PHREE Background Paper Series

Document No. PHREE/92/47

Language Issuesin Scientific Training and Research

in Developing Countries

by

Thomas Owen Eisemon(Consultant)

Education and Employment DivisionPopulation and Human Resources Department

The World Bank

January 1992

This publication series serves as an outlet for background products from the ongoing work program of policy research and analysis of theEducation and Employment Division in the Population and Human Resources Department of the World Bank. The iews expressed arethose of the author(s), and should not be attributed to the World Bank-

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This paper was prepared in connection with the author'sresponsibilities at the World Bank while on leave from theCenter for Cognitive and Ethnographic Studies at McGillUniversity.

O Thze Intemational Bank for Reconstrction and Development/Thle World Bank, 1992

Table of Contents

Abstract ........................................ iii

I. INTRODUCTION .......................................... 1

IL LANGUAGE AND SCIENCE ......................................... 2English "Hegemony" in Scientific Training and Research . 2Variations in Language Policies .4

Ill. DOES USE OF AN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE CREATEA BARRIER TO INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION? .6"Parochialism" in Science .6Economic Impediments to Scientific Communication ............. ............. 7Effects of Language Policies on Mainstream Scientific Visibility .......... 8Achieving International Visibility ......................................... 13Use of Information and Publication Strategies ............................... 15

IV. THE QUALITY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF SCIENTIFIC TRAINING .... ..... 16The Metropolitan Language as a Proxy for Educational Quality ..... ............ 16Metropolitan Language Instruction and Foreign Training ....................... 19English Language Skills of Foreign Students in American Universities ..... ........ 20

V. USE OF INDIGENOUS AND METROPOLITAN LANGUAGES FORSCIENCE EDUCATION .24

Social Selectivity of Access to Metropolitan Language Education .24Teaching in a Metropolitan Language ...................................... 26Methods of Instruction .............................. 27Effects of Language on Student Achievement .28Implications of Language Policies for Using Science in Daily Life .32

VI. SUMMARY ................................ ..................... 35

VII. TABLES

Table 1: Percentage of Countries Teaching English andOther European Languages in Secondary Schools ............. .... 3

i

Table 2: Number of Journal and Book Authors andNumber of Research Scientists and Engineersby Region and Selected Countries: 1987 & Various Years . ............. .9

Table 3: Developing Country SCI Source Publicationsby Region and Country: 1987 ..................................... 11

Tab!. 4: Proport ion of Developing Country Agriculturaland Forestry Scientists Who Publish Localor in Developed Country Journals ................................. 12

Table 5: Language of Examination By Course of Study: 1967 .................... 17

Table 6: Ranking of TOEFL Repeaters 1977-1980 by Countryand Region of Origin ........................................... 21

Table 7: Mean TOEFL Scores 1987-89 By Region and Country ................. 22

Table 8: Foreign Student Performance on the Graduate Record Examinationand Grades Received for First Year ofUtniversity Studies: 1982-84 ...................................... 23

Table 9: Student Performance in Reading Comprehension, Written Composition,Mathematics and Science/Agriculture in Kirundi and French .... ......... 30

Table 10: Percentage Differences by Test: Repeaters Versus Nonrepeaters .... ..... 32

References ..... 38

ii

Absta

Language policies affecting scientific education and research have important implications foreducational efficiency and effectiveness. An analysis of the role of European and other languagesin science education and in advanced scientific training and research in developing countries ispresented. Three conclusions are drawn. First, policies favoring indigenous languages for scientifictraining do not necessarily create a "language barrier" to international scientific communication.They do not inhibit the production of mainstream, mainly English language scientific research or useof English scientific information. Second, in countries where a foreign language has been adoptedfor all science instructions, poor foreign language proficiency is an important cause of high wastageand repetition rates and low achievement in scientific and technological courses. Foreign languagetraining must be improved at all educational levels. Finally, use of indigenous languages at least atthe primary level may promote leaming of science and related subjects. Indigenous languages willnot develop as language of ordinary scientific discourse unless they are employed for instructionsocial and material welfare.

. .

INTRODUCrION

Language policies in developing countries reflect the ways western science andeducation were transplanted to non-western societies. They are also influenced by outcomes ofhistorical experiences, especially by trading relationships and patterns of foreign scientific andeducational assistance. At the same time, language policies are instruments for deliberately changingthese circumstances.

That may involve expanding instruction in an indigenous language, providing supportfor indigenous language scientific publications or introducing a new foreigr language for scientifictraining. For example, some Francophone countries in Africa have made English a compulsorysecond language for scientific and technical studies to diversify sources of educational assistance.MoFambique is considering changing the langua6,e of instruction from Portuguese to English to fostergreater economic and scientific co-operation regiona!ly and internationally. Many Asian countrieslike Japan, Korea and China adopted indigenous languages for scientific instruction and research tocreate a national scientific community. Inflt.ential Filipino scientiss recently proposed that theircountry follow these examples (Scott 1989).

How language policies may affect scientific training and research and the utilizationof modern science in eaily life is the subject of this paper. Language policies generate intensecontroversy and for this reason, are often regarded as matters for political debate rather than asubject for dispassionate analysis. The purpose of this paper is to identify their consequences andto show their centrality to efforts to improve educational efficiency and effectiveness.

An analysis of the role of European and other languages in science education andadvanced scientific training and research is presented in the first section of the paper. Linguisticbarriers to scientific communication and recognition are discussed. The impact of language policieson the quality and effectiveness of science education and advanced scientific training is addressedin the second section of the paper. Since increasing access to foreign universities is important to therationale for using a foreign language for science instruction, the relationship between languagepolicies, foreign language proficiency and success in foreign studies is considered. In many countries,science and even health, agriculture and nutrition are taught only in a foreign language. Howteaching science in a foreign language may influence teaching methods and learning outcomes isinvestigated in the final section.

Three conclusions are drawn. First, policies favoring indigenous languages forscientific training do not necessarily create a "language barrier" to international scientificcommunication. They do not inhibit the production of mainstream, mainly English language scientificresearch or use of English scientific information. Economic and political circumstances are moreserious constraints on scientific production and communication. Second, in countries where a foreignlanguage has been adopted for all science instruction, poor foreign language proficiency is an

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important cause of high wastage and repetition rates and low achievement in scientific andtechnological courses. Foreign language training must he improved at all educational levels. Finally,use of indigenous languages a. least at the primary level may promote learning of science and relatedsubjects. Indigenous languages will not develop as languages of ordinary scientific discourse unlessthey are employed for instruction. That, in turn, may facilitate diffusion of science in the popularculture and in doing so, strengthen the many positive effects of schooling on social and materialwelfare.

