[Edling] English is the language of science — but precision is tough as a non-native speaker

[Francis M. Hult via Edling]

 I definitely didn't share it because I agree with the premise.  ☺  I did
find it interesting to see the language ideologies being reproduced by a
scientist under the prestigious banner of *Nature*.  It's a glimpse of the
emic perspectives on language by those working in STEM.  Suresh Canagarajah
and colleagues have written some great pieces on this recently:

hhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/modl.12464

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13670050.2020.1768210

It makes me think about how as a field we might both draw attention to the
sociopolitical implications of equity in knowledge production and knowledge
access that follow from the dominance of English in STEM while also
decentering the dominant language ideologies of our own field (applied
linguistics or ESP/EMI specifically) in ways that respect the agency and
autonomy of STEM scholars.

Best,
Francis

--
*Francis M. Hult, PhD, FRGS* | Professor
Department of Education
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

Editor, Educational Linguistics Book Series
<https://www.springer.com/series/5894>
Co-Editor, Contributions to the Sociology of Language Book Series
<https://www.degruyter.com/view/serial/16644>

Web Profile <https://education.umbc.edu/faculty-list/francis-m-hult/> |
Academia.edu <http://umbc.academia.edu/FrancisMHult> | TESOL at UMBC
<http://tesol.umbc.edu/>




On Thu, Apr 8, 2021 at 1:29 PM Margaret van Naerssen <
margaret.vannaerssen at gmail.com> wrote:

> The importance of scientists being able to express themselves
> effectively in English
> is not a new concern. The field of English for Specific Purposes began
> with the need
> for scientists and science students who needed to access scientific
> journal written in
> and for them to be able to contribute to such journals--and eventually
> attend conferences
> in their fields.  I have worked in this area for many years and published
> articles in this area.
>
> Unfortunately, I wasn't able to access the Nature article that was posted
> on Edling as the journal
> required cookies for access--and I was not willing to open up my computer
> to having cookies attached
> just to see the article--Especially since the article sounds like it is
> introducing new ideas about
> the long-known importance of English in science and technology. But
> perhaps I'm wrong--I would
> be interested in the article.
>
> A number of applied linguists have written in this area. Here is
> information about one online Overview.
> One of the Professional Communities in  TESOL International is the English
> for Specific Purposes
> Interest Section. Its home page is under *MyTESOL*.
>
> https://my.tesol.org/communities/community-home?CommunityKey=4be1f546-1b6a-46f0-8070-74576e6704cb
> Under the Statement of Purpose is a link to a Power Point developed by
> some ESP IS members.:
> *English for Specific Purposes: **An Overview **for Practitioners and
> Clie*nts
> *(*Kevin Knight, Anne E. Lomperis, Margaret van Naerssen, and Kay
> Westerfield).
> Margaret van Naerssen
>
> Ooops I have just received a message from TESOL that TESOL is upgrading
> it technology
> from 12 - 14 April. During that period MyTESOL will not be accessible. But
> i hope you will check
> out the link and view the Power Point.
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 8, 2021 at 6:37 AM Francis M. Hult via Edling <
> edling at lists.mail.umbc.edu> wrote:
>
>> Nature
>>
>> English is the language of science — but precision is tough as a
>> non-native speaker
>>
>> English is the international language of science, for better or for
>> worse, but most of the world’s scientists speak it as a second language. We
>> shoulder an extra career challenge: not only must we gain command of our
>> science, but we must also be able to write to professional standards in a
>> foreign language to communicate that science.
>>
>> Full story:
>> https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00899-y
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Edling mailing list
>> Edling at lists.mail.umbc.edu
>> https://lists.mail.umbc.edu/mailman/listinfo/edling
>>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
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