social membership – Educational Sociolinguistics

Carlos Slompo

On November 7th, 2022, Professor Riches posted an invitation for a webinar entitled: Publish in English or perish: Challenges and opportunities of French-language research in Canada. Coincidently, a problem I had chosen to investigate in my thesis proposal. That led me back to that reflection since my worldview and existence as a graduate student and non-native English user have always helped me bring the issue of reading and writing academic texts in English into focus and live the “read and write in English or perish” dilemma.

In educational institutions around the world, scientists demonstrate their membership in their community by engaging in the activities of that community, such as conducting research, obtaining funding, attending conferences, and guiding students (Swales & Feak, 2000). This membership identity as a scientist is enacted and recognized by others through active social practice in which those in that community also acknowledge other individuals as members. Publishing is a principal means of actively practicing membership in the academic community, and increasingly, publishing requires writing in English (Englander, 2009).

That situated phenomenon is in keeping with the results of a survey by Jernudd and Baldauf Jr (1996), which investigated why researchers worldwide write in English. It concluded that communication among peers, international exposure and prestige are the main reasons why scientists have their work published in English.

In the case of non-native English-speaking academic members, professors and graduate students, higher investment in language learning and additional costs of producing linguistically adequate texts are additional problems with which the non-native speakers have to struggle. These difficulties extend beyond the individual scientist and scholar to publishing companies or even all firms for which science and scientific communication are economically essential in countries where English is not the native or at least a wide-used official language (Ammon, 2001).

Therefore, English speakers have a distinct advantage in a world that has adopted English as its universal language (Kaplan, 2001). Improving the non-native graduate student’s English language proficiency seems unavoidable for full participation in the academic community.

According to Kaplan (2001), science is essential for promoting the growth of a standard language because it uses a common set of methods and measurement standards and is cumulative and self-referential. In this sense, Ammon (2000) acknowledges that, all around the world, English has come to serve extensively for research or research related to communication (data collection, publishing, correspondence) as well as the language of science instruction.

Consequently, the dominance of English as a language of science has elevated the reputation of English-language universities and advantaged native speakers of English by creating what Tonkin (2011, p. 106) calls a reinforcing loop of language flow’, promoting the use of English as language choice of scientific publications. According to Mair (2006, p. 10), an accelerating phenomenon in recent years, who stated that English was used in 90.7% of natural science publications and 82.5% of humanities publications.

Swales (2008) has done extensive research on discourse communities concerning the complex aspects of publishing in scientific communities, ranging from linguistic and rhetorical issues to power negotiation. For Swales, a discourse community is a group of people who have common goals or purposes and use particular communicative genres to achieve those goals. In the case of academic writing, it implies that it is crucial for an individual participating in socially constructed academic activities to have a suitable degree of knowledge of content and discourse expertise. However, this expertise may be put in check when non-native English-speaking scientists submit manuscripts for consideration to English-language journals and sometimes receive comments from reviewers that are critical of their English language skills.

Questions:

Has the academic writing in English been demanding for you?

Do you read academic papers in other languages? Why, why not?

References:

Ammon, U. (2000). Towards more fairness in international English: Linguistic rights of non-native speakers? In T. Skutnabb-Kangas & R. Phillipson (Eds.), Rights to language: equity, power, and education : celebrating the 60th birthday of Tove Skutnabb-Kangas (pp. 111-116). Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.

Ammon, U. (2001). The dominance of English as a language of science: effects on other languages and language communities: Mouton de Gruyter.

Jernudd, B., & Baldauf Jr, R. (1996). Language selection in science communication. Paper presented at the Conference on knowledge & discourse ’96, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Kaplan, R. (2001). English – the accidental language of science? In U. Ammon (Ed.), The dominance of english as a language of science: effects on other languages and language communities (pp. 3-26): De Gruyter.

Mair, C. (2006). Twentieth-century English: History, variation, and standardization: Cambridge University Press.

Swales, J., & Feak, C. (2000). English in today’s research world: A writing guide: University of Michigan Press.

Tonkin, H. (2011). Language and the ingenuity gap in science. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 8(1), 105-116.

MunPat

“Social distinctions within communities, such as prestige and power, tend to be reflected in linguistic behavior” Gerard Van Herk (pg. 61, 2018)

As someone who did most of her schooling in French immersion, I have always been very confident in my ability to speak and write in French. However, over the years, I have learned that the way I speak French is slightly different compared to someone who went to a French school. I have also noticed that this subtle difference actually influences my status as a Quebecois.

Attending a French immersion school meant that most of my classes took place in French. The content was delivered in French and the linguistic features I learned were specific to each subject. Once, I stepped out of the classroom, English was the language of the hallways and between friends. Hence, informal conversations always took place in English and formal conversations were reserved for French. Consequently, the way I spoke French in casual conversations was very stiff and awkward. As stated by Gerard Van Herk (2018), second language learners usually discover that their way of speaking is a formal way of speaking, which is not suited for everyday conversations. However, going to a French school meant that the only language of communication inside the school was French, whether that was inside the classroom or in the halls with friends. Therefore, those students have more opportunities to engage in casual conversations that take place in informal French, which has been coined as Joual in Quebec.

Over the years, I have learned that my informal French language skills make me sound like an outsider in my own province to other French Quebecois. One stark example of this attitude is when my friend, who went to a French school, and I went to a restaurant. I gave my order to the waiter and he was very respectful and did not engage in any further conversation. However, when my friend ordered, there was an ease and familiarity between the two of them. Their interaction was longer as he gave her suggestions and made jokes. This was definitely a moment where I experienced linguistic insecurity as defined by Van Herk (2018). I was very conscious of how my choice of language influenced my social status in the eyes of the waiter.

My experience in Quebec has shown me that having the ability to speak in the informal language of a given community allows you to be recognized as a more legitimate member of the society. Gerard Van Herk (2018) describes this as “covert prestige”, where the non-standard language carries a hidden positive connotation. Since informal language showcases a level of comfortableness and naturalness that is absent in formal language, I think native speakers of that language are more likely to treat you as “one of their own”.

1.Have you ever changed the way you spoke due to experiencing linguistic insecurity?
2.Do you have any other examples of how language influences social status?

References:

Van Herk, G.(2018). What is sociolinguistics? (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.