LANGUAGE AND SCENCE

English "Hegemony" in Scientific Training and Research

Language establishes the intellectual boundaries cf scientific communities influencingwhat students are taught, how scientific instruction and research is organized and carried out as wellas with whom scientists communicate. There are transnational scientific communities to whichalmost all scientists belong defined on the basis of the language of scientific activities, the largestbeing the English language scientific community. Boundaries between these transnational scientificcommunities are made permeable by language requirements in science education and especially inadvanced scientific training, and by the comprehensiveness of bibliographic data bases andaostracting and translating services (Tabah 1990).

One indicator is the increasing citation of English language literature in scientificpublications in other European languages (Garfield 1967; 1976; 1983a.) and the increasing use ofEnglish journals by non-English authors (Inhalber 1977a; Frame, Narin and Carpenter 1977;Jagodzinski-Sigogneau, Courtial and Latour 1982; Tsunoda 1983; Shearer 1986; 1991). For example,a majority of Francophone scientists and engineers in Quebec publish in English despite governmentsupport for the development of French language scientific journals (Eisemon and Rabkin 1978; 1979;Gablot 1981; Leclerc 1988). The proportion of English language scientific literature in majorinternational data bases for physics, biology, medicine and chemistry ranged in 1980 from 62% forchemistry to 88% for biology (Large 1983, 18). Since the 1960s, the share of English publicationshas grown in applied as well as in basic scientific fields; in 1977, 83% of publications in engineeringsurveyed by indexing services were in English (Large 1983, 22). This is largely attributable to thehigh scientific output of American scientists and engineers who account for perhaps half of allscientific authors and a significant proportion of publications in foreign scientific journals (Inhalber1977a., 391). The expansion of English scientific literature has led to concerns about "linguistichegonomy" (Tsunoda 1983; Leclerc 1988).

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While English has become the intgu4 franca of scientific communication, there areno signs that this has reduced use of other European hai.guages. The volume of scientific literature6a other European languages continues to grow. It is the impact of research in these languagesmeasured by citations to sc-cntific literature that has diminished relative to English (Large 1983, 21-24). Ihe exception is Russ,&n language research whose impact on Engiish language scientific andtechnological literature increased narticularly in the 1960s and 1970s (Large 1983, ~2).

Moreover, English has not supplanted the use of non-EuropQan languages forscientific communication. Japanese, for example, is becoming an important language of scientificresearch (Large 1983, 26) with increasing impact on mainstream English scientific literature and onthe indigcnous and English language scientific literatures of other Asian countries (Eisemon andDavis 1989, 366; Davis and Eisemon 1989). The proliferation of non-European language scientificliteratures has facilitated adoption of indigenous languages for scientific training and scienceeducat; n. At the same time, the centrifugal tendencies favoring expansion of English forcommu, 'ation has made English a universal second or third scientific language (Table 1).

Table 1

Perceniage of Countria Tewhing Englishand Other European Lnguges in Secondazy Schools

Period

anguage: 1920-44 1945-69 1970-86N=48 N=123 N=127

English 39.6 62.2 72.0

French 47.9 33.3 17.6

German 16.3 - .8

Russian - 6.5 6.3

Spanish - 6.3

Source: Cha, Y.K (1991), "Effect of the Global System on Language Instruction 1850-1986," Sociolog of Education, 64, 29.

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Varnations in Language Policies

The role of indigenous and European languages in scientific training andcommunication in developing countries varies. At one extreme are countries where almost allinstruction in scientific and technical subjects from primary school through uriversity occurs in anindigenous language that is used for most scientific communication. Examples include China, Koreaand Thailand. Such countries are relatively homogenous linguistically. They have large institutionalinfrastructures for scientific training and research whose development preceded the Second WorldWar. In Korea and China, many of the first modern higher educational institutions offering studiesin scientific and technical subjects were established at the turn of this century by European andAmerican religious organizations whose schools offered instruction in indigenous as well as inmetropolitan languages.

Indigenous language education acquired great political and cultural significance owingto the particular circumstances of each of these countries. In Thailand, for example, it was aninstrument for national integration of its Chinese and other linguistic minorities. Chinese schoolswere closed in the 1920s and 1930s and Thai made the official langiage of instruction (Keyes 1989,133). Development of indigenous institutions for advanced scientific training and research, whichbegan with the founding of Chulalonghorn University in 1917, was motivated by the monarchy'sdesire to secure the country's status as one of Asia's two politically independent states. Today,Thailand's sixteen public and twenty five private universities and colleges use the indigenous languagein science and engineering programs at the postgraduate anJ undergraduate levels. This hasprompted the growth of a significant Thai educational and research literature. A very smallproportion of the scientific output of Thailand is published in English or another European language(Yuthavong 1986). For example, more than 90% of all 1986 scientific papers in bio-technology fieldswhich rec_ive high priority in national research funding (Yuthavong 1987) were published in Thaijournals, conference proceedings and other professional literature (Davis, Eisemon, Yuthavong andPhornsadja 1991).

At the other extreme are countries that use a metropolitan language for all scienceeducation and for scientific communication, and have virtually no indigenous language scientificliterature. In Latin America, expansion of Spanish and Portuguese language schooling has resultedin linguistic assimilation and marginalization of indigenous languages. In Sub-Saharan Africa, fewcountries have a national language. In most African primary schools, science and even agricultureand health are taught in a former metropolitan languace which serves as the national language,usually English or French (Eisemon 1989). European languages are used for secondary and highereducation except in Ethiopia and Tanzania. Linguistic hetrogenity has also prompted countries suchas Singapore and other multiethnic island states like Madagascar, the Seychelles and Mauritius toadopt metropolitan languages for all scientific training and research.

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TIhere are few African scientific journals and none in indipenous languages. Africanscientists communicate in metropolitan la:nguages in jourmals published in the former metropolitancountries (Rablin, Eisemon, Lafitte-Houssat and Rathgeber 1979). Linguistic hetrogenity and theintelectual legacies of European imperialism have contributed to continued reliance on metropolitanlanguages (Eisemon 1979; Eisemon 1984; Eisemon. Davis and Rathgeber 1985).

