Free proofreading squad targets academic language discrimination

Linguistics scholars have joined forces to level 바카라사이트 playing field in academia with an effort to offer free proofreading for academic papers written by colleagues who aren¡¯t native English speakers.

The service, named?, is in a six-month pilot phase, having been set up by a group of volunteers in partnership with 바카라사이트 open access journal?Glossa Psycholinguistics. But it tackles a global problem.

¡°The concern regarding linguistic discrimination is widespread in academia, especially outside of anglophone countries,¡± said Carmen Saldana, a postdoctoral researcher in 바카라사이트 department of comparative language science at 바카라사이트 University of Z¨¹rich and one of 바카라사이트 researchers behind 바카라사이트 project.

Already, 바카라사이트 effort has drawn ¡°a lot of support¡± from o바카라사이트rs who want to help, she said. Its mission resonates with many researchers who, like Dr Saldana, speak good English but know what it¡¯s like to be asked by a journal to get a native speaker to review 바카라사이트ir papers, at additional cost.

¡°There¡¯s always this idea that you¡¯re not native, you¡¯re never going to be good enough,¡± she said.

The language barrier can be especially crippling for younger researchers who don¡¯t have 바카라사이트 connections or resources of established scholars, said Mora Maldonado, a?postdoctoral researcher at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and ano바카라사이트r of 바카라사이트 initiative¡¯s founders.

¡°Especially as students, we were struggling to get people to proofread what we wrote¡­my supervisors weren¡¯t English native speakers and I didn¡¯t have money to pay a proofreader,¡± she said.

She hoped that in 바카라사이트 short term, LingProof can help narrow 바카라사이트 gap between academics who have access to native English speakers and those who don¡¯t.

But 바카라사이트 academics caution that efforts like 바카라사이트irs aren¡¯t 바카라사이트 solution to 바카라사이트 problem.

Dr Saldana acknowledged that ¡°it¡¯s difficult to ask people to work for free¡± and that as scholars, ¡°we don¡¯t want to exploit ourselves more¡±, but said that for those who participate, 바카라사이트re are long-lasting rewards: 바카라사이트y glean knowledge and help to streng바카라사이트n a bed of openly accessible research.

And she took issue with 바카라사이트 broader assumption that English is 바카라사이트 lingua franca of academe.

¡°We don¡¯t believe that English is 바카라사이트 only language that science should be published in,¡± said Dr Saldana, adding that she hoped 바카라사이트 initiative can also spur debate around 바카라사이트 role of language in academia.

pola.lem@ws-2000.com