Thread by @reappropriate

Ok, so I want to weigh in here bc sadly this attitude is more common than we’d care to admit in science, and factors into larger forms@of intolerance Asian/Asian American scientists face.

https://twitter.com/clementychow/status/1446936430035410945

Western scientific tradition presumes English as a common language (its own issue, btw), which means that most non-English-as-a-first-language scientists must learn at least some English proficiency. The assumption that international scientists don’t try to learn English is wrong

Learning another language is hard. Trying to conduct a specialized study like science in another language is REALLY hard. My hats off to all the English-language-limited (ELL) scientists out there, bc that shit is not easy.

It takes a lot of mental bandwidth to conduct science in a non-native language. It can make actual communication difficult.

The literal least we can do is not give people shit for choosing a common language to more effectively and comfortably communicate with a colleague.

It’s sadly so common for people to express a flawed feeling of exclusion when they hear a non-English language spoken around them. But what that person is doing is inserting themselves into a conversation between two other people.

The person who insists everyone speak English is refusing to acknowledge that English fluency is a privilege, and that being ELL makes navigating science more challenging. On top of that, many ELL folks of color also have to deal with a plethora of other stereotypes.

The ELL person can feel excluded - simply bc of the language of their birth - by most shared spaces in science. There is no reason they should also feel that in their home lab, when speaking to their own colleagues when both could communicate better in a diff shared language.

There’s a lot of DEI talk in STEM. One small step towards inclusion is dismantling the assumption that all science must be in English.

The work of creating an inclusive lab space should actually result in people without privileges like English fluency actually feeling included.

And yes, that might mean that sometimes you might hear a conversation you don’t understand happening around you.

If ELL people have to work most of the time to communicate in English, English-proficient scientists can spend some time communicating in a diff lang.

Or, for those with privilege: it’s also ok to sometimes be in spaces that don’t center your comfort. Sometimes it is ok to just sit with that discomfort in the interest of making traditionally marginalized folks more comfortable. Just saying,

I tweeted this whole thread with a burgeoning migraine. Apologies for typos.

BTW I have like 26K followers and the person in the screenshot has less than a 100. I’m aware of the vast difference in platform size here, and so was initially wary to comment.

So, please don’t brigade this person. I don’t want to contribute to any kind of online harassment.

Lastly, one thing folks can do is actually make the effort to learn or speak a non-English language with a colleague.

I am reasonably conversationally proficient in Mandarin. I offer most Mandarin-speaking colleagues that we can speak in Mandarin if they want.

Or, at least that I can understand better than I can speak and so they can speak in Mandarin if they’re more comfortable and I will use try to respond as I can in Mandarin.

Ironically, that offer is often refused bc their English is better than my Mandarin.

But sometimes, I’m taken up on the offer. It wouldn’t be a bad thing for these kinds of offers to be more common.