Culture Matters International Research Collaboration in a Changing World: Summary of a Workshop (2014) / Chapter Skim
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4 Language This session was designed to explore two broad questions: How does the diversity of languages impact collaborative research? How has the globalization of scientific research affected the language(s)
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22 Culture Matters: International Research Collaboration in a Changing World the highest levels of disability in the world, the 10‐nation Association of South‐ east Asian Nations (ASEAN) is taking a concerted effort to address the provi‐ sions of the CRPD and create an environment where persons with disabilities can have a seat at the table when policy issues related to disability are being discussed. As part of this effort, Cogburn and colleagues have developed a vir‐ tual institute on disability and public policy -- the Institute on Disability and Pub‐ lic Policy (IDPP)
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Language 23 sponse, did they not get it? Did they not like the idea?
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24 Culture Matter rs: Internationa al Research Colllaboration in aa Changing Worrld only piiece of evidence so far, but it suggests thhat English is ju ust beginning its dominaance, and it has not complete ed this at all," said Montgom mery. The T rapid geoggraphic expanssion of sciencee and growth of internation nal collaboorations is conttributing to the adoption of English as thee lingua franca of science e. It is important to keep in m mind that Engliish language skills occur over a wide raange of levelss. Montgomeryy noted that ppast lingua fraanca transitions, such ass the one occu urring now, havve taken over a century for tthe relevant laan‐ guage to become a basic skill for scholarly com mmunities. Am mong the factoors that wiill determine th he speed with which this trannsition occurs will be how En ng‐ lish is ttaught and how teachers are trained in vaarious countriees. Another co on‐ foundin ng factor is thaat there is no oone form of Ennglish spoken aacross the glob be. Linguists point out th hat in addition n to North Am erican English and British En ng‐ lish theere are South A American English, West Africcan English, Caaribbean Englissh, East Affrican English, Hong Kong English, Indian Ennglish, Indian//Pakistani English and Baangladeshi Engglish. There are e also develop ing forms of EEnglish, includiing Japane ese English and d Chinese Engglish. "So if yo u bring peoplee together, thhey may alll speak English but the questtion is, which oone? " said Mon ntgomery. FIGUREE 4‐1 Lingua franca of science tthroughout histtory. SOURCE: Montgomeryy Slide 5.
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Language 25 The language challenges can be quite substantial, he continued, even in such seemingly mundane areas as honorific titles and dealing with females in male‐dominated societies. Although it is natural to presume that anyone who can speak English can also read and write it, linguists have shown that these are three different skills, with writing being the most challenging of all. Not only are reading, speaking, and writing separate skills, but scientific, legal, and eco‐ nomic discourses are very different, with their own vocabularies and pronunci‐ ations. Research protocols and intellectual property, for example, may differ among nations in ways that are not always obvious. The result, said Montgom‐ ery, is that native English speakers have a responsibility to speak and write clearly, or as Albert Einstein said, "as simple as possible but no simpler." In his final remarks, Montgomery noted that good work and ideas need to flow from developing countries to the rest of the world but that publication is not always the professional incentive that it is here in the United States. It behooves the scientific community in the U.S. to play a mentoring role in terms of getting research results from their colleagues who come from countries where English is not the native language into the literature. "It is partly our duty to help them achieve a global audience at a time when science is globaliz‐ ing, to expand their opportunities as well." REFERENCE National Science Board. 2012. Science and Engineering Indicators 2012. Arlington VA: National Science Foundation (NSB 12‐01) . Available at http://www.nsf.gov/statis tics/seind12/ (accessed 3/26/2014)
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