In between these extremes are many developing countries whose language policieshave produced dualistic higher education systems; ie. there are both indigenous and English languageeducational and scie.-ific institutions. Sometimes this replicates the structure of primary aLdsecondary education as in India and Egypt where there are English and local language schools.Typically, the metropolitan language education sector is smaller and associated with access to highquality scientific training at the university level. Often metropolitan language education is offeredby private institutions including elite private universities like the American University of Cairo. InIndia, high quality metropolitan language scientific and technical education is provided by the centralgovernment which operates the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institute of Science, andthe country's premier scientific institutions. State governments have responsibility for the bulk ofIndia's higher educational institutions, many of which use indigenous languages for instruction at theundergraduate level (Eisemon 1974).

In India, metropolitan and indigenous language scientific education has an interestinghistory. India's first modern higher educational institutions were established in the 18th century topromote oriental learning. Their curricula included instruction in indigenous as well as Europeanscientific subjects which were taught in vernacular languages (Kopf 1969; 1979). English was adoptedas the medium of instruction for teaching science only after a prolonged controversy. The issue wasdecided in favor of a modernizing Indian elite that not only wanted access to employment in thecolonial scientific and educational services but also viewed European science as an instrument forrevitJzing India's scientific and intellectual heritage. The result is that English developed as anindigenous scientific language. Use of vernacular languages continued as did instruction inindigenous sciences like Ayurvedic and Unani medicine. Expansion of the higher education systemparticularly in the 1960s occurred in the context of political partition of the country into languagestates. This led to increased provisior - higher education in vernacular languages and establishmentof many national scientific instituti ..s using English.

India illustrates another source of compkt: ty in describing the use of European andindigenous languages for scientific training and research in many developing countries. While Englishand vemacular languages are used for instruction and research in science and many applied scientificfields including medicine and agriculture, engineering cducation and research is done primarily inEnglish (Eisemon 1974). Countries that have placed more importance on the development ofindigenous languages for scientific and educational purposes like Korea have also experienceddifficulties in using these languages for engineering training.

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Engineers are frequently thought of as producers and users of "local" knowledge in

contrast, say, to physical and biological scientists. There is much evidence of this, for example, in

the production of technical literature for practioners in engineering (Price 1968; 1986, i14) and use

of such literature in research and training (Eisemon 1974; Eisemon and Davis 1989, 366). That is

one reason why national research capacities in engineering are poorly estimated in science indicators

that measure production of journal literature which is more visible to the international scientific

community (International Task Force for Assessing the Scientific Output of the Third World 1985,

9).

Perhaps the explana.ion for the continuing in.+ ince cf metropolitan languages in

engineering has partly to do with the fact that western countries r .nain a significant source of

opportunities especially for postgraduate training in erg-.ineering. Universities in developing countries

are important suppliers of engineering students to western universities and of graduate engineers for

the international labor market.

DOES USE OF AN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE CREATE A BARRIER10 INTRNATIONAL SCENTIFIC COMMUNICATION?

Barriers to scientific communication, developing country contribution .o mainstream,English language scientific literature and the role of indigenous languages in scientific research are

considered below. Two generalizations are supported by previous studies. First, political

parochialism and underinvestment in science are more serious impediments to scientific production

and international scientific communication than language policies. Use of indigenous languages for

scientific training and research usually does not isolate a developing country scientific community in

the absence of other reinforcing circumstances. Second, although much high impact scientific

research is published abroad in international scientific languages, indigenous language scientific

literatures have important functions. Such literatu.. is particularly important for communicating

applied scientific research and supporting use of indigenous languages for scientific training.

'Parochialism" in Scie- -.

Shils (1961) drew attention to the tensions between cosmopolitanism and parochialism

in building modem scientfiic cultures in newly independent African and Asian countries. Their

fragile scientific communities required continuing inputs of foreign technical assistance, foreign

training, access to foreign scientific information and outlets for scientific cow .. Jnication from centers

of scientific activity in western countries. But nationalist ideologies emphasized scientific self-

reliance; i.e. localization of teaching and research staffs, establishment of indigenous professional

societies and journals, use of indigenous languages for scientific communication, and democratization

of higher education at the expense of high quality training for a cosmopolitan English speaking

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scientific elite. Shils warned that !-uch measures might condemn African and Asian countries teperipheral status in the international scientific system. Ard he pointed to India---with its system ofhigher education in perpetual crisis, the quality of scientiric and tcchnical training declining, and thestatus of English reduced in favor of vernacular languages---as an indication of what might happenelsewhere if parochial pressures were not successfully resisted (Shils 1969).

Indeed, parochialism has often accompanied efforts to p:omote scientific self-relianceand re-orient patterns of intellectual influence. For example, after the Bolshevik revolution theSoviet Union did not send scientists abroad for advanced training and restricted scientificcommunication including publication of Soviet science in foreign journe Is (Vucinich 1984). Thesepolicies contributed to the emergence of a large and important Russia.i scientific literature. Theyalso contributed to the Soviet Union's present scientific and industrial weaknesses which it is tryingto remedy through increased international scientific co-operation.

A more dramatic recent example of how politics influences scientific activity isprovided by China's Cultural Revolution of 1966-76. "The Cultural Revolution," Frame and Narin(1987) write. "se-led China's borders and Chinese researchers lost all contact with scientific andtechnological developments abroad (Frame and Narin 1987, 136)." China's scientific isolation duringthis period was nearly complete. In 1973, only one Chinese scientific paper appeared in the Instituteof Scientific Ir rmation's corpus of 2,300 mainstream scientific journals.

Scientific and technological development became one of the ruling party's FourModernizations in 1978. Foreign especially English language studies, foreign scientific training mainlyin North American universities and international scientific co-operation were encouraged. China'soutput of mainstream scientific publications increased exponentially in the early 1980s especially inearth and space sciences, mathematics and other fundamental sciences. In brief, isolationist politicsmay reinforce language and science policies in wa-s that reduce international scientificcommunication and probably the level of scientific activity as well.

