“It’s Not the Way We Use English”—Can We Resist the Native Speaker Stranglehold on Academic Publications?

• Main Author: Pat Strauss
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-12-01
• Series: Publications
• Subjects: academic publishing; dominance of English: native/nonnative speakers of English; resistance; academic lingua franca
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/5/4/27

English dominates the academic publishing world, and this dominance can, and often does, lead to the marginalisation of researchers who are not first-language speakers of English. There are different schools of thought regarding this linguistic domination; one approach is pragmatic. Proponents believe that the best way to empower these researchers in their bid to publish is to assist them to gain mastery of the variety of English most acceptable to prestigious journals. Another perspective, however, is that traditional academic English is not necessarily the best medium for the dissemination of research, and that linguistic compromises need to be made. They contend that the stranglehold that English holds in the publishing world should be resisted. This article explores these different perspectives, and suggests ways in which those of us who do not wield a great deal of influence may yet make a small contribution to the levelling of the linguistic playing field, and pave the way for an English lingua franca that better serves the needs of twenty-first century academics.