that we can say a child knows a word if they know it in one but not both of their languages.

The argument proceeds by showing an error in the in the studies: the vocabulary tests were unilingual.

___________

1. The argument hasn’t said bilingualism is an advantage. It just concluded against the idea that bilingualism had been shown to be a disadvantage. 
2. There was no inconsistency. There was just an error in how the tests were done. An inconsistency is a contradiction, and not all errors are contradictions.
3. Not all vocabulary tests are flawed. Dual-use tests can adequately measure a bilingual child’s vocabulary. 
4. The studies found disadvantages to bilingualism. This answer choice got that wrong: it says advantages.
5. CORRECT. The methodological error was that the vocabulary tests were only in one language.