AMOIT LYNN MILDRED2026-09-092026-09-092026-09-09Amoit ,lynn mildred(2026)Linguistic reasoning at university level (how to develop expert reasoning skills)https://bdears.busitema.ac.ug/handle/123456789/9423Linguistic reasoning at university level (how to develop expert reasoning skills)This mixed-methods study investigated the status of linguistic reasoning at the university level and explored how routine communicative habits and pedagogical configurations actively shaped advanced cognitive capacities. Quantitative evaluations of two hundred fifty (N = 250) undergraduates utilizing adapted verbal reasoning instruments revealed a moderate overall baseline proficiency (M = 68.7, SD = 14.2), but uncovered statistically significant disciplinary variations (F(3, 246) = 8.47, p < .001) where Humanities and Social Science cohorts outperformed their peers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) tracks. A robust positive correlation (r = .52, p < .001) was established between active, dialogic language participation—such as structured academic debates and analytical essay writing—and objective logical performance. This effectively supported Vygotskian socio-cultural mediation theories and Evans and Stanovich’s dual-process cognitive frameworks by demonstrating that complex linguistic manipulation functioned as a necessary mechanism to trigger effortful System 2 analytical processing. Qualitative data from twenty (n = 20) semi-structured instructor interviews confirmed that while faculty attempted to implement interactive Socratic questioning and scaffolded writing portfolios to build logical capacity within language courses, their pedagogical efficacy was severely undermined by systemic institutional bottlenecks. These barriers included expanding class sizes, dense semester timelines, and highly uneven baseline student preparation.enBook