Economic Impediments to Scientific Communication

Underinvestment in science is a serious impediment to international scientificcommunication among developing countries. In developing countries, research and developmentinvestments are related in a linear fashion to the output of mainstream scientific papers (Inhalberb.1977). Science investments are, in turn, related to the gross size of developing country economiesrather than to their per capita income. Thus, it is the amount spent on science that best explainsdeveloping country variations in mainstream scientific output. Frame concludes that, "while affluenceand economic size jointly correlate highly with levels of scientific effort in developed countries,economic size alone correlates strongiy with levels of scientific effort in less developed countries(Frame 1970, 233)."

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Perhaps more interesting are the several exceptions to this statement; i.e. countriesthat perform better than the size of their economies and investments in science would suggest suchas Senegal and Kenya in the early 1970s. Both countries had large numberE of expatriate scientistsand were recipients of generous bilateral and international scientific assistance for metropolitanlanguage higher educati -it. The output of mainstream scientific papers continued to grow throughthe early 1980s while su bstantial progress was being made in "Africanising" scientific institutions(Eisemon aind Davis 19')la.). However, present ecoziomic difficulties combined with unrestrainedexpansion of higher edUk ational institutions which account for most mainstream scientific production,has adversely affected science investments and scientific output (Eisemon and Davis 1991b.).

Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa's largest producer of mainstrearm scientific researchrepresenting about half (47%) of its tot.i output (Zymelman 1990), is one of growing number ofAfrican and Asian countries in which research production has declined due to political instability andeconomic austerity (Eisemon and Davis 1991a.). Its production of mainstream research peaked in1982 (Zymelman 1990, 14) and has since declined significantly. A recent analysis of Nigerianmainstream research produw tion (Gupta 1989) suggests that this is not caused by the falling outputof a few highly productive "first-generation" foreign trained academic scientists (Eisemon 1980) whoare now reaching retirement. Research output at least in biochemistry and perhaps in otherscientific fields is broad based (Gupta 1989). The decline in mainstream research output reflects thesituation of Nigerian universities which have experienced more than a decade of financialretrenchment.

A 1986 survey (Ehiknamenor 1988) of physical scientists in four elite Nigerianuniversities, 87% of whom were active researchers, found that lack of equipment was "discouraging(78% of the scientists) from doing research," and many (82%) "complained about lack of informationas a constraint to research (Ehikhamenor 1990, 442)." While few scientists had given up researchaltogether, many had to change their research interests to conform to equipment availability. Somemade arrangements to continue their research activities outside the country and/or had foreigncolleagues do literature searches for them. While austerity may prompt resourcefulness, it inhibitsthe production and communication of scientific information in developing country scientificcommunities where there are no language barriers.

Effects of Language Policies on Mainstream Scientific Visibility

Whether a country !ises English or another European language for scientific traininghas little to do with the country's representation of authors in some of the world's most influentialscientific journals and books surveyed by the Institute of Scientific Information as is evident in Table2 below.

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Table 2Number of Jouwnal ad Book Autht and Number of Research Sdentckt and igninemw by

Rego a d Sdectd CmnhIc 19U7 & Varbu Year

Region/Country Number of Authors Number of R&D(Five most Scientists andimportant) Engineers

1. N. America, Europe and JapanUnited States 353,190 787,400 (1986)Japan 80,638 590,680 (1987)United Kingdom 79,238 NAUSSR 77,449 1,511,000 (1987)France 63,469 105,000 (1986)

2. Latin AmericaBrazil 6,027 52,863 (1982)Argentina 4,663 18,929 (1982)Mexico 2,942 16,679 (1984)Chile 2,171 5,145 (1987)Venezuela 1,025 4,568 (1983)

3. Middle EastIsrael 8,801 20,100 (10,400)Egypt 2,865 20,893 (1986)Saudi Arabia 1,451 NATurkey 1,352 11,276 (1985)Kuwait 670 1,511 (1984)

4. Sub-Saharan AfricaSouth Africa 5,652 NANigeria 1,575 NAKenya 455 NASenegambia 236 1,948 (1981)Ivory Coast 218 NA

5. AsiaIndia 22,355 85,309 (1986)China 11.786 NATaiwan 2,487 NAKorea 1,708 47,042 (1986)Hong Kong 1,048 NA

Sources: Current Content Address Directory. Science and Technology: 1987 (Philadelphia: ISI, 1988);Unesco Statistical Yearbook: 1989 (Paris: Unesco, 1990).

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The leading developing country producers of the most internationally visible scientificresearch as represented in what is mainly an English language corpus of scientific literature(Carpenter and Narin 1981), are quite diverse insofar as their language and science policies areconcerned. India is the largest producer of science among developing countries. It is ranked eighthin the total number of scientific authors and has the third lk -gest scientific community. Despiteexpanded use of vernacular languages in higher education, science policies emphasizing self-reliance,limited coverage of Indian scientific literature in international data bases and many practical barriersto international scientific communication (Arunachalam 1985), India is important producer of Englishlanguage scientific research. Scientific institutions in Brazil and Argentina use Portuguese andSpanish, respectively, and like India, most scientists are locally trained. Portugese and Spanishlanguage coverage in international bibliographic data bases is particularly poor (see below). Thatis even more true for Asian languages like Korean. Korea's pool of research scientists andengineers, many of whom have been trained in English speaking countries (Cummings 1984), is aboutthe size of Brazil's. However, Brazil is a much larger producer of international scientific literature.

Only in the Middle East might a "language effect" be discerned, given the similarityin the size of the research communities of Israel and Egypt. Israeli scientists are over-representedin international scientific literature compared to other developing countries. This not only reflectsgreater investment in research and development (Unesco 1989,5-46), but also the fact that a highproportion of Israeli scientists are emigrants from scientifically developed countries---most recently,from the Soviet Union. These scientists are probably more oriented to international scientificrecognition than their Israeli born colleagues. Israel ranks highest among developed and developingcountries in terms of the proportion of its scientists who publish abroad (Inhalber 1977, 389).

The scientific literature of developing countries comprises a very small proportion ofthe more than three thousand journals that are now included in the Science Citation Index (SCI)which measures the most influential research. Journals are added to the index based on the citationst papers published in them and according other criteria such as English titles, abstracts and tablesof contents. The selectivity of the SCI---about 6% of the world's scientific journals are included(Gaillard 1990, 2)---has been a source of much controversy focusing on the limited coverage of non-English and developing country scientific literature (International Task Force for Assessing theScientific Output of the Third World 1985; Eisemon and Davis 1989, 326-27). Table 3 belowsummarizes the developing country contnbutions to the SCI corpus.

