Role Of Linguistic Features Research Articles

Randomized controlled trial assessing the efficacy of expressive writing in reducing anxiety in first-year college students: the role of linguistic features

Objective Meta-analyses assessing the efficacy of expressive writing (EW) interventions have produced mixed results. The current study aimed to assess the efficacy of an EW intervention in the reduction of anxiety symptoms in first-year college students. In an effort to understand more about moderating variables that influence EW outcomes, the current study also assessed the role of linguistic features in symptom reduction. Design and measures Ninety participants were assigned to complete either an EW intervention or a non-emotional writing intervention. Participants completed 3 consecutive days of writing and two follow-up visits. Anxiety was measured at each study visit with the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and linguistic features were assessed with the LIWC software program. Results Results indicated that all participants demonstrated significant decreases in anxiety over time. Participants in the EW group who demonstrated the greatest decreases in anxiety utilized more first-person singular pronouns and fewer affect words. Conclusions Results are explained in the context of two prominent theories regarding the therapeutic mechanisms of EW: cognitive processing theory and exposure theory. Exposure theory received more support than cognitive processing theory.

Language in science performance: do good readers perform better?

Science performance is highly affected by students’ reading comprehension. Recently, there has been a growing attention to the role of linguistic features for science performance, but findings are ambivalent, especially when looking into item word count. The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction of students’ reading comprehension and item word count of given science measures on performance, controlling for students’ cognitive abilities, gender, family language, and school track. The sample consisted of N = 2051 German students in grades 10 and 11. Students completed (scientific) literacy measures. We then applied a multilevel logistic regression to investigate the hypothesized interaction effect of reading comprehension and word count on students’ science performance. The results showed a significant interaction of students’ reading comprehension and word count on science performance, controlling for several covariates. Particularly students with high reading comprehension benefit from science items with increasing word count. Our findings empirically support previous research, showing that reading comprehension is crucial for science performance and enhances the interaction between reading comprehension and linguistic features of written text in science subjects. Finally, theoretical and practical implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

The role of linguistic features when reading and solving mathematics tasks in different languages

The purpose of this study is to deepen the understanding of the relation between the language used in mathematics tasks and the difficulty in reading and solving the tasks. We examine issues of language both through linguistic features of tasks (word length, sentence length, task length, and information density) and through different natural languages used to formulate the tasks (English, German, and Swedish). Analyses of 83 PISA mathematics tasks reveal that tasks in German, when compared with English and Swedish, show stronger connections between the examined linguistic features of tasks and difficulty in reading and solving the tasks. We discuss if and how this result can be explained by general differences between the three languages.

Doubly–Negating Complicatedness of Undoing Love: A Stylistic Reading of I Can’t Unlove You by Kenny Rogers

This wasa research about the role of linguistic features in contributing to the overall meaning of a song entitled I Can’t Unlove You by Kenny Rogers. The goal of the research was to prove that special linguistic features used in the song played a significant role in conveying the meaning of the song. This wasa library research by identifying and elaborating the special linguistic construction found in the song lyric text. It is concluded that the use of double negation combined with invented negative verbs has successfully build up the idea of impossibility in undoing love. This double negative expression is needed because love intricacy and complicatedness can only be expressed in a stylistically special way where common expressions are unable to reach the intended meaning.