Week 6 Practice Highlighting annotating

Introduction to The BA Programme in English for Science and Technology
WORKSHEET
Week 6
Practice: Highlight and Annotate the text below as you read it.
The English language dominates Annotation

global conservation science – which
leaves one in three research papers
virtually ignored
By Tatsuya Amano
7 October 2021
English is considered the language of

international science. But our new
research reveals how important scientific
knowledge in other languages is going untapped.
This oversight squanders opportunities to help
improve the plight of the one million
species facing extinction.
We reviewed almost 420,000 peer-reviewed

papers on biodiversity conservation, published in
16 languages other than English. Many non-
English-language papers provided evidence on
the effectiveness of conservation measures, but
they are often not disseminated to the wider
scientific community.
History shows many valuable scientific

breakthroughs were originally published in a
language other than English. The structure of a
Nobel Prize–winning antimalarial drug was first
published in 1977 in simplified Chinese, as were
many of the earliest papers on COVID-19.
Evidence-based conservation is crucial for

tackling the Earth’s biodiversity crisis. Our
research shows more effort is needed to
transcend language barriers in science,
maximising scientific contributions to
conservation and helping save life on this planet.
Conservation game-changer
Most scientists speak English as a first or second
language. And many academic reward programs
are skewed towards getting published in
international English-language journals. But
important evidence in biodiversity conservation is
routinely generated by field conservationists and
scientists who are less fluent in English. They
often prefer publishing work in their first
language – which for many, is not English.
More than one-third of scientific documents on

biodiversity conservation are published in
languages other than English. However, such
knowledge is rarely used at the international
level. Take, for example, the Intergovernmental
Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Analysis of the
IPBES biodiversity assessment reports has
found 96% of references cited are written in
English.
Clearly, tackling any global challenge, including

the biodiversity crisis, hinges on tapping into the
best available knowledge, whichever language
it’s produced in. Our translatE project aims to
overcome the language barriers to improve this
information flow. As part of the project, we
screened 419,679 peer-reviewed papers
published in 16 non-English languages between
1888 and 2020 across a wide range of fields.
These spanned biodiversity, ecology,
conservation biology, forestry and agricultural
science, to name a few.
We found 1,234 papers across the 16 non-English

languages that provided evidence on the
effectiveness of biodiversity conservation
interventions. To put this in perspective,
the Conservation Evidence database, which
documents global research into the effectiveness
of conservation actions, holds 4,412 English-
language papers.
The rate of publication of relevant studies is

increasing over years in six non-English
languages: French, German, Japanese,
Portuguese, Russian and simplified Chinese.
Among the non-English-language studies we
found were a Spanish study on alleviating
conflicts between livestock farmers and
endangered Andean mountain cats in northern
Patagonia, and a Japanese study on the relocation
of endangered Blakiston’s fish owls.
Such findings might have valuable insights for

human-nature conflicts and threatened bird
management in other parts of the world.
Most English-language evidence on what works

in conservation relates to Europe and North
America. In some highly biodiverse regions where
conservation is needed most, such as Latin
America, evidence is desperately lacking.
Research in languages other than English is

especially common in regions where English-
language studies are scarce, such as Latin
America, Russia and East Asia (see figure below).
Many non-English studies also involve species for

which studies in English are few or non-existent.
Incorporating non-English studies would expand
scientific knowledge into 12-25% more
geographic areas and 5-32% more species.
Tapping global knowledge
Making the best use of non-English-language

science can be a quick, cost-effective way to fill
gaps in English-language science. Our research
recommends more effort to synthesise non-
English-language studies, and making this
knowledge available in English so it can be
disseminated to a global audience. And research
projects should seek to involve native speakers of
different languages. For our research, we worked
with 62 collaborators who, collectively, are native
speakers of 17 languages. To have the best
chance of halting Earth’s extinction crisis, we
must harness the skills, experience and
knowledge of people from around the world. We
also urge wider disciplines to reassess the
untapped potential of non-English science to
address other global challenges.
https://theconversation.com/the-english-language-dominates-global-conservation-
science-which-leaves-1-in-3-research-papers-virtually-ignored-168951

Week 6 Practice Highlighting annotating

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Introduction to The BA Programme in English for Science and Technology

The English language dominates Annotation

English is considered the language of

We reviewed almost 420,000 peer-reviewed

History shows many valuable scientific

Evidence-based conservation is crucial for

More than one-third of scientific documents on

Clearly, tackling any global challenge, including

We found 1,234 papers across the 16 non-English

The rate of publication of relevant studies is

Such findings might have valuable insights for

Most English-language evidence on what works

Research in languages other than English is

Many non-English studies also involve species for

Tapping global knowledge

Making the best use of non-English-language

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