Comments on: Getting published while foreign

By: Hanna Torsh

Hanna Torsh — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 04:34:21 +0000

Writing with an accent is a very useful idea with which to critque approaches to written English which could be argued to be discriminatory. I encounter this often in conversations with English teachers about student’s work. At what point is the assessment of the work actually an assessment of the effect on the (imagined) reader with thier nativist assumptions? Is it wrong or just strange to them, as artbiters of ‘correct’ English? In higher education I have also sat in courses with many international students and there does seem to be a difference in the way some lectuers approach marking their work. Perhaps the idea of writing with an accent would be a useful inclusion in academic training so that markers start to become aware of how their expectations are affecting their assessment of students’ work.

At the same time, I have read articles which I felt were poorly written and needed more language support to be effective. But as with many language proficiecny issues, this is not an individual problem but a communal problem in that we need to have open and reasonable dialogues that do not simply blame someone for their language repertiore as though they have free choice.

By: Pia

Pia — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 05:26:57 +0000

I find the recent posts on publication bias based on gender and non-standard English unsettling. I reckon it’s because I see myself as a potential member of the prone-to-rejection group. But more than affective impact, the articles triggered some playful musings:

1. Assuming comparative quality of writing and research substance, does a female Drew, Lee, or Robin have a higher chance of getting published than an Emily, Kia, or Lily? Is the gender bias, if conscious, influenced by the femininity of the author’s name?

2. Will varieties of English (such as Philippine English, Singlish, Spanglish) ever be accepted by premier international publications? Do local publications have a more tolerant attitude toward non-standard English or do they follow the footsteps of the giants (the likes of Houghton Mifflin)? Is this language variety standard indicated in submission guidelines?

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 03:56:31 +0000

Thanks for sharing this research – the idea of identifying an “accent” in written texts is intriguing but really unsurprising. This accent would undoubtedly only be reinforced or stand out even more due to the very practices of rejecting (or translating) “accented” work in favour texts following very narrow expectations of a certain “standard” version of language and written expression for each particular genre. We can only guess what a loss this has been for global scholarship and how much this limits who has a platform to create and contest historical documentation.