Do You Speak Science? Dialect and its Role in Research Training.

Area of Science:

• Sociolinguistics
• Higher Education Studies
• Scientific Communication

Background:

• Communication skills are vital for research career success.
• The impact of non-standard English varieties (dialects/sociolects) on academic research training is understudied.
• Existing interventions rarely address language variety as a barrier.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of non-standard English varieties on scientific communication (SciComm) in academic research.
• To examine trainee and mentor perceptions regarding language variety in research environments.
• To determine if language variety is a significant factor in trainee comfort and perceived barriers.

Main Methods:

• Surveyed 124 mentor/trainee dyads across 4 time points.
• Analyzed data from 139 English speakers and 16 bilingual trainees reporting a home language variety.
• Assessed trainee self-reported comfort and mentor-perceived barriers in SciComm.

Main Results:

• Trainees from non-standard English backgrounds reported greater discomfort in research environments compared to Standard Academic English (SAE) speakers.
• Mentors perceived higher barriers to mentoring trainees who spoke non-standard varieties, irrespective of trainee ethnicity or class.
• Discomfort levels reported by non-standard variety speakers exceeded those identifying with minority ethnic groups or first-generation status.

Conclusions:

• Language variety significantly impacts mentor-mentee interactions and trainee experiences in academic research.
• Non-standard English varieties may be a more sensitive indicator of trainee discomfort than race-ethnicity or first-generation status.
• Findings suggest a need for interventions addressing language diversity in scientific training to improve inclusivity and support.