A Tentative Study on Integrating Plain English into the Doctoral Language Programme

Abstract

Numerous scientists disseminate their research results in English-medium journals because their careers are often tied to publishing in English. Journal gatekeepers expect them to use correct scientific English in their manuscripts to make them publishable. However, many non-native English-speaking junior researchers do not know how to meet these expectations. The tentative study described in this article investigated the relevance of teaching plain English to Polish research students and its impact on their writing in scientific contexts. To answer three research questions, the Author employed a case study design in which thirteen PhD students at Bialystok University of Technology (Poland) became the participants of the didactic intervention. The study found that teaching plain English should be integrated into the PhD language programme because it brings numerous linguistic and extra-linguistic benefits to research students. Given the scarcity of research on this topic in Polish educational settings, the study may attract interest from scholars researching writing science for publication purposes or from teachers of English in doctoral programmes.

Keywords

• plain English
• English for Research Publication Purposes
• writing in the sciences
• writing instruction
• PhD language programme