Review of A Math-Based Writing System for Engineers: Sentence Algebra and Document Algorithms

Abstract

Grammar instruction and how it should be handled is an ongoing and contentious topic in composition and technical communication. Michael Knievel, April Heaney, and Meg Van Baalen-Wood (2010) trace the historical tension between writing instructor pedagogies that emphasize “rhetorical concerns like audience and purpose” (p. 58) and the skills-based pedagogies that have strong roots in the engineering discipline. Despite varied opinions, many technical communication instructors for engineers may find themselves in a position of needing to address grammar because of the company and client expectations that students will encounter in future. While there are a multitude of approaches, Brad Henderson’s A Math-Based Writing System for Engineers (2020) provides one method that focuses on how the English language works at a sentence level.