Multilingual Writers’ Voices of Publishing in English

Abstract

Over the last few decades, an increasing number of multilingual writers have been exposed to publications. They are eager to publish their work in English-medium journals. However, many multilingual writers and researchers have encountered challenges in producing and publishing legitimate research articles to meet expectations from the international disciplinary and discourse communities. This study investigated reasons influencing multilingual writers from Asian countries to publish their articles in international English-medium journals. A survey questionnaire was sent to 67 Chinese and Indonesian scholars to explore their voices of publishing in English. This study explained why there were a low number of academic research publications in English by scholars with Asian backgrounds and explored multilingual writers’ perceptions of publications in English, challenges they encountered in the pursuit of research publications, and their tactics in coping with those challenges. Results showed multilingual writers considered that publishing in international journals would be beneficial to their academic careers. However, they perceived that the process of publication in high-status Anglophone journals was challenging. In particular, a lack of applicability of research methods might impede multilingual writers from producing and publishing their studies in target international journals.