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Table 3

Developing Country SCQ Souce PublicatiosBy Region and CDuntyr 1987

Region/Country Number of Source Publications

l. Latin America

Argentina 4Brazil 3Chile 3Mexico 2Venezuela 1

2. Middle East

Israel 9Kuwait 1

3. Africa

Kenya ISouth Africa 10

4. Asia

China 11India 12Korea 1Pakistan 1Taiwan 1Thailand 1

Total 61

Source: Institute for Scientific Information (1987). Science Citation Index 1987Guide. (Philadelphia: Institute for Scientific Information), 122-132.

Except for the Latin American and some Chinese journals, the others either publishonly English articles or are bilingual. As well, except for Latin America, the journals of manydeveloping countries which are important producers of international scientific literature are notrepresented at all as in the case of Egypt and Nigeria or, like India, are seriously under-represented

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(Arunachalam 1985,3; Arunachalam and Manorama 1988). It is, for example, remarkable that Indiaand China have about as many source journals. This can not be reflective of the quantitativeproduction or qualitative impact of scientific research in the two countries; India accounts for 52 %of all Third World source articles and 45% citations (Garfield 1983, 258). This is, instead, suggestiveof the sometimes arbitrary application of criteria for inclusion of developing country joumals in theSCI corpus (Intemational Task Force for Assessing the Scientific Output of the Third World 1985;Eisemon and Davis 1989, 329) . Until recently, Chinese science stimulated great political interestin the United States. Indian science does not. Generally, developing country scientific literature islargely ignored whether it is in Englisii or in a local language.

Analyses of the publications lists of developing country agricultural and forestryscientists whose research is funded from foreign---primarily American--sources, show that theaverage author produces about 1.3 scientific articles,.5 conference papers and .3 technical papers peryear (Bush and Lacy 1983; Gaillard 1990, 4-6). Insofar as journal articles are concemed, output ishighest in the natural products and food sciences and lowest in forestry; 1.6 and 1.4 versus .7 joumalarticles. Natural products researchers publish the highest proportion of their scientific papersabroad; 1.1 articles per year in foreign journals and .5 in local journals. Food scientists publish mostof their work locally---1.0 versus .4 journal articles---which may reflect the specificity of this researchand the comparatively large number of developing country journals in this field. There are alsosignificant variations among scientists in different regions.

Table 4Proportio of Developing Country Agricultural and Forestry Scientists Who Publish local or in

Deeloped C-ountry Journals

Region: % Local % Other % DevelopedJournals Developing Country

Country JournalsJournals

Latin America .58 .09 .33Africa .41 .10 .49Asia .60 .06 .34

Total .55 .08 .37

Source: Gaillard, J., "Use of Publications Lists to Study Scientific Production andStrategies of Scientists in Developing Countries," Paper Presented toInternational Conference on Science Indicators for Developing Countries,"Unesco, Paris, 15-19 October 1990; adapted from Bush,L and Lacy, W.B.,Science. Agriculture and the Politics of Research. (Boulder, ColoradoWestview Press, 1983).

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African agricultural and forestry scientists are more likely to publish abroad thaneither Latin American or Asian scientists probably due to lack of local outlets for their research.What is more striking, though, is the large proportion (37%) of developing country research that ispublished abroad. This is high by comparison to scientifically developed countries (Garfield 1983;Gaillard 1990, 5). For example, 20% of French and 25% of Japanese research is published inforeign journals. Yet except for Africa, the data presented in Table 4 indicate that most developingcountry agricultural research produced by the most active and well funded scientists is publishedlocaly. Studies of developing country scientists in other fields have reported similar findings(Inhalber 1977a; Thorpe 1990; Meneghini 1990; Gaillard 1991). Local languages are usually usedto communicate applied research. Asian and Latin American fisheries research, for example, "tendsto be publishc4 in the national languages (Baldauf and Jernudd 1983, 250)." This has also beenobserved for agricultural researchers in Brazil (Velho and Krige 1990, 50).

Achieving International Visibility

Papers published in developed country scientific joumals are much more likely to becited and, thus, are more influential. Lawani (1977) showed that the papers of Nigerianentomologists which were published abroad received t74% more citations than those that appearedin Nigerian scientific journals. The ethnicity of the scientist may be related to the number ofcitations received. A recent Moroccan study indicates that papers produced by foreign scientistsworking in local scientific instutions are more likely to be cited in developed zour try scientificliterature than those by Moroccan scientists working in the same scientific institutions on co-operativeprojects who also publish abroad (Alami and Miquel 1990).

In Africa, regional scientific institutions whose agricultural and health researchprograms receive support for the donor community have become prominent producers ofinternational scientific literature (Davis 1983). The research topics that receive a high priority fromforeign donors constitute most of the highly cited developing country scientific literature. Accordingto Garfield, 90% of highly cited literature "deals with topics in closely related fields-clinical andbiomedical science...The cluster names read like an agenda of Third World concerns: diseasestransmitted by parasites, bacteria, and viruses; immune responses to these and other infectiousdiseases; hormones, steroids and fertility; and grains and legumes (Garfield 1983, 270-71)." By ThirdWorld science, Garfield undoubtedly meant that which is most cited in the Science Citation IndexMore accurately, it is that science supported by foreign donors, carried out in a developing countryoften in collaboration with foreign researchers, supported by international and bilateral assistanceagencies and the philanthropic foundaticns, which is responsive to the donor community's agendain the Third World, and published in English.

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An example is the Institute of Biomedical Research founded at the NationalUniversity of Mexico in 1940, and supported for many years by the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1965,an American trained Mexican scientist was appointed as the director who recruited many Americantrained scientists. Prior to the early 1960s, most research papers were published in Spanish in localjournals. After that, English publications predominated. By 1969, nearly half (44%) of the Mexicandoctoral students were publishing papers in American journals in collaboration with their professors.Despite a decline in foreign research funding, the cosmopolitan orientation of the Institute's scientificwork continued. Few papers published between 1969 and 1979 contained citations to Mexicanscientists; only 5% of total citations. A study of the Institute's scientific output notes that "thequantitative increase in scientific productivity was accompanied by a trend towards publishing injournals with an international circulation...This attention to research issues defined by the worldwideinvisible college implies a significant shift in the quality and relevance of Mexican research (Lomitz,Rees and Comeo 1987,130)."

