Attitudes towards English for research publication in a multilingual context: The case of Polish linguists

Abstract

Although the impact of English as a language of science on other languages and communities has been discussed from various perspectives, it has less often been explored in Slavic contexts. This paper analyses the attitudes of Polish linguists towards English for research publication, with special attention to its perceived impact on the discipline, language, and academic careers as well as perceived risks and benefits it entails in these areas. The analysis follows a mixed method design based on data from a survey at Polish universities and interviews. The results show that in comparison to other cultural contexts, more participants perceived the status of English as a threat to locally relevant research and as an unfair advantage to L1 English scholars. The main risk areas include academic practices, locally relevant research agendas, and cooperation with regions where English is not a commonly known language; the main benefits, access to recent findings, broader research perspective, and wider audience. Respondents identified the source of the problems with policies that seal the status of English as the language of science, affecting locally relevant research and disciplinary practices and contributing to the sense of disadvantage associated primarily with manifold costs incurred by publishing in English.