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Lost in translation?

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Daniel Béland states that well-written papers are more likely to undergo review and succeed, contrasting with poorly structured ones.

Image courtesy of interviewee. March 8, 2024

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This video video discusses the reputation and challenges of academic writing, which is often perceived as unclear and overly complex. It emphasizes the importance of making academic writing more user-friendly to reach broader audiences, including those outside of academia and various disciplines. The speaker notes that English has become the dominant language in academia, making it imperative for scholars worldwide, even those whose first language is not English, to publish in English if they wish to engage in global academic discussions.

However, the speaker also highlights the challenges non-native English speakers face in writing in English, noting that different fields of study may require different amounts of writing. While the pressure to publish in English is growing, it remains important for scholars in non-English-speaking countries to continue writing in their native languages to promote local knowledge and reach local audiences, including policymakers and citizens.

The speaker discusses the nuances of translation, using the term "welfare state" as an example to illustrate how concepts can vary significantly across languages and cultures. They emphasize that effective communication in social policy requires understanding these differences and adapting global concepts to local contexts. The discussion calls for greater awareness of the complexities of language in academia and social policy research, urging a balance between publishing in English and maintaining local linguistic practices.

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Academic writing, has a bad reputation.

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Of course, it varies from one discipline to the next,

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but overall, I think that there is a sense that often,

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academic writing is overly heavy.

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Uh, that's not always that clear, that concise,

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that you have very long sentences and a lot of right.

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Uh, and, and so, it's not really user friendly.

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And so, yes, we have to make it more user-friendly,

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especially if we want to reach, not just to people

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outside of academia, but also people outside

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of our own discipline.

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There's a lot of emphasis on anti disciplinary research.

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And of course, if you want to reach a broader audience

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and interact with people from other disciplines

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and also people from outside of academia,

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then clarity, is important.

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You need to improve your writing so that,

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more people can actually read your work and engage with it.

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So I think it's an important issue that not maybe discuss

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as much as it should, especially in, in countries like,

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the United States or, or the uk

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because these are, you know,

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English speaking countries, but,

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or at least the dominant language is,

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is really English in these countries.

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Uh, I think that English is now, the lingua franca in,

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in academia in most fields.

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It's been, I think, the case

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for a long time in natural sciences or in engineering.

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But now it's also increasingly the case in humanities

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and social sciences.

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Uh, I think that, if English is not your mother tongue,

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it's harder to write in English, right?

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On average. Um,

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and when you're in social science at humanities, you have

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to write more on average than people in natural sciences

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or engineering, right?

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It's the same thing in law as well.

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So in some fields, articles are longer, or you write books.

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Uh, while in some, fields, books are not very common,

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like in chemistry

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or physics, they are really common in, say, history

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or, or political science.

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Uh, so there's a strong push

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for scholars all over the world, regardless the country

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where they live, regardless what their mother thong is

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to actually publish in English,

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because, in most fields,

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the most prestigious journals are English language journals.

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Um, and, in order to get a job

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or get promotion

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and so forth, in many universities, including in,

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in places like China, now they request people

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to publish in English, at least some of their work.

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Um, and of course, if your mother tongue is Mandarin

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or Arabic, it's much harder

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to publish in English than if your mother tongue is English

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or even a European language that's closer to English, like,

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German or, or even French.

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So, with AI technologies, with AI technologies

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and, you know, different forms of online translation

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and so forth, it, these inequalities

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might be declining in some ways,

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but they remain, important and we have to address them

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and, and at least discuss them and,

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and not really pretend that they don't exist.

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I do think that there is increasing pressure for them to do

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so, and in many fields, if you don't publish in English,

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your work will be less read,

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less sighted will have a lesser impact,

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at least from an academic standpoint.

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So I do think that hard to avoid

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for increasing in an increasingly, high number

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of countries for people to publish in English.

