The Publishing Challenges of ESL/EFL Scientific Scholars

Scholars internationally publish their work in English language, peer-reviewed journals and are expected to submit conference proposals and make conference presentations in English with growing frequency. Since 1929, Ren & Rousseau (2004) found that 203 English-language scientific journals were started in China, 199 of those since 1981, and 143 between 1985 and 1996 alone (p. 100). The thrust of these new English language journals in China and other countries in large part has been to capture greater international attention for the scholarly contributions of non-native English-speaking countries. Ren & Rousseau conclude, however, that China's English language journals have not had the desired impact.

What are the challenges for scholars, for whom English is a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL), if English is becoming the lingua franca of natural, social, and information sciences, among others? Can they compete for publication in the high impact journals of their discipline, regardless of their expertise and how excellent their research, with native English-speaking scholars of equal or lesser skill? What impact does this have on their ability to secure research funding, conference paper acceptance, tenure and other career prospects?

Ren & Rousseau (2004) suggest that China's English-language journals "should seriously consider joining the open access movement" to make their articles "freely available on the Internet." (p. 103). They argue this will provide greater visibility for these journals without pressuring library collections to pay for additional subscriptions. But to what degree is the absence of native-English writing abilities the greater barrier?

References

Ren, S. & Rousseau, R. (2004). The role of China’s English-language scientific journals in scientific communication, Learned Publishing, 17(2), 99–104. Available at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/alpsp/lp/2004/00000017/00000002/art00004

All the Present Fuss About Adjuncts

The role of adjunct faculty is drawing a lot of attention in the academic community among the tenured, tenure track, and those seeking such positions (Lesko, 2009). Adjunct faculty also are generating much attention through organized efforts to unionize (Ingram, 2009). Some of the comments in the news and online discussions have been highly disparaging, such as suggesting adjuncts are not interested in student learning or are undeserving of teaching opportunities when others more qualified are looking for full-time appointments.

The adjuncts I know are committed to student learning and generally have greater expertise than those recently graduated from Ph.D. or profesional programs. This is because they typically have spent the time in the field (in the trenches) living and breathing the work, and truly becoming expert in an area of teaching need. Academia can be subject to criticism when placing recent graduates directly into teaching. I would not want my child learning from a teacher who was trained by an education faculty who had never taught children. I do not wish to see a dentist who was trained by a dental faculty who never practiced dentistry. This matter of expertise is worthy of greater discussion.

See:

Sommer Ingram, Adjunct Committee Reflects Local Concern, The Lariat Online, March 4, 2009, available at http://www.baylor.edu/lariat/news.php?action=story&story=56830

P.D. Lesko, The Blame Game and Part Timers, The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 5, 2009, availabel at http://chronicle.com/jobs/blogs/onhiring/940