It is frequently alleged that a high but undetermined proportion of developing countryscientific journals are un-refereed, that research appearing in them is not subject to peer review inany serious sense, and that the journals, thus open to scientific quackery, are a vast forum formediocrity. Indian scientific journals are often criticized for these reasons. Indian scientific journalshave often been found to cite much older literature than developed country mainstream journalssuggesting, 'a preoccupation with problems of not so great current relevance to intemational science(Arunachalam 1987, 6)." Comparisons of the age of documents cited in two Indian biochemistryjournals not included in the Science Citation Index with citations in six mainstream internationaljournals showed that Indian non-mainstream research made significantly less use of researchpublished in the last four years. Studies of Indian physics (Moravcsik, Murugesan and Shearer1976) and developing country biomedical literature (Christovao 1985) reveal a similar pattem.Arunachalam concludes with respect to Indian journals, that they "serve essentially as a sink forinformation...many people tackle problems of not much current relevance, scientific significance ororiginality (Arunachalam 1987, 6 & 7)."

This is more true of some fields and specialties than others (Arunachalam andManorama 1988). Indian research in particle physics and astronomy uses more recent information.India has a long research tradition in these domains which have received much government financialsupport in the independence period. Ildian research in bio-chemistry also seems to be up-to-date,chiefly as a result of scientific exchanges with the United States. A study of scientific papers rejectedby international journals found that 44% originating from developing countries were judged as beingunoriginal and that in 20% of the cases, referees objected to the poor quality of the references(Garfield 1983, 270-271).

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Use of Information and Publication Strategies

Developing country researchers use information differently depending on whether theproblem investigated in a scientific paper is of importance to the international or to the localscientific community. Typically, papers addressed to the international scientific community use morerapidly obsolesing literature. For instance, immunological research, whether conducted in developedor developing countries, draws upon much more recent literature than research onschistomosomiasis, a field characterized by Christovao (1985) as "local science." The age of theinformation base of "local science" may be related both to its applied character and to theinstitutional context in which it is produced---developing country scientists have limited access torecent scientific information.

The language of scientific communication affects use of scientific information as well.A study of papers in non-mainstream scientific journals in English and local languages from fourSoutheast and Far East Asian countries, indicated that Singapore English language journals in basicand applied sciences had the highest proportion of references to recent scientific literature (Eisemonand Davis 1989, 367). In local language journals, citations to literature in Korean, Bahasa Malayasiaand Chinese were more recent than to English literature. Significantly, almost half (48%) of recentcitations were to dissertations and theses, the most important genre of local language scientificinformation.

More surprisingly, the majority (615%) of producers of non-mainstream research werealso contributors to mainstream scientific journals. Singapore, which uses English for scienceeducation and advanced scientific training and publishes only English language scientific journals, hadthe highest proportion of mainstream scientific authors. Malaysian authors of non-mainstreamscience were the most poorly represented in mainstream journals. Malaysia has a vigorous locallanguage scientific literature and has adopted policies to localize the language of scientific trainingand enhance scientific opportunities for the indigenous Malay population. But the proportion ofKorean authors who publish in mainstream scientific journals was very high, almost reaching theproportion of Singaporean scientists, even in applied fields like botany, electrical engineering andcomputer science (Eisemon and Davis 1989, 361).

Scientists who have the capability to publish in influential international journalspublish in non-mainstream local language journals for many reasons. Fuenzalida (1971) asserts thatfor Latin American researchers, local language publication is a political act re-affirming the culturalworth of the indigenous language and intellectual heritage. Velho and Krige (1984) claim that thisis an important motivation for Brazilian scientists. Korean and Malaysian scientists who publish inmainstream journals often gave patriotic reasons for publishing in local language scientific journals(Eisemon and Davis 1989, 348 & 349). Many felt a special responsibility to the local scientificcommunity, believed they give prominence to local journals by publishing in them and, in someinstances, sought to develop the local language as a medium of scientific communication.

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A more practical but importanit reason was that local language publications wereuseful for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. In addition, publishing locally in local languagejournals of limited intemational visibility may make a scientist better known among those whoseopinion is especially important--for example, among senior colleagues within the scientists' institutionor those in government scientific agencies which provide research support. Active scientists publishin both mainstream and non-mainstream journals. A publication strategy involving seekingrecognition at home and abroad is professionally successful for these scientists.

THE QUAUTY AND EFECFIIVENHS8 OF SCIENTIC TRAIING

The declining quality of higher education in many developing countries has beenloudly lamented. In India, this has been a preoccupation of educational reformers since the firstEnglish medium universities were established in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras in the 1850s tocontrol expansion of collegiate education and increase standards of instruction and examination(McCuLy 1940). After independence, the pace of educational expansion accelerated, the increasinguse of vernacular languages for education giving impetus to the democratization of higher education.The "culturaily underprivileged' who have swollen the enrollments of universities are, primarily,students from rural areas, low caste backgrounds, Muslims and members of disadvantaged linguisticgroups that have had the least access to English education. Rudolph and Rudolph (1972) examined:hanges in enrollment patterns, student performance in university examinations and other qualitativeindicators.

They found evidence of improvement as well as deterioration of the quality of Indianhigher education since independence. Standards in "high opportunity" fields like engineering andmedicine improved, because of increased selectivity. The quality of instruction in arts and socialscience subjects declined. They conclude that "there has been a nostalgic distortion of the past bymore senior generations (Rudolph and Rudolph 1971, 35)."

The Metropolitan Language as a Proxy for Educational Quality

Assessments of the qualitative implications of educational expansion are very closelyconnected to language issues. In India, English education has always been associated with sociallyselective high quality education and, conversely, expansion of vernacular language education withdeclining standards. The role of English and vernacular languages in Indian higher education in thelate 1960s is descnbed in Table 5 below. Data were obtained from a national sample survey ofaffiliated colleges. English was the medium of instruction for scientific and professional subjects and

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for post-graduate studies. Vernacular languages were used for teaching Arts subjects, includingcommerce. Although more recent data is not available, it is likely that the importance of vernacularlanguages has increased for acts instruction. English has probably retained pre-eminence forscientific, medical and engineering education as weli as for teaching at the postgraduate leveL

Table SLaguap o Emamination By Cour.af Study 1967

Type of Course

Language Arts Science Eng. & Post-of Examination Medicine graduate

N=131 N=51 N=38 N=54

English 45.0 76.5 94.7 69.4

English and regional 21.4 15.7 2.6 16.7

Regional 23.7 5.9 - 11.1

English, regional 9.9 2.0 - 3.7and other

Total 100. 100. 100. 100.

