Multilingual sources used for research dissemination: positioning of Vietnamese researchers

ABSTRACT

Given the role of languages in disseminating knowledge, this study explored the positioning of Vietnamese researchers in relation to the foreign language they used for research. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with six participants who were researchers in social sciences. Findings revealed that senior researchers positioned Russian and French as an ebbing tradition while the mid-career researcher considered Chinese providing less access to research. In contrast, early-career academics saw English as bringing great opportunities to their career despite expressing their anxiety about their proficiency in using English for publication. We argue that although disseminating knowledge in English amongst younger generation researchers is important, senior researchers in educational systems influenced by multiple languages should still be encouraged to capitalise on their existing multilingual capacity, using their preferable foreign languages to disseminate knowledge globally. Instead of solely conforming to the hegemony of English, policies and practices of research should consider multilingual sources in policymaking process.

KEYWORDS:

• multilingual researchers
• research dissemination
• academic positioning
• Vietnamese social science researchers

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr Marianne Turner, Professor Paul Richardson, Dr Jill Brown, and Dr Lynette Pretorius from Monash Education, for helpful discussions during the research study. The authors also wish to thank the reviewers for very constructive comments to improve the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

During his doctoral study, Cuong Huu Hoang was supported by both the Monash International Postgraduate Research Scholarship and the Monash Graduate Scholarship. He was also generously supported by Monash Postgraduate Publications Award.