Critical thinking, intelligence, and language aptitude are three cognitive factors, each, in its own way, influencing our lives. They are important in successful reasoning, problem-solving, and foreign language learning, and thus are worth studying regarding their influence on individuals' language-related skills, in particular, foreign…

The purpose of this study was to identify cognitive and linguistic predictors of word problems with versus without irrelevant information. The sample was 701 2nd-grade students who received no specialized intervention on word problems. In the fall, they were assessed on initial arithmetic and word-problem skill as well as language ability, working…