Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

With English widely perceived and adopted as the most prestigious language medium for the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge, academics using English as an additional language (EAL) who wish for their research to reach the global audience arguably encounter the potential language hurdle on their way toward successful international publication. Extensive research has been conducted on the challenges and coping strategies of EAL scholars writing from various contexts. Despite the burgeoning literature, though, certain topics, such as how language professionals fit into science scholars’ quest to become internationally published, remain relatively under-researched. With a view to addressing this gap, the present study directed attention to China as a representative EAL context with a native language that is linguistically distant from English, a sizable population of science scholars, and fast-growing numbers of scientific publications. More specifically, it investigated Chinese science scholars’ English academic writing and publishing practices, with a particular focus on the linguistic mediation rendered by language professionals that entered into the creation of academic texts and the collaboration and interaction between the science scholars as the original authors and language professionals as their text mediators.

Drawing upon the overarching theoretical framework of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and in particular the theory of relational agency situated within and informed by the premises of CHAT, this study employed a qualitative-heavy, mixed-methods design and collected multiple layers of data from the two groups of stakeholders in the linguistic mediation process, i.e., science scholars and language professionals. A total of 151 questionnaires were completed by respondents from both populations on self-reported perceptions and practices concerning English academic writing and publishing and adoption/provision of language support; the responses were tabulated with descriptive statistical procedures. Follow-up interviews with participants purposively sampled from both groups probed into questionnaire responses and enquired about experiences in soliciting/offering linguistic mediation; transcripts were examined using the method of deductive content analysis. Manuscripts that had undergone linguistic mediation, sourced from a small subset of language professionals, were analyzed to track textual interventions initiated by the mediators and for evidence of author-mediator interaction. The text mediating process was found to be a mutually reciprocal one: in addition to being a facilitator to the scholars’ international publication efforts, it also benefited the language professionals by helping them acquire academic literacy that could feed into their own teaching and research and derive a sense of mission from their engagement in the publication success of others. The joint action of bringing manuscripts up to publishable standards, which necessitated both sides giving play to their respective core expertise while leaving space for the other party to exercise their expertise, was noted as co-constructed, context-dependent, and subject to interpersonal dynamics between authors and mediators.

This study is expected to contribute to the line of inquiry on English for Research Publication Purposes (ERPP) by offering insights into the contribution of linguistic mediation to Chinese science scholars’ international publication. It sheds light on the significance of promoting communication and cooperation between science scholars and language professionals, especially English language teachers from the same institutional context, so as to mobilize the latter as a readily available yet largely under-used source of language support. The knowledge gained on language professionals’ experiences and perceptions as text mediators informs initiatives for their on-the-job development and curriculum design for English teacher/translator-training programmes, to boost their academic research competence and better equip them for the roles of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) instructors and academic translators/editors.