Source: Rudolph, S.H. and Rudolph, LI. (1972). Education and Politics inIndia. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard), 55.

Management programs were one of the fastest growing sectors of Indian highereducation in the 1970s and 1980s, overtaking engineering as the most selective field of study(Eisemon 1974; 1982). Following the successful example of engineering, the central governmentestablished a network of English language national institutions in the 1970s, the Indian Institutes ofManagement, to offer high quality management education at the postgraduate level.

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Expanding English medium instruction is not, of course, a panacea for improving the

quality of Indian higher education. Indeed, the inability of many Indian students to follow instructionin English is perceived by many Indian educators to be the cause of declining standards. In 1965,the English Review Committee noted that "the change in the medium of instruction in the schoolshas created a number of problems which affect standards of teaching and learning in the universitiesand colleges. The result is that today the large masses of students who come to the university are

so ill-equipped in their knowledge of English that they find it difficult to read, and much moredifficult to express themselves in that language (in Tikoo 1980, 96)." Two years later, instigated by

the state government of Gujarat which mandated use of the local language in its colleges anduniversities, the central government announced the three language formula for higher education.Instruction in English, Hindi and/or another regional language vas required, any one of which couldbe used as the medium of instruction and examination.

The rigidity of curricula and emphasis on rote learning that has long beencharacteristic of collegiate and university teaching is sometimes viewed as a legacy of using English

(Tikoo 1980,98). External examination of students in affiliated colleges and university departmentsdetermines the content and methods of instruction. Changes in the subject syllabi for theexaminations are notoriously difficult to introduce (Dongerkery 1966, 79-91; Eisemon 1982). Newtopics necessitate preparation of new lecture notes and readings. Revisions are not welcomed either

by ma,.1 staff who supplement their meager income by producing and selling instructional materialsor by students who must learn them. In less prestigious colleges whose students and staff are not

comfortable in using English (Chitnis 1979, 49-63), there is much security in relying on old lecturenotes which are delivered at dictation speed to students who commit the material to memory for

subsequent recitation at examinations.

The prestigious English medium colleges, universities and national institutions of

university status are probably more innovative. Such institutions have experimented with thesemester and credit systems, continuous assessment, use of multiple choice examinations, pass/fail

grading, inquiry teaching, student project work and other American instructional innovations. In the

case of engineering, the innovations of the elite English medium institutions have profoundlyinfluenced the programs of the - ire traditional universities and their affiliated colleges, though not

always with the same beneficial results (Eisemon 1974).

The success of these innovations is dependent on many conditions; adequate librariesand instructional facilities, sufficient staffing, academic self-governance, little political interferencein university affairs and student quietitude, for example. Students' proficiency in English is certainly

important. Lacking sufficient proficiency, students can not be expected to undertake independentstudies or even to ask questions. This is particularly evident in the less selective English mediuminstitutions where it is common for teachers to switch the language of instruction to the vernacular

for tutorials and laboratory demonstrations. Consequently, "education through English, except in

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cases where schools have laid strong foundations for it or where the families use it well, is not

altogether better than through the medium of a regional language (Tickoo 1980, 99)."

Repetition and wastage rates in African universities that use a metropolitan languagefor instruction are often very high. At the University of Burundi, more than a third (40%) of firstyear students are reported to fail the end of year examinations (Ministry of National Education,personal communication, 1987). At the University of Dakar in Senegal, 57% fail the first year andit takes 18 student years to produce a graduate in science (World Bank, personal communication,1990). In Algeria, about 50% of students in each of the first two years of university studies are

repeaters (World Bank, personal communication, 1990). In Morocco, only 20% of students pass thefirst year examinations (Salmi 1987, 29). In Madagascar, the proportion of first year students whopass is even lower; only 13% (World Bank, personal communication, 1991).Expansion of highereducation has exacerbated these problems.

The internal efficiency of universities is strongly related to selectivity. Drop out .atesin some Nigerian state universities are between ten and twenty eight times higher than those at elitefederal universities. But completion rates are significantly lower in science, engineering and medicinewhich attract the best secondary school graduates (World Bank 1988, 16 & 17). This suggests that

greater selectivity does not fully compensate for inadequate preparation at the secondary level.

Metropolitan Language Instruction and Foreign Training

For many developing countries particularly in Africa, use of a metropolitan languagefor scientific training is a practical necessity. There are often no local language instructional texts

suitable for university use, or any texts which are not produced and distributed by multi-nationalpublishers (Altbach and Gopinathan 1988; Rathgeber 1985). Few African countries had autonomousuniversities at the time of independence, and some, no institutions of higher education at all.Notwithstanding establishment of new universities and the dramatic growth of enrollments, progressin satisfying the demand for higher education locally has been slow.

In Kenya which had a university college at independence in 1963, more students were

attending foreign than local universities as recently as 1981 (Republic of Kenya 1981, 15). Thatprompted the govemment to establish a second university in 1984 and increase the pace of expansionof higher education despite the misgivings of international and bilateral donors (Eisemon 1986).There are now six public universities and university colleges and eleven private institutions.Nevertheless, the number of students studying in other countries increased from 7,000 in 1981 tomore than 9,000 in 1990 (World Bank, personal communication, 1991).

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Expansion of higher education generates more need for more expatriate staff andforeign training for staff development, given limited local training capabilities. Although mostAfrican universities have African staff and administrators and postgraduate programs withenrollments that sometimes approximate the proportion of postgraduate students in North Americanresearch universities (Eisemon and Davis 1991a., 12), postgraduates programs can not be offeredwithout expatriates who release local staff for foreign training. Such assistance accounts for a largeproportion of bilateral assistance for higher education especially in Francophone Africa (World Bank1988, 150). In 1990, it was estimated there were about 80,000 expatriates working in Africa, manyof them in universities and other scientific institutions (Eicher 1990, 1). That discouragesexperimentation with models of training and language policies.

For the foreseeable future, African countries will continue to send large numbers oftheir students abroad who must meet the requirements of foreign universities. Most Asian, MiddleEastern and Latin American countries are not as reliant on foreign training. Nevertheless, many ofthese countries continue to send large numbers of students abroad mainly for postgraduate trainingin science and engineering at leading North American universities (Selvarathnam 1991).

