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Tag: 20. Februar 2020

Disadvantages caused by the dominance of the English language in science

https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.15.949982

The success of a scientist depends on their production of scientific papers and the impact factor of the journal in which they publish. Because most major scientific journals are published in English, success is related to publishing in this language. Currently, 98% of publications in science are written in English, including researchers from English as a Foreign Language (EFL) countries. Colombia is among the countries with the lowest English proficiency in the world. Thus, understanding the disadvantages that Colombians face in publishing is crucial to reducing global inequality in science. This paper quantifies the disadvantages that result from the language hegemony in scientific publishing by examining the additional costs that communicating in English creates in the production of articles. It was identified that more than 90% of the scientific articles published by Colombian researchers are in English, and that publishing in a second language creates additional financial costs to Colombian doctoral students and results in problems with reading comprehension, writing ease and time, and anxiety. Rejection or revision of their articles because of the English grammar was reported by 43.5% of the doctoral students, and 33% elected not to attend international conferences and meetings due to the mandatory use of English in oral presentations. Finally, among the translation/editing services reviewed, the cost per article is between one-quarter and one-half of a doctoral monthly salary in Colombia. Of particular note, we identified a positive correlation between English proficiency and higher socioeconomic origin of the researcher. Overall, this study exhibits the negative consequences of hegemony of English that preserves the global gap in science. Although having a common language is important for science communication, generating multilinguistic alternatives would promote diversity while conserving a communication channel. Such an effort should come from different actors and should not fall solely on EFL researchers.

#sprache

Wikidata als universelle Sprache des freien Internets

https://blog.wikimedia.de/2020/02/20/sprechen-sie-daten-wikidata-als-universelle-sprache-des-freien-internets/

„Sprache ist ein wichtiger Teil zur Schaffung einer vielfältigen Community. Mehrsprachigkeit ist besonders wichtig, da immer mehr Bereiche unseres Lebens von Technologie und Interaktion durch Sprache abhängen. Wir bei Wikidata wollen niemanden zurücklassen, weil er eine andere Sprache spricht.“ […]

Lexeme: eine neue Form der Daten- und Sprachbeziehung

Seit 2018 speichert Wikidata auch einen neuen Datentyp: Wörter, die in vielen Sprachen beschrieben werden können. Bei diesen Informationen handelt es sich um lexikographische Daten. Lexeme sind die konkreten Datenpunkte in diesen lexikographischen Daten.

#sprache

Unterirdische US-Militärbasen: “In manchen davon wird der Teufel persönlich angebetet”

Wir bekommen das jahrtausendealte Gift nicht aus der Welt. Nachdem sie im Spätmittelalter einen entscheidenden Baustein zur gelehrten Theorie der Hexenverfolgung geliefert hatte, versickerte die Vorstellung von Menschen, die in unterirdischen Räumen dem Teufel huldigen und Kinder töten und verzehren, in obskuren Nischen, wo sie bis zur Gegenwart von Wirrköpfen und Verschwörungstheoretikern begierig aufgesogen werden konnte.

Der Rechtsterrorist Tobias Rathjen, der letzte Nacht in Hanau zehn Menschen getötet hat, hatte sich, so der SPIEGEL, in einem englischsprachigen Video an das amerikanische Volk gewandt:1

Darin warnt er vor unterirdischen Militärbasen: “In manchen davon wird der Teufel persönlich angebetet. Sie missbrauchen, foltern und töten kleine Kinder.”

Die uralte Tradition dieser Hass-Erzählung wurde im Kontext der Erforschung der mittelalterlichen Häresien und ihrer Verfolgung sowie als Teil des gelehrten Hexenglaubens aufgearbeitet. Der britische Historiker Norman Cohn (1915-2007) hat sie in seinem leider nie ins Deutsche übersetzten Buch von 1975 “Europe’s Inner Demons” dargestellt. Alexander Patschovskys Aufsatz von 1991 “Der Ketzer als Teufelsdiener” ist online verfügbar und eine empfehlenswerte Lektüre.

  1. Auf einer rechtsgerichteten Seite im Netz fand ich folgendes Transkript mit Link zum Video: “In your country exist deep underground military bases. In some of them they praise the devil himself. They abuse, torture and kill little children in an unbelievable amount and this happens for a long period of time. Wake up – this is one form of reality in your country.” Die “Deep Underground Military Bases” sind eine bekannte urban legend (Wikipedia-DE). [↩]

Buxheimer Projekt ist wieder online

http://buxheimlibrary.org/introduction/
“This website is the continuation of a project begun back in 1998 at Yale University. The original site is no longer available except as an archived file, and so this will eventually serve as a replacement. The Carthusian monastery at Buxheim in southwestern Germany was founded in 1402 and over the years established a library that in the late Middle Ages and early modern period was one of the largest in Europe, with over 500 manuscripts and more than 500 incunables, along with up to 20,000 other volumes. The monastery was secularized in the early nineteenth century and when the Waldbott-Bassenheim estate could no longer manage its debt, the library along with the choir stall and other furnishings were sold in 1883. Although Ludwig Rosenthal managed to secure many of the volumes for his own antiquarian business in Munich, the library was spread throughout Europe, and its volumes can currently be found in many public and university libraries as well as in private hands. This site will eventually make available several historical catalogs of the library as well as provide information on its history and those personalities that contributed to its growth and care.

William Whobrey”

#histmonast