Formulaic interactions with engineering students

Writing tutors and others who consult with writers about technical communication can improve the quality of their interactions about writing if they understand how to use compliments effectively. We analyzed 107 compliments that writing tutors used in interactions with engineering students. Specifically, we investigated how tutors used formulaic compliments like it´s good and how those compliments differed in function from non-formulaic compliments like the size is excellent in terms of visually aiding the reader. We suggest some ways that tutors and other people who work with technical communicators, such as editors, can employ compliments more effectively.