Armstrong, Thomas James; (2012) Journeys to the centre: case studies of German-L1 novice scholars writing for publication in English. Doctoral thesis , Institute of Education, University of London.

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Abstract

International scientific publication is dominated by high-impact Anglophone journals that account for around 90% of frequently-cited information. The dominance of these journals results in an increasing pressure on novice multilingual scholars to publish in English. Failure to publish in these journals has implications for individual novice scholars' future careers and for the global dissemination of scientific knowledge. Despite the importance of the topic, there is a lack of "bottom-up" research investigating the experiences of novice multilingual scholars engaged in the process of learning to write for publication in English. This thesis presents three longitudinal case studies of German-L1 novice scholars writing their first article for publication in English and analyses text histories, interviews, feedback comments and writing logs to construct a picture of the linguistic and sociocultural challenges facing this particular group of multilingual scholars. This textoriented ethnographic approach portrays both the socially-situated story of the novice writer and the linguistic story of the text from first draft to final publication and shows how successful scientific publication is dependent on the support of pivotal actors (supervisors, peers, language professionals and reviewers), who intervene following critical incidents in the trajectory towards publication to keep the text on track. With the help of pivotal actors, these critical incidents can become opportunities for novice scholars to more fully engage with the practice of scientific writing and move from a peripheral to a more centrally-located role within their local community of practice (COP) thereby gaining confidence to operate more autonomously within the global scientific discourse community. The ability to respond to dialogic feedback from pivotal actors, as well as persistence, motivation and tenacity can be seen as key success factors in the writing for publication process. The thesis outlines implications for EAP professionals involved in teaching courses in writing for scientific publication.

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