Non-native English researchers take twice as long to read scientific journals

The use of English as a lingua franca in science presents a barrier to the contributions of non-native English-speaking researchers. Until now, there have been few studies that have quantified the impact on career development of researchers whose native language is not English, but researchers at the University of Queensland said, ``When reading English papers, we spend twice as much time as native speakers.

The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science | PLOS Biology

The true cost of science's language barrier for non-native English speakers

Tatsuya Amano of the University of Queensland and his colleagues conducted a survey of 908 environmental science researchers in eight countries who had written at least one peer-reviewed English-language paper.

The study found that researchers from countries with low English proficiency spent about 50% more time writing papers than native English speakers.

It also became clear that reading papers requires about 90% more time.

Amano has worked in the UK and Australia for many years, so he can write English papers that look like they were written by a native speaker, but ``behind the scenes, you have to spend a lot of time to get to that level,'' he told the scientific journal Nature.

The study also looked at the peer review process and found that non-native English-speaking researchers were 2.5 times more likely to have their papers rejected for writing problems than native speakers.

According to Lina Perez Angel, a Colombian paleoclimatologist at Brown University, Angel's English casts doubt on the quality of research, and gives strict feedback in a manner based on Latino/Hispanic family names.

Ecuadorian ecologist Paula Iturralde Polit points out that the problem is not limited to papers and presentations, but also the process of becoming a scholar itself. He says that his lack of fluency in English makes it slower to apply for grants to fund his research projects, and that more mistakes make review by advisors even longer.

Also, when giving presentations at academic conferences, even if given the same amount of time for a presentation, what a native speaker can say will differ from that of a non-native speaker.

Mr. Amano said, 'Nearly 95% of the world's population does not speak English as their mother tongue. I am convinced that we cannot solve many global challenges without supporting 95% of them.'