Requires Proofing by a Native Speaker: Colonization and Scholarship
Many academic scholars have encountered some variation of the phrase: ‘This manuscript could benefit from proofing by a native English speaker’. They may have received this feedback or given it. This article aims to use peer review as a prism through which to explore aspects of linguistic power and privilege. In unpacking some of the language of peer review we may question some assumptions we hold about ‘native’ English speakers. Although making reference to other written works, this commentary is foregrounded in personal testimony. It does this to contextualize the issues. It is written from the perspective of a storyteller. It draws upon the stories of languages and how we use them, of where they come from and where they are going. Running throughout is the idea and the very dark reality of colonization.
Read the full article here:
https://insights.uksg.org/articles/10.1629/uksg.502/
A piece giving plenty of food for thought, and nicely written. I like the idea of peer-review as a ritual. Also, the piece deals with issues such as languages, colonisation and identity. English as the lingua franca of science would seem to entail that native English speakers have an advantage over scholars who are non-native English speakers. Yet, Ireland as a postcolonial country adopting the language of the coloniser finds itself in a unique, and somewhat ambiguous, position.