Original title: The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science
English is widely used for science, but it can make research tasks harder for people who speak other languages. In a survey of 908 environmental science researchers, those who were not native English speakers reported spending more effort reading and writing papers and preparing presentations in English. Some said language barriers kept them from attending or giving talks at English-language international conferences. The study also suggests steps individuals and organisations can take to reduce these disadvantages.
Imagine making dinner using a recipe written in a language you learned later in life. You can still cook, but reading each step and explaining the meal takes extra effort. In this paper, the recipe stands for English-language scientific work, and the added effort reflects what researchers who speak other languages report when reading, writing, and presenting science in English.
Researchers who use English as an additional language may spend more effort on everyday scientific tasks, especially early in their careers. They may also miss chances to attend or speak at international conferences, limiting how they share their work.
The survey covers 908 researchers in environmental sciences, so the abstract does not establish whether the findings apply to other fields or to all researchers. It does not provide details about how the proposed solutions work or whether they have been tested.
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The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science — Tatsuya Amano, Valeria Ramírez‐Castañeda, Violeta Berdejo‐Espinola et al. — PLoS Biology — doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3002184
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.