With the issue#9 of ELTWeekly, we are adding one more component column “Research Paper”.
This column will feature free, interesting and useful ELT research papers.
The research paper for this issue is:
English as the International Language of Research
by John Swales, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Paper Abstract: The annual world output of research papers and scholarly ar ticles is large and increasing, and there is little doubt that English is the medium of publication for the majority of such papers. However, closer analyses of the available data reveal rather few papers from non- native speakers, especially from the Third World. This imbalance sug gests that English is only the International Language of Research in a receptive sense. It needs to become so in a productive sense as well if Third World investment in doctoral scholarship etc. is to remain justified. Unfortunately, the ESP profession has concentrated on undergraduate teaching programmes and rather neglected the teaching of Research English. However, there are now welcome signs of change, which may therefore aid a process of making English a truly international language rather than one over-restricted in terms of publication sources to the Northern Hemisphere.
To read the full paper, please visit: http://rel.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/16/1/1
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