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At the same time, to flip, your question on its head,

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it's also important that people in non anglophone countries

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continue to publish in their mother tongue

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or the, the, in the languages

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that are dominant in their country.

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Uh, so, so I think it, the, it goes both ways.

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Uh, I think it's important for people to publish in English,

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because in many fields it's really, hard

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to avoid if you want to, take part in some

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of the global, academic, and even policy debates.

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Uh, but at the same time, I think it's important

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to keep writing in your mother tongue

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or the, the, the, the, the, the, the languages

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or the main language

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of your country if it's a non anglophone country,

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because it's a way to reach,

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more people, different people.

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If you want to reach, in terms of knowledge translation,

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you want to reach, ordinary citizens

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or policy makers, it makes sense to communicate

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with them in their mother tongue.

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And so when the dominant language in your country is not

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English, you should try to communicate

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with these people in their mother tongue, not in English,

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you know, concepts, they travel,

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but sometimes of course, they are also translated.

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Uh, and translation can be tricky.

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Uh, so I will give you, an example

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with the term welfare state,

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which is a major term in my field.

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So people in, around the world,

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when they write in English about social policy,

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they will use the term welfare state,

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but in, in different national debates, in other,

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languages than English,

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and in, in, in different literature,

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in other languages than English, you have,

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other terms that are used to refer to welfare state,

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but it's not a word by word translation.

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So for example, in, in, in, in French, in France,

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they will use the term right in Spanish is,

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which is actually closer to welfare state than

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ance in French, which,

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providence is a very different term than, you know,

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for very different from welfare, which is in Spanish.

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You know, esad is close to welfare.

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So the way terms are translated

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or what's the national equivalent of a, a global English

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Language concept is very important

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because it can create misunderstandings.

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Um, if I talk, start to talk about the welfare state to a,

06:05.285 --> 06:07.685
a francophone and then they think it provenance,

06:08.185 --> 06:10.205
it might not mean exactly the same thing for them.

06:10.705 --> 06:14.485
So when you translate work, from say French to English

06:14.785 --> 06:17.565
or English to French, you have to be aware

06:18.065 --> 06:21.445
of these differences, of meaning.

06:21.785 --> 06:24.925
And that word by word translation is not always effective.

06:25.305 --> 06:27.325
So I think language is very important in social

06:27.325 --> 06:29.005
policy research with Klau.

06:29.685 --> 06:34.485
In 2014, we edited a book, with the policy press on,

06:34.825 --> 06:37.005
social policy concepts and language.

06:37.005 --> 06:39.485
And we discussed that, and this is something cited in my

06:39.485 --> 06:43.365
article in Global Social policy called Loss in Translation

06:43.405 --> 06:46.125
reflects reflections on language and academic writing,

06:46.475 --> 06:49.565
because I think it's really essential to understand,

06:49.565 --> 06:54.245
that, you know, translation is crucial in terms of

06:54.265 --> 06:59.045
how we adapt global concepts to, local context

06:59.585 --> 07:02.805
and how this is really about, language

07:03.305 --> 07:06.125
and the process of translation, not just in terms of,

07:06.345 --> 07:08.845
you know, translating from one language to another,

07:08.905 --> 07:11.285
but also translating from one policy context

07:11.785 --> 07:13.605
and one policy culture to another.

00:00 - Academic writing, has a bad reputation. Of course, it varies from one discipline to the next, but overall, I think that there is a sense that often, academic writing is overly heavy. that's not always that clear, that concise, that you have very long sentences and a lot of right.

00:19 - and, and so, it's not really user friendly. And so, yes, we have to make it more user-friendly, especially if we want to reach, not just to people outside of academia, but also people outside of our own discipline. There's a lot of emphasis on anti disciplinary research. And of course, if you want to reach a broader audience and interact with people from other disciplines and also people from outside of academia, then clarity, is important.

