Table 4 Comparison between the numbers and types of words used in the control and intervention groups' essays.
Dimensions | Word categories | Type of word | Group with highest frequency | Mean use by all students | Mean group difference (control – intervention) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Standard linguistic dimensions | Not applicable | Word count | intervention | 416.7 | -19.2 | 0.34 |
| Â | Â | Words per sentence | control | 26.9 | 0.27 | 0.74 |
| Â | Â | % dictionary words | intervention | 75.5 | -1.1 | 0.04 |
| Â | Â | % words longer than 6 letters | control | 21.2 | 1.7 | 0.001 |
| Â | Â | Total pronouns | intervention | 10.9 | -1.1 | 0.001 |
| Â | Â | I (I, my, me) | intervention | 5.0 | -2.7 | <0.001 |
| Â | Â | Self (I, we, me) | intervention | 5.9 | -2.6 | <0.001 |
| Â | Â | Other (she, their, them) | control | 3.3 | 1.4 | <0.001 |
| Â | Â | Negations (no, never, not) | control | 1.1 | 0.4 | <0.001 |
| Â | Â | Prepositions | intervention | 14.4 | -0.4 | 0.04 |
| Â | Â | Numbers | intervention | 1.12 | -0.3 | 0.001 |
Psychological processes | Affective/emotional processes | Total positive emotions | intervention | 2.9 | -0.3 | 0.02 |
| Â | Â | Optimism and energy | intervention | 0.9 | -0.4 | p < 0.001 |
| Â | Cognitive processes | Total cognitive processes | control | 6.9 | 0.1 | 0.045 |
| Â | Â | Causation (because, effect, hence) | control | 1.1 | 0.4 | <0.001 |
| Â | Â | Tentative (maybe, perhaps, guess) | control | 1.8 | 0.5 | <0.001 |
| Â | Sensory/perceptual processes | Hearing | intervention | 0.9 | -0.2 | 0.01 |
| Â | Social processes | Total social processes | control | 9.0 | 1.3 | 0.002 |
| Â | Â | Other people references (1 st plural, 2 nd & 3 rd person pronouns) | control | 2.5 | 0.2 | <0.001 |
Relativity | Time | Total Time | intervention | 6.2 | -1.0 | <0.0001 |
| Â | Â | Past tense verb | intervention | 6.6 | -1.1 | 0.001 |
| Â | Â | Present tense verb | control | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.02 |
| Â | Â | Future tense verb (will, might, shall) | control | 1.0 | 0.3 | <0.001 |
| Â | Space | Down (down, below, under) | intervention | 0.2 | -0.1 | <0.001 |
| Â | Â | Exclusive (but, except, without) | control | 3.7 | 0.6 | <0.001 |
| Â | Motion | Motion (walk, move, go) | intervention | 0.9 | -0.4 | <0.001 |
Personal concerns | Occupation | Achieve | intervention | 1.1 | -0.3 | 0.005 |
| Â | Leisure activity | Sports | intervention | 0.4 | -0.3 | 0.02 |
| Â | Â | Music | intervention | 0.1 | -0.1 | 0.05 |
| Â | Metaphysical issues | Total metaphysical | control | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.015 |
| Â | Â | Religion | control | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.02 |