Interesting…
AUSTIN, Texas — The smallest, most forgettable words in admissions essays can tell us in advance how students will perform in college, a new study by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin reveals.
http://www.utexas.edu/news/2015/01/07/short-words-predict-academic-success/
Hmm…I kind of get it. People who don’t get good grades use online dictionaries for bigger worda and have no idea what they r talking about. Some smart kids fall into this pit as well.
Smarter kids/really good writers can convey this in a story that can be read by all and enjoyed because no big words.
But still, some smart people NEED to use bigger words or at least short, unique ones to convey what needs to be conveyed.
Lol I am of mixed feelings here but kinda more into denial of this article.
I don’t agree with various parts of the research. For example, a key argument in the article seemed to entail that the use of “I” is somehow inferior to the use of “the” and “a”. However, personal statements are essays that provide insight into the applicant, and many – if not a majority – are written in first-person point of view. (Frankly, an essay written in third-person may more often than not just sound odd.) In fact, a document from UCSB detailing how one should write an effective personal statement states on the second page “Use plently of ‘I’ statements.”
https://admissions.sa.ucsb.edu/docs/default-source/PDFs/ucsb-personal-statement.pdf
Not so coincidentally, the absolute worst essays I read are the ones that are too complex. When it comes to admissions essays (or writing in general) short words and thus easy to read text are the way to go. Why? Cuz ain’t no admissions office got time to decrypt some hyroglifics.
Honestly my number 1 complaint in essays is that over half are too difficult to read. On the flip-side, all the good essays that get people in selective universities us plenty of simple short words.
This study has nothing to do with essay complexity, sentence complexity, or the length of word choices.
Rather, the study examined the use of different kinds of function words in admissions essays at one university. “I” belongs to one category of words, “the” belongs to another category. There are 8 categories in all that were examined. The study found that words like “the” correlate with higher GPAs while words like “I” correlate with lower GPAs.
There’s nothing to disagree with there. The correlation either exists or it doesn’t exist. The data say that it does. Since they used computer analysis to study 50,000 essays, and I happen to know that the study’s leader is a respected linguist, I’m inclined to trust the data.
The study does not say that words like “I” are inherently less valuable than other words. Rather, it points out that a high usage of first-person words is characteristic of storytelling (it draws on established research for this) and speculates that college educators (not the study authors) are the ones who value expository writing more highly than narrative writing. The study authors even wonder if such a bias is unfortunate.
The authors also caution against using their conclusions as part of the admissions process because the choice of function words could easily be gamed.
I believe that if something can be said more simply, than it should be. Usage of any more advanced words is a result of the specific meaning of that word being necessary to evoke a certain tone or meaning. Kind of like math - you can simplify many equations; some equations just can’t appear as simple as others, moving anything further around would render the equation untrue.
I think Orwell wrote a shorter satirical piece on how the English language is used.