00:48 - You need to improve your writing so that, more people can actually read your work and engage with it. So I think it's an important issue that not maybe discuss as much as it should, especially in, in countries like, the United States or, or the uk because these are, you know, English speaking countries, but, or at least the dominant language is, is really English in these countries. I think that English is now, the lingua franca in,

01:16 - in academia in most fields. It's been, I think, the case for a long time in natural sciences or in engineering. But now it's also increasingly the case in humanities and social sciences. I think that, if English is not your mother tongue, it's harder to write in English, right? On average. and when you're in social science at humanities, you have to write more on average than people in natural sciences

01:46 - or engineering, right? It's the same thing in law as well. So in some fields, articles are longer, or you write books. while in some, fields, books are not very common, like in chemistry or physics, they are really common in, say, history or, or political science. so there's a strong push for scholars all over the world, regardless the country where they live, regardless what their mother thong is

02:11 - to actually publish in English, because, in most fields, the most prestigious journals are English language journals. and, in order to get a job or get promotion and so forth, in many universities, including in, in places like China, now they request people to publish in English, at least some of their work. and of course, if your mother tongue is Mandarin or Arabic, it's much harder

02:41 - to publish in English than if your mother tongue is English or even a European language that's closer to English, like, German or, or even French. So, with AI technologies, with AI technologies and, you know, different forms of online translation and so forth, it, these inequalities might be declining in some ways, but they remain, important and we have to address them and, and at least discuss them and, and not really pretend that they don't exist.

03:13 - I do think that there is increasing pressure for them to do so, and in many fields, if you don't publish in English, your work will be less read, less sighted will have a lesser impact, at least from an academic standpoint. So I do think that hard to avoid for increasing in an increasingly, high number of countries for people to publish in English. At the same time, to flip, your question on its head, it's also important that people in non anglophone countries

03:43 - continue to publish in their mother tongue or the, the, in the languages that are dominant in their country. so, so I think it, the, it goes both ways. I think it's important for people to publish in English, because in many fields it's really, hard to avoid if you want to, take part in some of the global, academic, and even policy debates. but at the same time, I think it's important to keep writing in your mother tongue

04:13 - or the, the, the, the, the, the, the languages or the main language of your country if it's a non anglophone country, because it's a way to reach, more people, different people. If you want to reach, in terms of knowledge translation, you want to reach, ordinary citizens or policy makers, it makes sense to communicate with them in their mother tongue. And so when the dominant language in your country is not

04:37 - English, you should try to communicate with these people in their mother tongue, not in English, you know, concepts, they travel, but sometimes of course, they are also translated. and translation can be tricky. so I will give you, an example with the term welfare state, which is a major term in my field. So people in, around the world, when they write in English about social policy,

05:04 - they will use the term welfare state, but in, in different national debates, in other, languages than English, and in, in, in different literature, in other languages than English, you have, other terms that are used to refer to welfare state, but it's not a word by word translation. So for example, in, in, in, in French, in France, they will use the term right in Spanish is, which is actually closer to welfare state than

05:40 - ance in French, which, providence is a very different term than, you know, for very different from welfare, which is in Spanish. You know, esad is close to welfare. So the way terms are translated or what's the national equivalent of a, a global English Language concept is very important because it can create misunderstandings. if I talk, start to talk about the welfare state to a, a francophone and then they think it provenance,

06:08 - it might not mean exactly the same thing for them. So when you translate work, from say French to English or English to French, you have to be aware of these differences, of meaning. And that word by word translation is not always effective. So I think language is very important in social policy research with Klau. In 2014, we edited a book, with the policy press on, social policy concepts and language. And we discussed that, and this is something cited in my

06:39 - article in Global Social policy called Loss in Translation reflects reflections on language and academic writing, because I think it's really essential to understand, that, you know, translation is crucial in terms of how we adapt global concepts to, local context and how this is really about, language and the process of translation, not just in terms of, you know, translating from one language to another, but also translating from one policy context and one policy culture to another.

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