Academic writing in a global context

The practice of academic writing transcends what takes place in specific institutions or even particular geographical locations, although institutional identities do somewhat shape institutional norms. It can be viewed from a more global perspective as a web of global scholarly engagement, especially because it has for many years been facilitated by the use of a neutral language to communicate academic knowledge. Research has shown that languages such as Arabic, Latin and German became dominant lingua francas at various points in history (e.g., Vikor 2006), helping to facilitate communication among scientists and scholars all over the world. Today, it is widely acknowledged that English occupies this privileged position of the world’s lingua franca and the language of international scientific communication.

2.7.1 English as the language of scholarly discourse

The English language now carries with it the role of the language of research and scholarship, and as several studies have shown (e.g., Ammon, 2001; Tardy, 2004; Flowerdew, 2007; Hyland 2007; Bidlake, 2008), there is an ever increasing number of

61

scholars who find it necessary to write and publish in international journals, which largely have English as the medium of communication.

But this role of English does not elude controversy. While the growth of English can be viewed positively as a helpful way of facilitating the dissemination of knowledge and access to information around the world via a common language, there is also the view that this growth represents a kind of cultural and linguistic imperialism perpetuated by a few economically empowered L1 nations such as the USA (Phillipson, 1992; Pennycook, 1994; Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas, 1999; Ammon, 2001). This latter view suggests that the dominance of English undermines other cultures and language communities, making them appear less important. Swales (1997: 374) characterises this view of English in terms of a Tyrannosaurus rex – “a powerful carnivore gobbling up the other denizens of the academic linguistic grazing grounds”.

Despite this somewhat alarmist perspective on English, it would be difficult to deny the importance of English as a neutral lingua franca worldwide. Tardy (2004: 258) reports that even NNES international graduate students, who are most likely in the near future to be NNES scholars, acknowledge the benefits of English as a language of science as follows:

o ease of information sharing and access worldwide o ease of communication among professionals worldwide o facilitation of the scientific process

o its grammatical structure is “explicit and objective” o effective for inputting information into a computer o a good choice because it is already widely used.

62

But while these NNES accept that English serves scientific communication, they also know the challenges that stand in the way of NNES, citing in particular “(1) the great deal of time spent learning English for non-native speakers, and (2) the difficulties that NNES researchers might face in communication” (Tardy, 2004: 258). Thus in academia, one thorny issue relates to how NNES deal with the pressure and difficulties of writing in English for publication in international journals where, it is assumed, textual norms and text construction practices are largely determined by NES editors and reviewers who use gate-keeping strategies (including not conforming to native English conventions and rhetorical patterns) to reject submissions (Ammon, 2001; Canagarajah, 2002; Hyland, 2007).

2.7.2 Issues for non-native speakers of English

In principle, it makes sense to argue against the hegemony of one language and culture in scientific communication over a wide range of other languages and cultures worldwide. In practice however, it does not seem that the dominance of English will wane any time soon. A survey conducted by Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas (1999: 28) in Denmark generally showed that the “trend is towards a strengthening of English” and Danish scholars think that English is suitable as a language of science. For L2 or L3 NNES therefore, especially researchers and scholars, I think that the need to write and publish in English calls for a conscious learning of how rhetorical knowledge is socially constructed in a discipline, as this forms part of efforts to participate in relevant global discourse communities.

This suggestion finds support in the theory of situated learning and apprenticeship developed by Lave and Wenger (1991). Professional academic writing is a situated practice and those who wish to be part of a community of practice must learn from

63

insiders in order to fully develop the knowledge, skills and identity of that community. In fact, both native and non-native speakers of English seeking to be part of mainstream disciplinary communities go through this process of learning equally. Producing polished articles can be a daunting task for new entrant native speakers too. Swales (2004: 56) argues therefore that the more crucial factor is how less experienced researchers/scholars can learn from the more experienced ones “who know the academic ropes in their chosen specialisms”.

Thus with regard to the current status of English, NNES who wish to publish in international Anglophone journals in order “to validate the respectability of their work” as well as “disseminate their findings effectively to the academic channels that matter in their profession” (Canagarajah, 2002: 43) should be ready to learn the qualities of English proficiency and rhetorical patterns required in their respective disciplinary communities. Commendably, as Swales (2004) notes, contributions to mainstream English-only journals by NNES authors have been increasing for some time now, albeit slowly, a situation which in itself suggests a willingness by NNES to overcome the difficulties that come with publishing in English.