37.1944, Books: Evaluative Language in Engineering Writing: Simpson-Smith (2026)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-1944. Mon Jun 01 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.1944, Books: Evaluative Language in Engineering Writing: Simpson-Smith (2026)

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Date: 28-May-2026
From: Lucy Trotter [lucytrotter0 at gmail.com]
Subject: Evaluative Language in Engineering Writing: Simpson-Smith (2026)


Title: Evaluative Language in Engineering Writing
Subtitle: The Grammar of Persuasion
Series Title: Bloomsbury Studies in Systemic Functional Linguistics
Publication Year: 2026

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
           http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/
Book URL:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/evaluative-language-in-engineering-writing-9781350475137/

Author(s): Claire Simpson-Smith

Hardback, ISBN: 9781350475137, £95.00

Abstract:

This book examines strategic language use in professional engineering
written reports, illustrating how writers create a persuasive stance
within an objective style. It describes engineering writing through a
close analysis of interpersonal language, using Systemic Functional
Linguistics (SFL), complemented with quantitative corpus linguistics
methods and interpreted through concepts drawn from Legitimation Code
Theory (LCT). This description demonstrates how engineering writers
have a strong preference for a certain type of evaluative language,
with a dominant stance focused on the worthiness of things and
processes. It is also demonstrates that engineering writers make
strategic choices in their use of interpersonal language towards a
certain aim, particularly in documents written to gain approval of a
project by a regulatory body.
This research is focused on engineering writing in the Australian
context, but given the globalised nature of the engineering
profession, also has relevance internationally. The creation of an
objective stance in writing is also relevant to other disciplines.

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
                     General Linguistics




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