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
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
writing pedagogy teacher development technical communication professional writing quantitative research
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (5)

  1. Brumberger et al. (2025)
    From Academy to Workplace: Perceptions of Engineering Communication Skills
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Markey (2025)
    Presenting and Making Relevant: Analyzing Teaching Assistant Perceptions of Wri…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  3. Smith (2023)
    Corpus Linguistics and Technical Editing: How Corpora Can Help Copy Editors Ado…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Boettger et al. (2019)
    Gender Effects in Student Technical and Scientific Writing—A Corpus-Based Study
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  5. Leong et al. (2018)
    Examining Structure in Scientific Research Articles: A Study of Thematic Progre…
    Written Communication

References (64) · 13 in this index

  1. Alvin L. (2014). The passive voice in scientific writing. The current norm in science journals. JCOM: Journal…
     ↗
  2. Atkinson D. (1999)
    Scientific discourse in sociohistorical context: The Philosophical Transactions of the Ro…
  3. Atkinson D. (2001)
    Variation in English: Multi-dimensional studies
  4. Beer D. (2014)
    A guide to writing as an engineer
  5. 10.1061/(ASCE)1052-3928(1996)122:3(107)
     ↗
Show all 64 →
  1. 10.1017/CBO9780511621024
     ↗
  2. 10.1017/CBO9780511814358
     ↗
  3. Biber D. (2001)
    Variation in English: Multi-dimensional studies
  4. 10.5054/tq.2011.244483
     ↗
  5. Biber D. (1999)
    The Longman grammar of spoken and written English
  6. Blakeslee (2001)
    Bridging the Workplace and the Academy: Teaching Professional Genres through Cl…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  7. 10.4324/9780203538098
     ↗
  8. 10.1007/s10706-010-9367-8
     ↗
  9. Connaster B. (2004)
    Reconsidering some prescriptive rules of grammar and composition
    Technical Communication
  10. 10.1016/S0898-5898(96)90025-X
     ↗
  11. 10.1075/scl.60.09con
     ↗
  12. 10.1017/CBO9781139764377.018
     ↗
  13. 10.1002/jee.20161
     ↗
  14. Conrad S. (2001)
    Variation in English: Multi-dimensional studies
  15. Conrad S. (2009)
    Real grammar: A corpus-based approach to English
  16. Conrad S. Kitch W. Pfeiffer T. Smith T. Tocco J. (2015). Students writing for professional practice: A model …
     ↗
  17. Conrad S. Kitch W. Smith T. Lamb K. Pfeiffer T. (2016). Faculty-practitioner collaboration for improving civi…
     ↗
  18. Conrad S. Pfeiffer T. Szymoniak T. (2012). Preparing students for writing in civil engineering practice. Pape…
     ↗
  19. Converse (2012)
    Unpoetic Justice: Ideology and the Individual in the Genre of the Presentence I…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  20. COUTURE (1992)
    Categorizing Professional Discourse: Engineering, Administrative, and Technical…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  21. Davies Mark (2008-) The Corpus of Contemporary American English: 520 million words 1990-present. Available on…
  22. Day R. (2011)
    Scientific English: A guide for scientists and other professionals
     ↗
  23. Ding D. (2001)
    Object-centered—how engineering writing embodies objects: A study of four engineering documents
    Technical Communication
  24. Ding D. (2002)
    The passive voice and social values in science
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  25. Donnell J. Aller B. Alley M. Kendrowicz A. (2011). Why industry says that engineering graduates have poor com…
  26. Dorgeloh H. (2004)
    The limits of variation in scientific abstracts: Syntactic and functional constraints
    I.T.L. Review of Applied Linguistics
  27. 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9445(2008)134:7(1165)
     ↗
  28. FREEDMAN et al. (1994)
    Wearing Suits to Class: Simulating Genres and Simulations as Genre
    Written Communication
  29. 10.1109/TE.1984.4321688
     ↗
  30. Halliday M. (2004)
    An introduction to functional grammar
  31. Henry M. Granlund E. (2008). Rhetoric of grammar for engineers: Developing a WAC (writing across the curricul…
     ↗
  32. Ingre D. (2008)
    Engineering communication: A practical guide to workplace communications for engineers
  33. 10.1007/s10706-013-9648-0
     ↗
  34. 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(2007)133:9(539)
     ↗
  35. Kies (1985)
    Some Stylistic Features of Business and Technical Writing: The Functions of Pas…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  36. Martin J. (2007)
    Working with discourse: Meaning beyond the clause
  37. 10.1093/applin/18.2.189
     ↗
  38. 10.1093/applin/ams059
     ↗
  39. 10.1017/9781009030199
     ↗
  40. 10.1016/j.jeap.2013.12.001
     ↗
  41. 10.1016/j.langcom.2013.08.009
     ↗
  42. Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). Writing engineering reports. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/re…
  43. Reave (2004)
    Technical Communication Instruction in Engineering Schools: A Survey of Top-Ran…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  44. Rehou M. (2006)
    Technical writing
    Canadian Consulting Engineer
  45. Riggle (1998)
    Using the Active and Passive Voice Appropriately in On-the-Job Writing
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  46. Riley (1991)
    Passive Voice and Rhetorical Role in Scientific Writing
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  47. 10.1093/oso/9780195367423.001.0001
     ↗
  48. 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2001.tb00660.x
     ↗
  49. 10.1057/9780230625143
     ↗
  50. 10.1017/S1360674309990153
     ↗
  51. Sheen A. (1982)
    Breathing life into medical writing: A medical handbook
  52. Silyn-Roberts H. (2005)
    Professional communications: A handbook for civil engineers
  53. 10.1021/ed071p47
     ↗
  54. Tebeaux E. (2015)
    The essentials of technical communication
  55. Warren (1981)
    The Passive Voice Verb: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography — Part I
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  56. Warren (1981)
    The Passive Voice Verb: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography — Parts II — V
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  57. Wilkinson (1992)
    Jargon and the Passive Voice: Prescriptions and Proscriptions for Scientific Writing
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  58. Wolfe (2009)
    How Technical Communication Textbooks Fail Engineering Students
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  59. Wolfe et al. (2011)
    Teaching the IMRaD Genre: Sentence Combining and Pattern Practice Revisited
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
CrossRef global citation count: 33 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Prompt: A Journal of Academic Writing Assignments Jan 2026
    A Murder Most Technical: Gamification, AI, and Rhetorical Genre Studies in the Technical Writing Classroom ↗
    Justin Cook
    genre theory writing pedagogy service learning teacher development argument collaborative writing technical communication professional writing
  2. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing writing across the curriculum graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions archival research multimodality artificial intelligence literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies literary studies editorial matter
  3. Pedagogy Apr 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism african american rhetorics cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy basic writing graduate education two-year college teacher development writing centers technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions digital rhetoric multimodality social media literacy studies race and writing gender and writing community literacy literary studies editorial matter
  4. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Dec 2024
    Teaching AI Ethics in Technical and Professional Communication: A Systematic Review ↗
    Nupoor Ranade; Marly Saravia
    writing pedagogy teacher development technical communication professional writing literacy studies race and writing
  5. Technical Communication Quarterly Oct 2024
    Editors’ Use of Comprehensive Style Guides: The Case of Singular They ↗
    Jo Mackiewicz; Shaya Kraut; Allison Durazzi
    rhetorical criticism discourse analysis first-year composition writing pedagogy graduate education teacher development writing centers technical communication professional writing digital rhetoric multilingual writers grammar and mechanics literacy studies race and writing public rhetoric editorial matter