Lost in translation: Overcoming manuscript hurdles for ESL researchers
We’ve written about common errors and pitfalls in writing in English, but today I would like to look less at manuscripts themselves, and more about the issues English-as-a-second-language (ESL) researchers face in navigating the heavily English-biased world of academic publishing.
The English privilege
I have spent over a decade helping non-native English learners, both in classrooms in Japan and with researchers all over the world as a scientific editor. Still, I sometimes forget the challenges of trying to express my thoughts cogently in another language (Japanese) until I put my skills to the test. Then, I’ll agonize over every word I write. I often consult dictionaries, search references for Japanese honorific grammar (it’s difficult!), and even ask my wife—a native Japanese speaker—to proofread. Compared to writing in English, it’s exhausting. I may be conversationally fluent in Japanese, but I often feel constrained when trying to express myself, compared to when I do so in English. Unfortunately, it is harder to express ideas intelligently or sound like “me” when communicating in Japanese.
For me, this is a challenge, but at least I do not rely on expressing my ideas in Japanese to make a living. However, this is a familiar challenge for millions of academics who critically need to express themselves in English.
It isn’t fair. By being a native-born English speaker, I have been afforded a great head start in life by learning English before I even knew what a language is, and I did not need to learn English on top of everything else I studied at university.
In this post, I would like to talk about why both native-speaking and ESL researchers need to recognize the gap between them and how the academic and publishing communities can prevent language hurdles from becoming barriers.
Issues affecting ESL researchers
It’s an English-speaking world
If you’ve read about contemporary issues in language and applied linguistics, you’ve heard of the term “English as a Lingua Franca.” English is undisputed as the auxiliary language of the 21st century in fields such as medicine, information technology, aviation, finance, and of course, academia. Despite the increasing prominence of languages like Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Modern Standard Arabic, none seems likely to dethrone English, at least in our lifetimes. The United Kingdom and the United States could magically vanish tomorrow, and English will remain the primary international language for some time. A career researcher mostly has no choice but to learn English or forgo opportunities to reach their potential in their field. Unfortunately, even reading English as a non-native speaker is slower and requires more effort.
Hence, English is both a wonderful tool, but also a challenge to ensuring equitable opportunities in academic publishing.
Climbing the language barrier
Obviously, an ESL researcher can experience difficulties with grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. For example, many languages have no grammatical distinction between plural and singular forms, so I often encounter issues like “We performed researches” or “They are a” from East Asian academics. Our linguistic background informs the errors we make and the difficulty of acquiring a new language. This makes learning English inherently harder for people who grew up speaking a language like Korean than one like German, potentially increasing the bias towards Europe in research.
ESL researchers also have access to a smaller “dictionary” of idiomatic and culturally specific expressions. Since engaging writing often makes use of these devices, ESL researchers tend to experience difficulty with reading some more “flowery” prose, or they may include malapropisms in their writing.
When dealing with lofty and intellectually demanding topics, it’s still important to use plain and understandable language to facilitate accessibility to research. Publishers should provide clear guides on usage, including formality and writing style, and researchers should emphasize accessibility in their writing, in terms of both writing about specialist topics plainly and respecting different levels of English language ability.
Understanding journal instructions
When preparing a manuscript, the first page most researchers will check is the Author Guidelines page. Such pages contain vital guidance on manuscript preparation, but they are often not presented in a straightforward manner. This guidance is often split over multiple pages, each with thousands of words. This means that time-strapped researchers often send their papers to a journal without fully understanding the guidelines. Perhaps the best and most easily understandable measure is to provide a checklist for manuscript submissions. Checklists are a proven way of helping professionals meet goals and prevent mishaps or miscommunications, including in manuscript preparation. Implementing them can help authors understand requirements and solve any issues before submission.
How reviewers can help
For reviewers, it’s expected to point out language mistakes in a manuscript, but these recommendations are often vague. I have frequently seen reviewers making a comment like “This manuscript needs to be proofread by a native English speaker.” Not only is this a patronizing treatment of ESL researchers, it is also not even useful advice. It’s better to point out the specific issues with the language or structure of the manuscript as your time will allow. Furthermore, a native speaker is no guarantee of accuracy; we all make mistakes!
The way forward
Technology to the rescue
I have listed many issues and obstacles, but these are by no means insurmountable. Technology is offering many incredible ways of overcoming these hurdles. With the proper use of free or affordable tools, ESL researchers today have far more opportunities to overcome these barriers and greatly improve communication.
AI tools and chatbots, while not foolproof, are useful as proofreaders or tutors. Indeed, many software packages like Microsoft Word are beginning to include AI tools that offer language suggestions and check the flow and logic of writing.
Machine translation is also offering many opportunities to improve communication. I recently attended an online conference where a computer program provided real-time translated English and Japanese subtitles of what the speakers were saying, and the results were impressive.
Finally, modern collaborative tools, like shared cloud drives or Slack can also improve communication and increase the opportunities for collaboration. Asynchronous written communication helps ESL researchers engage with their peers more easily, as it can relieve the pressure they feel to mentally translate while speaking and overcome issues relating to different accents and speech habits.
Community effort
Although there are clearly several disadvantages of being a non-native speaker, native English-speaking and ESL researchers are by no means adversaries. Increasingly, research teams are becoming multinational, multidisciplinary, and multilingual. In the same way a biochemist wouldn’t feel awkward to ask a bioinformatician for help with implementing a computational workflow, an ESL researcher shouldn’t feel shy to ask for the support they need from their native English-speaking colleagues. Likewise, I implore native English speakers to be generous with their time when helping their ESL colleagues. Trust me, it can be very fun!
Conclusion
All languages are in a state of flux. Despite efforts to formalize languages, today’s errors are tomorrow’s accepted usage. Just as English changed from a UK-centric language to a USA-centric one, it is now becoming an international language with no cultural or linguistic center. By improving accessibility and lessening the hurdles in publishing, we can make English less a source of stress, and more a facilitator of international communication.
To the ESL researchers reading this: just by participating in research in English, you are helping to shape the future of English usage. Much like how recent arrivals have transformed the dominant dialect of London, your unique English usage traits may be tomorrow’s international standard. There’s no need to see your ESL status as anything negative. As Chinese American author Amy Chua put it, “Do you know what a foreign accent is? It’s a sign of bravery.”
Comments
You're looking to give wings to your academic career and publication journey. We like that!
Why don't we give you complete access! Create a free account and get unlimited access to all resources & a vibrant researcher community.
Subscribe to Manuscript Writing
Translate your research into a publication-worthy manuscript by understanding the nuances of academic writing. Subscribe and get curated reads that will help you write an excellent manuscript.
