Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jan 2018

The Use of Passives and Impersonal Style in Civil Engineering Writing

Susan Conrad Portland State University

Abstract

Claims abound about passives and the impersonal style they create. Few studies, however, check the claims with a large, systematic analysis of texts from either academia or industry. Motivated by the need to teach effective workplace writing skills to undergraduate engineering students, this study investigates the use of passives and associated impersonal style features in 170 practitioner reports, journal articles, and student reports from civil engineering. Using multidimensional analysis (a technique from corpus linguistics) and interviews of practitioners, students, and faculty, the study found that, as expected, engineering texts, compared to nontechnical texts, have a frequent use of impersonal style features; however, they use passives for a wider range of functions than is typically described in technical writing literature. Furthermore, compared to the journal articles and student reports, the practitioner reports use significantly fewer features of impersonal style. The findings inform teaching materials that present a more realistically complex picture of the language structures and functions important for civil engineering practice.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2018-01-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651917729864
Open Access
Closed
Topics
writing across the curriculum technical communication professional writing voice and style

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Smith (2023)
    Corpus Linguistics and Technical Editing: How Corpora Can Help Copy Editors Ado…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Leong et al. (2018)
    Examining Structure in Scientific Research Articles: A Study of Thematic Progre…
    Written Communication

Cites in this index (13)

  1. Converse (2012)
    Unpoetic Justice
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Wolfe et al. (2011)
    Teaching the IMRaD Genre: Sentence Combining and Pattern Practice Revisited
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Wolfe (2009)
    How Technical Communication Textbooks Fail Engineering Students
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Reave (2004)
    Technical Communication Instruction in Engineering Schools
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Blakeslee (2001)
    Bridging the Workplace and the Academy: Teaching Professional Genres through Cl…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 13 →
  1. Riggle (1998)
    Using the Active and Passive Voice Appropriately in On-the-Job Writing
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. FREEDMAN et al. (1994)
    Wearing Suits to Class
    Written Communication
  3. Wilkinson (1992)
    Jargon and the Passive Voice: Prescriptions and Proscriptions for Scientific Writing
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. COUTURE (1992)
    Categorizing Professional Discourse
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Riley (1991)
    Passive Voice and Rhetorical Role in Scientific Writing
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  6. Kies (1985)
    Some Stylistic Features of Business and Technical Writing: The Functions of Pas…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  7. Warren (1981)
    The Passive Voice Verb: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography — Parts II — V
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  8. Warren (1981)
    The Passive Voice Verb: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography — Part I
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Also cites 30 works outside this index ↓
  1. Alvin L. (2014). The passive voice in scientific writing. The current norm in science journals. JCOM: Journal…
     ↗
  2. 10.1061/(ASCE)1052-3928(1996)122:3(107)
     ↗
  3. 10.1017/CBO9780511621024
     ↗
  4. 10.1017/CBO9780511814358
     ↗
  5. 10.5054/tq.2011.244483
     ↗
  6. 10.4324/9780203538098
     ↗
  7. 10.1007/s10706-010-9367-8
     ↗
  8. 10.1016/S0898-5898(96)90025-X
     ↗
  9. 10.1075/scl.60.09con
     ↗
  10. 10.1017/CBO9781139764377.018
     ↗
  11. 10.1002/jee.20161
     ↗
  12. Conrad S. Kitch W. Pfeiffer T. Smith T. Tocco J. (2015). Students writing for professional practice: A model …
     ↗
  13. Conrad S. Kitch W. Smith T. Lamb K. Pfeiffer T. (2016). Faculty-practitioner collaboration for improving civi…
     ↗
  14. Conrad S. Pfeiffer T. Szymoniak T. (2012). Preparing students for writing in civil engineering practice. Pape…
     ↗
  15. Day R. (2011)
    Scientific English: A guide for scientists and other professionals
     ↗
  16. 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9445(2008)134:7(1165)
     ↗
  17. 10.1109/TE.1984.4321688
     ↗
  18. Henry M. Granlund E. (2008). Rhetoric of grammar for engineers: Developing a WAC (writing across the curricul…
     ↗
  19. 10.1007/s10706-013-9648-0
     ↗
  20. 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(2007)133:9(539)
     ↗
  21. 10.1093/applin/18.2.189
     ↗
  22. 10.1093/applin/ams059
     ↗
  23. 10.1017/9781009030199
     ↗
  24. 10.1016/j.jeap.2013.12.001
     ↗
  25. 10.1016/j.langcom.2013.08.009
     ↗
  26. 10.1093/oso/9780195367423.001.0001
     ↗
  27. 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2001.tb00660.x
     ↗
  28. 10.1057/9780230625143
     ↗
  29. 10.1017/S1360674309990153
     ↗
  30. 10.1021/ed071p47
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 33 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Oct 2021
    Investigating the Impact of Design Thinking, Content Strategy, and Artificial Intelligence: A “Streams” Approach for Technical Communication and User Experience ↗
    Gustav Verhulsdonck; Tharon Howard; Jason Tham
    writing across the curriculum multimodality artificial intelligence technical communication professional writing multilingual writers
  2. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Oct 2020
    Legally Minded Technical Communicators: A Case Study of a Legal Writing Course ↗
    Godwin Y. Agboka
    writing across the curriculum qualitative research technical communication professional writing multilingual writers
  3. Research in the Teaching of English May 2012
    Audience and Authority in the Professional Writing of Teacher-Authors ↗
    Anne Elrod Whitney; Christine Dawson; Katie Anderson; Suyoung Kang; Elsie Olan Rios; Nicole Olcese; Michael Ridgeman
    writing across the curriculum qualitative research professional writing voice and style
  4. Written Communication Apr 2012
    Pairing Courses Across the Disciplines ↗
    Julie Watts; Rebecca E. Burnett
    writing across the curriculum empirical research technical communication professional writing
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jul 2011
    Technical Writing and the Development of the English Paragraph 1473–1700 ↗
    Elizabeth Tebeaux
    composition theory writing across the curriculum multimodality technical communication race and writing multilingual writers voice and style