Coh-Metrix Measures Text Characteristics at Multiple Levels of Language and Discourse

Graesser, Arthur C.; McNamara, Danielle S.; Cai, Zhiqang; Conley, Michael; Li, Haiying; Pennebaker, James W.

doi:10.1086/678293

Cited by 143 publications

(157 citation statements)

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“…Formality is a measure of linguistic and discourse complexity and style that varies with content, discourse genre, and the extent to which common ground is shared between the writer/speaker and the reader/listener (Graesser et al, 2014;H. Li et al, 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Li et al, 2016). Formal discourse tends to occur in wellprepared spoken or written texts in which there is a need to be precise, coherent, accurate, and persuasive to an educated audience (Graesser et al, 2014;H. Li et al, 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Li et al, 2016). Informal discourse is at the opposite end of the continuum, and is prominent in unprepared oral conversations, personal letters, and narrative texts, which are replete with pronouns, deictic references (e.g., here, there), verbs, embodiment words (e.g., health, body), and reliance on common ground (Graesser et al, 2014;H. Li et al, 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…For instance, the messages conveyed via the central route have more formal discourse characteristics, such as being in the informational expository genre, with coherent logical reasoning, precisely selected words, and sentences that are syntactically and semantically complex. In contrast, the messages conveyed via the peripheral route take on the characteristics of informal discourse that is associated with everyday conversation and the narrative genre, with frequent words and simple syntax (Allen & Preiss, 1997;Graesser et al, 2014;Jae, 2010;Kaakinen, Salonen, Venäläinen, & Hyönä, 2011;Lee & Leets, 2002). Political leaders are expected to vary in their use of the central versus the peripheral routes as a function of power phase, the nation's education level, power duration, and age.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies (Dowell et al, 2015;Graesser et al, 2014;H. Li et al, 2016) had claimed that speakers would use formal discourse to persuasion when the audience was educated.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Formality of the Chinese collective leadership

Graesser

2016

Behav Res

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We investigated the linguistic patterns in the discourse of four generations of the collective leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) from 1921 to 2012. The texts of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao were analyzed using computational linguistic techniques (a Chinese formality score) to explore the persuasive linguistic features of the leaders in the contexts of power phase, the nation's education level, power duration, and age. The study was guided by the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion, which includes a central route (represented by formal discourse) versus a peripheral route (represented by informal discourse) to persuasion. The results revealed that these leaders adopted the formal, central route more when they were in power than before they came into power. The nation's education level was a significant factor in the leaders' adoption of the persuasion strategy. The leaders' formality also decreased with their increasing age and in-power times. However, the predictability of these factors for formality had subtle differences among the different types of leaders. These results enhance our understanding of the Chinese collective leadership and the role of formality in politically persuasive messages.

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“…Previous studies (Dowell et al, 2015;Graesser et al, 2014;H. Li et al, 2016) had claimed that speakers would use formal discourse to persuasion when the audience was educated.…”

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confidence: 99%

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