Linguistic inequality and its effects on participation in scientific discourse and on global knowledge accumulation – With a closer look at the problems of the second-rank language communities
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Ulrich Ammon,
Ulrich Ammon has been professor of sociolinguistics at the University Duisburg-Essen and president of GAL, the German branch of AILA. He published 14 monographs and co-edited, inter alia, the yearbookSociolinguistica (1987 ff.),Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook (3 vols., 2nd ed. 2004–6) andWieser Encyclopaedia Western European Languages (2 vols., 2008).
Abstract
This paper will show, on the basis of valid and reasonably representative data, that even in applied linguistics (where it might be expected least of all) the predominance of a single language, English, in international scientific communication excludes contributions from various non-Anglophone quarters and, consequently, contributes to skewed scientific development, especially neglecting Japanese and Chinese, but also French, German, Italian and Russian approaches (because of serious linguistic barriers and refusal to participate in linguistically “unfair” scientific communication, respectively). The paper will also submit proposals on how the situation could be improved and problems be mitigated such as, among others, regular linguistic support offered by publishers and conference organizers.
About the author
Ulrich Ammon has been professor of sociolinguistics at the University Duisburg-Essen and president of GAL, the German branch of AILA. He published 14 monographs and co-edited, inter alia, the yearbook Sociolinguistica (1987 ff.), Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook (3 vols., 2nd ed. 2004–6) and Wieser Encyclopaedia Western European Languages (2 vols., 2008).
©[2012] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Abstract
This paper will show, on the basis of valid and reasonably representative data, that even in applied linguistics (where it might be expected least of all) the predominance of a single language, English, in international scientific communication excludes contributions from various non-Anglophone quarters and, consequently, contributes to skewed scientific development, especially neglecting Japanese and Chinese, but also French, German, Italian and Russian approaches (because of serious linguistic barriers and refusal to participate in linguistically “unfair” scientific communication, respectively). The paper will also submit proposals on how the situation could be improved and problems be mitigated such as, among others, regular linguistic support offered by publishers and conference organizers.
About the author
Ulrich Ammon has been professor of sociolinguistics at the University Duisburg-Essen and president of GAL, the German branch of AILA. He published 14 monographs and co-edited, inter alia, the yearbook Sociolinguistica (1987 ff.), Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook (3 vols., 2nd ed. 2004–6) and Wieser Encyclopaedia Western European Languages (2 vols., 2008).
©[2012] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- On the roles of repetition in language teaching and learning
- Cognitivism, adaptive intelligence, and second language acquisition
- A neo-Hymesian trajectory in applied linguistics
- Migrant ethnic identities, mobile language resources: Identification practices of Sri Lankan Tamil youth
- Dominant pedagogical approaches and diverse teaching conditions: Integrating CLT in a Chinese university as a danwei community of practices
- The language of development and the development of language in contemporary Africa
- Language plurality of South Asia: A search for alternate models in knowledge construction
- Linguistic inequality and its effects on participation in scientific discourse and on global knowledge accumulation – With a closer look at the problems of the second-rank language communities
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- On the roles of repetition in language teaching and learning
- Cognitivism, adaptive intelligence, and second language acquisition
- A neo-Hymesian trajectory in applied linguistics
- Migrant ethnic identities, mobile language resources: Identification practices of Sri Lankan Tamil youth
- Dominant pedagogical approaches and diverse teaching conditions: Integrating CLT in a Chinese university as a danwei community of practices
- The language of development and the development of language in contemporary Africa
- Language plurality of South Asia: A search for alternate models in knowledge construction
- Linguistic inequality and its effects on participation in scientific discourse and on global knowledge accumulation – With a closer look at the problems of the second-rank language communities
