{"id":23472,"date":"2024-01-09T06:27:31","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T06:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.avdheshsharma.com\/lost-in-translation-overcoming-manuscript-hurdles-for-esl-researchers\/"},"modified":"2024-07-31T06:44:05","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T06:44:05","slug":"lost-in-translation-overcoming-manuscript-hurdles-for-esl-researchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/lost-in-translation-overcoming-manuscript-hurdles-for-esl-researchers","title":{"rendered":"Lost in translation: Overcoming manuscript hurdles for ESL researchers"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve 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<\/a> in navigating the heavily English-biased world of academic publishing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The English privilege<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

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\u2019ll agonize over every word I write. I often consult dictionaries, search references for Japanese honorific grammar (it\u2019s difficult!<\/a>), and even ask my wife\u2014a native Japanese speaker\u2014to proofread. Compared to writing in English, it\u2019s 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 \u201cme\u201d when communicating in Japanese.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/a> who critically need to express themselves in English.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t fair<\/i>. By being a native-born English speaker, I have been afforded a great head start in life<\/a> 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.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Issues affecting ESL researchers<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

It\u2019s an English-speaking world<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

If you\u2019ve read about contemporary issues in language and applied linguistics, you\u2019ve heard of the term \u201cEnglish as a Lingua Franca<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/i>\u201d English is undisputed as the auxiliary language of the 21st<\/sup> 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<\/a>, 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<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hence, English is both a wonderful tool, but also a challenge to ensuring equitable opportunities in academic publishing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Climbing the language barrier<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

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 \u201cWe performed researches<\/b>\u201d or \u201cThey<\/b> are a\u201d from East Asian academics. Our linguistic background informs the errors we make and the difficulty of acquiring a new language<\/a>. 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.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

ESL researchers also have access to a smaller \u201cdictionary\u201d 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 \u201cflowery\u201d prose, or they may include malapropisms in their writing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When dealing with lofty and intellectually demanding topics, it\u2019s still<\/i> important to use plain and understandable language<\/a> 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.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Understanding journal instructions<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

How reviewers can help<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

For reviewers, it\u2019s expected to point out language mistakes in a manuscript, but these recommendations are often vague. I have frequently seen reviewers making a comment like \u201cThis manuscript needs to be proofread by a native English speaker<\/a>.\u201d Not only is this a patronizing treatment of ESL researchers, it is also not even useful advice. It\u2019s 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<\/b> make mistakes!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The way forward<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

Community effort<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

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\u2019t feel awkward to ask a bioinformatician for help with implementing a computational workflow, an ESL researcher shouldn\u2019t feel shy to ask for the support they need<\/a> 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!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

All languages are in a state of flux. Despite efforts to formalize languages, today\u2019s errors are tomorrow\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/a>, your unique English usage traits may be tomorrow\u2019s international standard. There\u2019s no need to see your ESL status as anything negative. As Chinese American author Amy Chua put it<\/a>, \u201cDo you know what a foreign accent is? It\u2019s a sign of bravery.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2681,"featured_media":28295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[2770,2737,2457],"new_categories":[],"new_tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-23472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar-language","tag-diversity-equity-and-inclusion","tag-non-native-english","tag-non-native-english-authors"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLost in translation: Overcoming manuscript hurdles for ESL researchers | Editage Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You'd have read about the common errors and pitfalls in writing in English\u00a0but this article\u00a0is more\u00a0about the issues English-as-a-second-language (ESL) researchers 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Technology to the rescue<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

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.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

AI tools and chatbots, while not foolproof, are useful as proofreaders or tutors<\/a>. Indeed, many software packages like Microsoft Word<\/a> are beginning to include AI tools that offer language suggestions and check the flow and logic of writing. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, modern collaborative tools, like shared cloud drives or Slack<\/a> 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.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/a>. Implementing them can help authors understand requirements and solve any issues before submission.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n