ERIC Number: EJ942765
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Oct
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0741-0883
EISSN: N/A
Quantifying the Burden of Writing Research Articles in a Second Language: Data from Mexican Scientists
Hanauer, David I.; Englander, Karen
Written Communication, v28 n4 p403-416 Oct 2011
This article provides quantitative data to establish the relative, perceived burden of writing research articles in English as a second language. Previous qualitative research has shown that scientists writing English in a second language face difficulties but has not established parameters for the degree of this difficulty. A total of 141 Mexican, Spanish-speaking scientists from a range of scientific disciplines participated in a survey which directly compared writing scientific research articles in Spanish and English as a second language. The survey questions defined burden in relation to perceived difficulty, dissatisfaction, and anxiety. The results revealed that the experience of writing a scientific research article in English as a second language is significantly different than the experience writing in a first language and that this writing process was perceived as 24% more difficult and generated 11% more dissatisfaction and 21% more anxiety. The findings suggest that the use of English as a second language is the cause of this increased burden. (Contains 1 table.)
Descriptors: Scientific Research, Statistical Analysis, Writing Research, Writing Processes, Scientists, English (Second Language), Anxiety, Mexicans, Second Language Learning, Spanish Speaking, Surveys, Comparative Analysis, Writing for Publication
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A