Science Communication in Multiple Languages Is Critical to Its Effectiveness

Marquez, Melissa; Porras, Ana Maria

doi:10.3389/fcomm.2020.00031

Cited by 99 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Despite the lack of specific studies on this subject across Latin America, a few exceptions showed similar results: “Regression analysis established that variables of science writing burden contribute to a sense that English is a barrier to scientific writing” [ 11 , 12 ]. Additionally, opinion pieces from Latin-American researchers also agree about the linguistic barrier in science [ 39 , 57 ]. It is possible to assume that these results can be extrapolated to other countries bordering Colombia, given the similarity in proficiency and access to English, shared first language, low state investment in science and technology, and parallel political history with the US and Europe [ 11 , 58 , 59 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other alternatives include supporting journals that accept papers in several languages, promoting the inclusion of other languages in journals at the international level, incorporating revision or translation services in all fees paid to publish an article and providing these services to all scientists at no additional charge to them, establishing multilingual annual or periodic editions in renowned journals, among others [ 37 , 57 ]. Proposals for universities and conferences include aids such as English tutoring for academic purposes [ 69 ], retaining in international conferences a space for presenting in local languages [ 17 ], using methodologies such as simultaneous translation in conferences, and generating exchange spaces in other languages, among others.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disadvantages in preparing and publishing scientific papers caused by the dominance of the English language in science: The case of Colombian researchers in biological sciences

2020

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The success of a scientist depends on their production of scientific papers and the impact factor of the journal in which they publish. Because most major scientific journals are published in English, success is related to publishing in this language. Currently, 98% of publications in science are written in English, including researchers from English as a Foreign Language (EFL) countries. Colombia is among the countries with the lowest English proficiency in the world. Thus, understanding the disadvantages that Colombians face in publishing is crucial to reducing global inequality in science. This paper quantifies the disadvantages that result from the language hegemony in scientific publishing by examining the additional costs that communicating in English creates in the production of articles. It was identified that more than 90% of the scientific articles published by Colombian researchers are in English, and that publishing in a second language creates additional financial costs to Colombian doctoral students and results in problems with reading comprehension, writing ease and time, and anxiety. Rejection or revision of their articles because of the English grammar was reported by 43.5% of the doctoral students, and 33% elected not to attend international conferences and meetings due to the mandatory use of English in oral presentations. Finally, among the translation/editing services reviewed, the cost per article is between one-quarter and one-half of a doctoral monthly salary in Colombia. Of particular note, we identified a positive correlation between English proficiency and higher socioeconomic origin of the researcher. Overall, this study exhibits the negative consequences of hegemony of English that preserves the global gap in science. Although having a common language is important for science communication, generating multilinguistic alternatives would promote diversity while conserving a communication channel. Such an effort should come from different actors and should not fall solely on EFL researchers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disadvantages in preparing and publishing scientific papers caused by the dominance of the English language in science: The case of Colombian researchers in biological sciences

2020

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“…Researchers have documented the importance of incorporating native languages into scientific communication (Manzini, 2000, Márquez & Porras, 2020). Public health guidelines have been translated into multiple languages in the United States and the United Kingdom, including Yiddish, a language spoken by some Hasidic sects of Haredi Judaism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Engagement With Science Among Religious Minorities: Lessons From COVID-19

Taragin‐Zeller

Rozenblum

Baram‐Tsabari

2020

Science Communication

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While scholars have highlighted how science communication reifies forms of structural inequality, especially race and gender, we examine the challenges science communication pose for religious minorities. Drawing on the disproportionate magnitude of COVID-19-related morbidity on Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Jews, we examined their processes of COVID-19 health decision making. Survey results show that both religious and health-related justifications were common for personal decisions, yet a disparity was found between the ways social distancing guidelines were perceived in the general education context compared with the religious context, signaling the importance for inclusive models of science communication that account for religious sensibilities and state-minority relations.

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“…This might well be the case in other non-English speaking countries. ‘While having a “universal language of science” has allowed scientists to communicate ideas freely and gain access to global scientific literature, the primary use of a single language has created barriers for those who are non-native English speakers’ (Márquez and Porras, 2020, p.1), which includes many science communicators.…”

Section: Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

Jargon use in Public Understanding of Science papers over three decades

Baram‐Tsabari¹,

Wolfson

Yosef³

et al. 2020

Public Underst Sci

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Public Understanding of Science is an interdisciplinary journal serving the scholarly community and practitioners. This article reports an analysis of the readability and jargon in articles published in Public Understanding of Science throughout its almost three decades of existence to examine trends in accessibility to diverse audiences. The accessibility of Public Understanding of Science articles published in 1999/2000 (47), 2009 (49) and 2019 (65) was assessed in terms of readability and use of jargon. Readability decreased and use of jargon increased between 1999 and 2000 and the two following decades for empirical and non-empirical papers, and all parts including the abstracts. An analysis of rare words shows that most are not part of the general academic vocabulary or disciplinary jargon, but rather words that appeared only in one article. Public Understanding of Science has moved away from everyday language. This does not mean it is incomprehensible to its scholarly readership, but may have consequences to other audiences such as practitioners.

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Science Communication in Multiple Languages Is Critical to Its Effectiveness

Cited by 99 publications

References 31 publications

Disadvantages in preparing and publishing scientific papers caused by the dominance of the English language in science: The case of Colombian researchers in biological sciences

Disadvantages in preparing and publishing scientific papers caused by the dominance of the English language in science: The case of Colombian researchers in biological sciences

Public Engagement With Science Among Religious Minorities: Lessons From COVID-19

Jargon use in Public Understanding of Science papers over three decades

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