Assessing College Writing: Do Students Connect with the Text?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29038/eejpl.2020.7.1.nalKeywords:
language style matching, categorical-dynamic index, academic writing, computerized text analysis, LIWC.Abstract
Reading-response research has shown that students respond to a text by engaging various cognitive and emotional processes. The aim of the current study was to examine students’ written reactions to an assigned reading as a way to determine (1) whether students connect with the reading and (2) the differing cognitive styles they may utilize in their reactions. The methods applied two text-analytic procedures to 238 student reactions to an ethics case study. The procedures were language style matching, which is a metric of engagement, and the categorical-dynamic index, which is a metric of analytic and experiential processing. We predicted that students who more strongly connected—or engaged—with the text would also demonstrate greater analytic thinking in their written response and, conversely, those who weakly connected with the text would express a more informal response based on experience. The data were analyzed using correlation statistics. The results showed that students whose writing more closely matched with the linguistic style of the case study were more likely to use an analytical style of writing, and students whose writing weakly matched the linguistic style of the case study were more likely to use an informal narrative style of writing. Future research should examine the extent to which language style matching and an associated analytic cognitive style are emergent skills that develop over the course of a college experience.
Downloads
References
Baddeley, J.L. (2012). E-mail communications among people with and without major depressive disorder (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Blackburn, K.G. (2015). The narrative arc: Exploring the linguistic structure of the narrative (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas.
Chung, C., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2007). The psychological functions of function words. Social Communication, 1, 343-359.
Ireland, M. E., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2010). Language style matching in writing: Synchrony in essays, correspondence, and poetry. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(3), 549. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020386
Ireland, M.E., Slatcher, R.B., Eastwick, P.W., Scissors, L.E., Finkel, E.J., & Pennebaker, J.W. (2011). Language style matching predicts relationship initiation and stability. Psychological Science, 22(1), 39-44. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610392928
Inbar, Y., Cone, J., & Gilovich, T. (2010). People’s intuitions about intuitive insight and intuitive choice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 232–247. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020215
Jordan, K. N., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2017). The exception or the rule: Using words to assess analytic thinking, Donald Trump, and the American presidency. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 3(3), 312-316. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000125
Jordan, K. N., Sterling, J., Pennebaker, J. W., & Boyd, R. L. (2019). Examining long-term trends in politics and culture through language of political leaders and cultural institutions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(9), 3476-3481. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811987116
Kacewicz, E., Pennebaker, J. W., Davis, M., Jeon, M., & Graesser, A. C. (2014). Pronoun use reflects standings in social hierarchies. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 33(2), 125-143. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X13502654
Lance G.N., Williams W.T. (1967): Mixed-data classificatory programs, I.) Agglomerative systems. Australian Computer Journal, 1, 15-20.
Leaper, C. (2014). Gender similarities and differences in language. In T. M. Holtgraves (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of language and social psychology. (pp. 62-81). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199838639.013.002
Ludwig, S., de Ruyter, K., Mahr, D., Wetzels, M., Brüggen, E. and De Ruyck, T. (2014). Take their word for it: The symbolic role of linguistic style matches in user communities. MIS Quarterly: Management Information Systems, 38(4), 1201-1217.
Mart, C. T. (2019). Reader-response theory and literature discussions: A Springboard for exploring literary texts. The New Educational Review, 56, 78-87. https://doi.org/10.15804/tner.2019.56.2.06
Niederhoffer, K. G., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2002). Linguistic style matching in social interaction. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 21, 337-360. https://doi.org/10.1177/026192702237953
Pennebaker, J. W. (2011). The secret life of pronouns: How our words reflect who we are. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.
Pennebaker, J.W., Booth, R.J., Boyd, R.L., & Francis, M.E. (2015). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count: LIWC2015. Austin, TX: Pennebaker Conglomerates.
Pennebaker, J.W., Chung, C.K., Frazee, J., Lavergne, G.M., & Beaver, D.I. (2014). When small words foretell academic success: The case of college admissions essays. PLoS ONE, 9. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0115844
Pulvermüller, F., Shtyrov, Y., Hasting, A. S., & Carlyon, R. P. (2008). Syntax as a reflex: Neurophysiological evidence for early automaticity of grammatical processing. Brain and Language, 104, 244-253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2007.05.002
Richardson, B. H., Taylor, P. J., Snook, B., Conchie, S. M., & Bennell, C. (2014). Language style matching and police interrogation outcomes. Law and Human Behavior, 38(4), 357-366. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000077
Rosenblatt, L. M. (2016). Literature as exploration. Modern Language Association.
Segalowitz, S. J., & Lane, K. C. (2000). Lexical access of function versus content words. Brain and Language, 75, 376-389. https://doi.org/10.1006/brln.2000.2361
Segrin, C. (2000). Social skills deficits associated with depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 20, 379- 403. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7358(98)00104-4
Segrin, C. & Abramson, L. Y. (1994). Negative reactions to depressive behaviors: A communication theories analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 655-668. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.103.4.655
Shaw, H., Taylor, P., Conchie, S., & Ellis, D. A. (2019, March 6). Language Style Matching : A Comprehensive List of Articles and Tools. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/yz4br
Wyatt, D., Pressley, M., El-Dinary, P. B., Stein, S., Evans, P., & Brown, R. (1993). Comprehension strategies, worth and credibility monitoring, and evaluations: Cold and hot cognition when experts read professional articles that are important to them. Learning and Individual Differences, 5(1), 49-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/1041-6080(93)90026-O
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 East European Journal of Psycholinguistics. 2014 - 2020. All Rights Reserved.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
Creative Commons «Attribution» 4.0