‘How can I make something interesting for me relevant for the wider community?’ – An ethnographic exploration of Romanian researchers’ adjustment to research communication standards

Abstract

The practice of multilingual scholars who communicate research outcomes through the medium of English has been often explored in the context of training programmes designed to prepare these scholars to perform at internationally accepted standards in their fields of research. Building on the author’s experience of training professional researchers within the framework of an academic development MA programme in a Romanian university, this ethnographically-flavoured study draws on prolongued involvement in the research setting to explore practices of researchers who have to reconcile conventions dominant in the local academic culture with awareness of internationally accepted standards. Thus, the study aims to contibute to the line of research that calls for investigating aspects of research article drafting in relation to the context in which such texts are created. The findings indicate the need to refine rhetorical communication abilities and reveal participants’ increasing sophistication of perception and refinement of practices. The implications relate to diminishing isolation and widening participation of multiliterate researchers in complex research undertakings. Key words: ethnography, multiliterate researchers, rhetorical functions, controlled redundancy, isolation.