Abstract
This paper will show, on the basis of valid and reasonably representative data, that even in applied linguistics (where it might be expected least of all) the predominance of a single language, English, in international scientific communication excludes contributions from various non-Anglophone quarters and, consequently, contributes to skewed scientific development, especially neglecting Japanese and Chinese, but also French, German, Italian and Russian approaches (because of serious linguistic barriers and refusal to participate in linguistically “unfair” scientific communication, respectively). The paper will also submit proposals on how the situation could be improved and problems be mitigated such as, among others, regular linguistic support offered by publishers and conference organizers.
About the author
Ulrich Ammon has been professor of sociolinguistics at the University Duisburg-Essen and president of GAL, the German branch of AILA. He published 14 monographs and co-edited, inter alia, the yearbook Sociolinguistica (1987 ff.), Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook (3 vols., 2nd ed. 2004–6) and Wieser Encyclopaedia Western European Languages (2 vols., 2008).
©[2012] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
