The languages of aphasia research: Bias and diversity

Abstract

Background: It is widely believed that the vast majority of articles on aphasia published in international journals are based on observations of English-speaking patients, with a possible more general bias towards western European languages. However, to the best of our knowledge no systematic study has tried to quantify linguistic biases in aphasia research. Aims: To examine the current (first decade of the twenty-first century) representation of different languages in aphasia literature. Methods & Procedures:We examined all articles on aphasia published between 2000 and 2009 in four leading aphasiological journals: Aphasiology, Brain and Language, Journal of Neurolinguistics, and Language and Cognitive Processes, determining the language(s) spoken by the patients. We compared the proportion of articles in a given language with the estimated number of its speakers worldwide. We further analysed the relationship between the language and the methodology, content, and number of citations as well as trends applying to individual journals and changes over time.Outcomes & Results: There was a pronounced overall bias towards articles based on observations of English-speaking patients, accounting for 62% of all papers, 85% of papers on aphasia treatment, and 100% of papers that received more than 50 citations. More generally, there was a strong bias towards western European (Germanic and Romance) languages, accounting for 89% of all papers and 96% of treatment studies. In contrast, non-Indo-European languages, as well as the Slavonic and the Indo-European languages of India were strongly under-represented. Some of the most widely spoken languages in the world, such as Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Russian, as well as Portuguese, accounted for less than 0.5% of the aphasia literature. This imbalance has not improved over the examined time period; in fact, the percentage of papers on English seems to be increasing. Conclusions: The current aphasia literature is not representative of the world's languages, neither in terms of linguistic typology nor the number of speakers. The extreme bias towards English and other western European languages limits the worldwide applicability of clinical findings (in particular in aphasia therapy) and undermines the universality of theoretical models, which are based on observations from a small number of closely

Afasiaren azterketa hizkuntza ezberdinetan neurozientzia kognitiboaren ikuspegitik

“…20. mende bukaeran, ikerketa afasiologikoa hizkuntza ezberdinetan eta eleaniztunengan garatu bazen ere [16,19], gaur egungo ikerketa afasiologikoak ez ditu munduko hizkuntza-aniztasuna eta gizarte eleaniztunak irudikatzen.…”

“…mende bukaeran, ikerketa afasiologikoa hizkuntza ezberdinetan eta eleaniztunengan garatu bazen ere [16,19], gaur egungo ikerketa afasiologikoak ez ditu munduko hizkuntza-aniztasuna eta gizarte eleaniztunak irudikatzen. Izan ere, Beveridge-n eta Bak-en txosten baten arabera [20], 2000 eta 2009 urteen artean, afasiologiaren inguruko ikerketak argitaratzen dituzten lau aldizkari nagusienetan argitaratu ziren artikuluetarik % 89 hizkuntza indoeuroparrei buruzkoak ziren; % 10 baino gutxiago, hizkuntza ez indoeuroparrei buruzkoak ziren; % 3,7 elebidun eta eleaniztunei buruzkoak ziren; % 1,4 hizkuntzen arteko ikerketei buruzkoak ziren. Afasia hiztun guziek paira dezaketen gertaera dela ukaezina da, baina ikerketa afasiologikoan hizkuntza gutxi aztertzen dira.…”

Afasia hizkuntzaren antolaketarako erakusleiho

“…Azkenik, aipatzekoa da afasiologian argitzeke dauden eztabaidetarako aztertu gabeko edo gutxi aztertutako hizkuntzetako hiztun afasikoen datuak ekartzeko beharra [37]. Hizkuntza-nahasmenduaren sintomak ez dira hizkuntza guztietan modu berean azaleratzen, horregatik, patologiaren oinarrian dagoen ezintasuna mugatzeko eta zehazteko aukera paregabea eskaintzen dute ezaugarri tipologiko desberdinak dituzten hizkuntzen hiztun afasikoek [37][38][39].…”

“…Hizkuntza-nahasmenduaren sintomak ez dira hizkuntza guztietan modu berean azaleratzen, horregatik, patologiaren oinarrian dagoen ezintasuna mugatzeko eta zehazteko aukera paregabea eskaintzen dute ezaugarri tipologiko desberdinak dituzten hizkuntzen hiztun afasikoek [37][38][39]. Ildo horretan, ez dago zalantzarik euskal afasikoekin burututako ikerketa enpirikoek [40][41][42][43][44][45][46] ekarpen garrantzizkoa egiten diotela neuropsikolinguistikari.…”

Facilitation effects of cueing techniques in two Sesotho speakers with anomia

“…Speech, Language and Hearing,19,[140][141][142][143][144][145][146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153] routinely encounter clients who speak languages other than English. A study which compares a technique developed by English-speaking therapists for English-speaking clients to one developed specifically for clients who speak a language radically different from English can inform practice in the complex global village, and help to begin to address the bias towards English and Western European languages in the aphasiological literature noted by Beveridge and Bak (2011).…”