Lost in translation?

Key Question Being Explored in This Insight:

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

View the page of: Daniel Béland

Institution: McGill University

Explore more insights in:

Political Science Political Theory Social Sciences

Media Literacy Toolkit

Faculti's Media Literacy Toolkit helps viewers critically engage with academic insights by analyzing the research context, identifying perspectives, and encouraging thoughtful evaluation.

Critical Questions to Consider ▼

What assumptions does the research make?
Are there alternative perspectives not explored?
What are the limitations of the research method?

Bias and Perspective Awareness ▼

This research comes from McGill University . Reflect on how the institution's academic focus and research partnerships may shape the questions being explored.

Further Reading ▼

Read the Study

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

Log-in or Sign-up to Faculti
Currently viewing this subject insight as a guest. You have insight(s) remaining for this month. Login to view 8000+ figures on the platform.

Generating Workspace...

Export as PDF

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.

Language:

Export as PDF

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.405 --> 00:02.685
Academic writing, has a bad reputation.

00:02.825 --> 00:06.005
Of course, it varies from one discipline to the next,

00:06.185 --> 00:09.685
but overall, I think that there is a sense that often,

00:10.005 --> 00:11.925
academic writing is overly heavy.

00:12.505 --> 00:15.285
Uh, that's not always that clear, that concise,

00:15.315 --> 00:19.445
that you have very long sentences and a lot of right.

00:19.625 --> 00:23.405
Uh, and, and so, it's not really user friendly.

00:23.585 --> 00:27.725
And so, yes, we have to make it more user-friendly,

00:27.855 --> 00:31.085
especially if we want to reach, not just to people

00:31.085 --> 00:33.085
outside of academia, but also people outside

00:33.085 --> 00:34.205
of our own discipline.

00:34.355 --> 00:38.045
There's a lot of emphasis on anti disciplinary research.

00:38.545 --> 00:40.885
And of course, if you want to reach a broader audience

00:40.905 --> 00:43.005
and interact with people from other disciplines

00:43.265 --> 00:45.645
and also people from outside of academia,

00:46.155 --> 00:48.565
then clarity, is important.

00:48.705 --> 00:51.085
You need to improve your writing so that,

00:51.195 --> 00:54.445
more people can actually read your work and engage with it.

00:54.705 --> 00:58.085
So I think it's an important issue that not maybe discuss

00:58.185 --> 01:01.525
as much as it should, especially in, in countries like,

01:01.525 --> 01:03.805
the United States or, or the uk

01:03.805 --> 01:06.245
because these are, you know,

01:06.515 --> 01:08.525
English speaking countries, but,

01:08.545 --> 01:10.085
or at least the dominant language is,

01:10.085 --> 01:11.565
is really English in these countries.

01:12.105 --> 01:16.005
Uh, I think that English is now, the lingua franca in,

01:16.005 --> 01:18.205
in academia in most fields.

01:18.795 --> 01:19.965
It's been, I think, the case

01:20.065 --> 01:22.965
for a long time in natural sciences or in engineering.

01:23.025 --> 01:26.565
But now it's also increasingly the case in humanities

01:26.565 --> 01:27.725
and social sciences.

01:28.345 --> 01:32.925
Uh, I think that, if English is not your mother tongue,

01:33.705 --> 01:36.965
it's harder to write in English, right?

01:37.065 --> 01:38.485
On average. Um,

01:39.105 --> 01:42.885
and when you're in social science at humanities, you have

01:42.885 --> 01:46.205
to write more on average than people in natural sciences

01:46.225 --> 01:47.325
or engineering, right?

01:47.595 --> 01:49.045
It's the same thing in law as well.

01:49.065 --> 01:52.765
So in some fields, articles are longer, or you write books.

01:53.225 --> 01:56.205
Uh, while in some, fields, books are not very common,

01:56.625 --> 01:57.845
like in chemistry

01:57.865 --> 02:01.405
or physics, they are really common in, say, history

02:01.545 --> 02:02.725
or, or political science.

02:03.345 --> 02:05.325
Uh, so there's a strong push

02:05.705 --> 02:08.285
for scholars all over the world, regardless the country

02:08.285 --> 02:11.605
where they live, regardless what their mother thong is

02:11.985 --> 02:13.605
to actually publish in English,

02:13.755 --> 02:16.845
because, in most fields,

02:16.945 --> 02:20.685
the most prestigious journals are English language journals.

02:21.185 --> 02:24.765
Um, and, in order to get a job

02:24.905 --> 02:26.245
or get promotion

02:26.265 --> 02:29.245
and so forth, in many universities, including in,

02:29.365 --> 02:32.765
in places like China, now they request people

02:32.905 --> 02:35.085
to publish in English, at least some of their work.

02:35.625 --> 02:38.605
Um, and of course, if your mother tongue is Mandarin

02:38.745 --> 02:41.165
or Arabic, it's much harder

02:41.305 --> 02:44.045
to publish in English than if your mother tongue is English

02:44.045 --> 02:48.085
or even a European language that's closer to English, like,

02:48.545 --> 02:51.085
German or, or even French.