English Language Skills of Foreign Students in American Universities

The English language skills of foreign students in American universities are welldocumented inasmuch as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) administered by theEducational Testing Service is normally required for admission of such students. The TOEFLmeasures skills in listening and reading comprehension as well as in written expression. MostAmerican universities additionally require the Graduate Record Examinations. The performanceof developing country students on these examinations and in their university coursework providessome insight into the implications of metropolitan and indigenous language education for success inforeign studies.

A study of more than 10,000 TOEFL test takers from 1977 to 1982 produced thefollowing ranking of developing country candidates according to self-reported test repetition:

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Table 6Rankig of TOEFL Repeaters 1977-1980 by Country

and Region of Orgin

Country: % Repeaters

1. Taiwan .442. Korea .433. Hong Kong .424. Thailand .415. Irap .246. Middle East:

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,Lebanon, Libya, Jordan,Syria and Iraq .21

7. Latin America:Venezuela, Mexico,Colombia, Peru, Chile .19

8. India .099. Africa:

Ghana, Nigeria .06

Source: Wilson, KM. (1987). Research Reports: Patterns of Test Taking andScore Change for Examinees Who Repeat the Test of English as aForeign Language. (Princeton, N.J.: Educational Testing Service), S-5.

Ghanian and Nigerian students who study in English from the upper primary levelas do many Indian students, have the lowest repetition rate. Not surprisingly, Asian students wholearn English as a subject, are the most likely to repeat. Current repetition rates for students fromthese countries are not reported to have changed greatly from what is given in Table 5 (EducationalTesting Service, personal communication, 1991). They generally reflect variations in mean scoreson the TOEFL examination results for 1987-89 (see Table 7).

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Table 7Mean TOEFL Scores 1987-89 By Region and Countzy

Region/Country: Mean Score:

l. Taiwan 505

2. Korea 505

3. Hong Kong 506

4. Thailand 489

5. Iran 508

6. Middle EastSaudi Arabia 467Kuwait 451L-ebanon 521LIbya 496Jordan 472Syria 500Iraq 498

7. Latin AmericaChile 532Colombia 527Mexico 539Peru 534Venezuela 525

8. India 571

9 AfricaGhana 569Nigeria 540

Source: TOEFL Test and Score Manual. (Princeton, J.J.: Educational Testing Service, 1990),24.

African and Indian students have the highest scores while Middle Eastern and Asianstudents do the poorest despite the high incidence of repetition which produces large net gains intest scores (Wilson 1987, 9). The scores for some Middle Eastern students are especially low, belowthe score of 500 which is required for admission to most universities. Science and engineeringdepartments at the most selective North American universities require a score of 550.

- 2-3 -

Table 8

Foreign Student Perfirmance on the Graduate Record Examinationand Grades Receivd fo Fflzut Year of Univeluy Studies:198284

Region FYA GRE-Q GRE-A GRE-VM= M= M= M=

Far East Asia 3.52 721 485 352

South Asia 3.49 108 523 500

Middle East 3.32 662 466 344

North Africa 3.34 609 415 324

Sub-Saharan Africa 3.31 639 510 432

FYA scaled first year grade point average, out of 4.0; GRE-Q,A & V, scores for quantitative,analytical and verbal sub-tests of the Graduate record examination, out of a possible 800

Source: Wilson, KM. (1986), "The Relationship of GRE General Test Scores to First-Year Gradesfor Foreign Graduate Students: Report of a Cooperative Study," GRE Board ProfessionalReport GREB No.82-il P. (Princeton: Educational Testing Service), 48.

The TOEFL scores for students from these regions and countries do not closelyreflect either their relative performance on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general testof quantitative, verbal and analytical ability or the grades received by first year students. A studyof foreign students in science, mathematics, engineering and economics showed that African andMiddle Eastern students did the poorest. They scored significantly below most students from Farand Southeast Asian countries (Table 8).

In general, despite language handicaps, foreign students compare favorabiy withAmerican students in the time it takes them to complete advanced degrees. For instance, whileAmerican citizens take an average of 7.2 registered student years to complete their doctorate afterearning a bachelor's degree, temiporary residents finish in 6.2 years (Thurgood and Weinman 1990,18). In the sciences and engineering, fields which attract a disproportionate number of foreignstudents, the differences between American citizens and temporary residents are very slight.

To summarize, while using English as a medium of instruction may increase accessto American universities by raising TOEFL scores, the higher TOEFL scores for students from thesecountries does not necessarily indicate that they have learned more of what American graduateschools expect students to know at entry, or that they will perform better in their graduate studies.

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Moreover, the English language proficiency of most foreign students, whether acquired throughinstruction in English as a subject or through its use as a medium, would seem to be sufficient toenable them to complete their programs within the period of time expected by American universities.

USE OF INDIGENOUS AND MEUIROPOLITAN LANGUAGES FOR SCIENCEIDUCATION

How indigenous and metropolitan languages are used for science education at thepre-university level affects: (1) social recruitment to science and engineering; (2) science teachingand student achievement; and, (3) application of modern scientific knowledge in daily life. Incountries, where some schools teach in an indigenous language and others use a metropolitanlanguage, students' social background influences access to high quality metropolitan languagescientific and technical training which confers better employment opportunities. Language policieswhich are permissive regarding the use of metropolitan languages for instruction typically reinforcethe educational and social advantages of urban and other comparatively advantaged populations.This is the situation in some African and many Middle Eastern and Asian countries.

Social Selectivity of Access to Metropolitan Language Education

In Kenya, primary schools may use English, Kiswahili or another vernacular languagefor the lower stage of the primary cycle, i.e in the first through fourth standards. Which languageis used for instruction is largely determined by the linguistic homogeneity of the students andteaching staff. High levels of rural to urban as well as intra-rural migr ition have produced muchvariability in language of instruction. In urban and peri-urban areas, the majority of schools useeither English or Kiswahili because of linguisti_ diversity. Many primary schools in rural areas uselocal languages (Abdulaziz 1982). But the abolition of tribal reserves in the early 1970s led tomigration from densely settled high land cost areas in the Central and Western provinces to low landcost, more educationally "backward" regions such as Maasailand and the coastal districts (Scotton1982; Ole Sena 1986; Eisemon 1988). