Spanish scholars' research article publishing process in English-medium journals: English used as a lingua franca?

Abstract

Abstract English has become the language of dissemination of research findings for scholars, especially in certain fields, and this is not an exception for Spanish scholars. They are under increasing pressure to write and publish research articles in international English-medium journals to establish their credentials, get academic promotion and rewards, and also to gain professional recognition. It is the aim of this paper to look at the process of writing research articles by a group of Spanish scholars in the field of finance by exploring the role played by “literacy brokers” (Lillis and Curry 2010): “wordface professionals” (Shashok 2008) (i.e., proofreaders and language consultants, who tend to be external community members) and gatekeepers (i.e., journal editors and reviewers). The study is based on eight text histories which contain the subsequent versions of the authors' manuscripts, the editors' letters, and the referees' reports. Referees and editors frequently point out the non-nativeness of the Spanish scholars' discourse, and encourage them to resort to English native wordface professionals. The analysis reveals the most common type of language revision which their manuscripts go through to comply not only with standard linguistic and discursive uses of the language but also with prevailing Anglo-American rhetorical conventions. Through this analysis an insight is gained into the extent to which English is used as a lingua franca (ELF) in this disciplinary academic community for research publication and dissemination.