02:51.745 --> 02:55.045
So, with AI technologies, with AI technologies

02:55.265 --> 02:58.805
and, you know, different forms of online translation

02:58.865 --> 03:01.725
and so forth, it, these inequalities

03:02.375 --> 03:04.325
might be declining in some ways,

03:04.465 --> 03:08.285
but they remain, important and we have to address them

03:08.425 --> 03:10.645
and, and at least discuss them and,

03:10.785 --> 03:13.165
and not really pretend that they don't exist.

03:13.805 --> 03:16.525
I do think that there is increasing pressure for them to do

03:16.545 --> 03:20.445
so, and in many fields, if you don't publish in English,

03:20.595 --> 03:22.245
your work will be less read,

03:22.395 --> 03:25.085
less sighted will have a lesser impact,

03:25.505 --> 03:27.125
at least from an academic standpoint.

03:27.465 --> 03:29.605
So I do think that hard to avoid

03:29.785 --> 03:32.685
for increasing in an increasingly, high number

03:32.685 --> 03:34.725
of countries for people to publish in English.

03:35.145 --> 03:39.245
At the same time, to flip, your question on its head,

03:39.675 --> 03:43.005
it's also important that people in non anglophone countries

03:43.885 --> 03:45.645
continue to publish in their mother tongue

03:46.145 --> 03:47.845
or the, the, in the languages

03:47.845 --> 03:49.325
that are dominant in their country.

03:49.945 --> 03:53.365
Uh, so, so I think it, the, it goes both ways.

03:53.985 --> 03:57.525
Uh, I think it's important for people to publish in English,

03:57.525 --> 04:01.485
because in many fields it's really, hard

04:01.485 --> 04:04.565
to avoid if you want to, take part in some

04:04.565 --> 04:08.405
of the global, academic, and even policy debates.

04:08.745 --> 04:10.525
Uh, but at the same time, I think it's important

04:10.585 --> 04:13.285
to keep writing in your mother tongue

04:13.425 --> 04:16.685
or the, the, the, the, the, the, the languages

04:16.945 --> 04:18.005
or the main language

04:18.005 --> 04:20.485
of your country if it's a non anglophone country,

04:20.485 --> 04:22.925
because it's a way to reach,

04:23.155 --> 04:24.445
more people, different people.

04:24.905 --> 04:27.525
If you want to reach, in terms of knowledge translation,

04:27.525 --> 04:30.045
you want to reach, ordinary citizens

04:30.045 --> 04:32.765
or policy makers, it makes sense to communicate

04:32.765 --> 04:34.485
with them in their mother tongue.

04:35.025 --> 04:37.845
And so when the dominant language in your country is not

04:37.845 --> 04:39.885
English, you should try to communicate

04:39.885 --> 04:42.285
with these people in their mother tongue, not in English,

04:42.585 --> 04:44.765
you know, concepts, they travel,

04:44.765 --> 04:47.125
but sometimes of course, they are also translated.

04:47.745 --> 04:49.845
Uh, and translation can be tricky.

04:50.745 --> 04:54.085
Uh, so I will give you, an example

04:54.795 --> 04:56.205
with the term welfare state,

04:56.205 --> 04:58.165
which is a major term in my field.

04:58.705 --> 05:02.495
So people in, around the world,

05:02.495 --> 05:04.375
when they write in English about social policy,

05:04.375 --> 05:06.975
they will use the term welfare state,

05:07.155 --> 05:10.375
but in, in different national debates, in other,

05:11.675 --> 05:12.715
languages than English,

05:13.375 --> 05:16.555
and in, in, in different literature,

05:16.555 --> 05:19.675
in other languages than English, you have,

05:20.125 --> 05:22.755
other terms that are used to refer to welfare state,

05:22.935 --> 05:24.995
but it's not a word by word translation.

05:25.335 --> 05:29.435
So for example, in, in, in, in French, in France,

05:29.465 --> 05:33.955
they will use the term right in Spanish is,

05:35.895 --> 05:39.875
which is actually closer to welfare state than

05:40.545 --> 05:42.275
ance in French, which,

05:42.275 --> 05:44.435
providence is a very different term than, you know,

05:44.535 --> 05:47.795
for very different from welfare, which is in Spanish.

05:47.975 --> 05:49.995
You know, esad is close to welfare.

05:50.615 --> 05:52.795
So the way terms are translated

05:52.895 --> 05:56.755
or what's the national equivalent of a, a global English

05:57.165 --> 05:59.005
Language concept is very important

05:59.005 --> 06:01.085
because it can create misunderstandings.

06:01.625 --> 06:04.965
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.

Enhancing Clarity in Academic Writing

00:00:00 - 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. 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
00:00:33 - 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. 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,
00:01:03 - 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, 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,
00:01:37 - On average. and when you're in social science at humanities, you have to write more on average than people in natural sciences 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
00:02:08 - where they live, regardless what their mother thong is 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
00:02:41 - 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,

Publishing in English: Balancing Global and Local

00:03:13 - 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
00:03:46 - 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 or the, the, the, the, the, the, the languages
00:04:18 - 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 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.
00:04:50 - 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, 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,
00:05:22 - 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 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.
00:05:52 - 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, 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.

Importance of Language in Social Policy Research

00:06:25 - 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 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
00:07:11 - 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.

Faculti AI can make mistakes

Research

Policy

Analysis

Data

Originals

Explainers

Podcasts

Faculti

New on Faculti

Idea Explorer

Definition

News Context

Critical Questions and Answers

Research Summaries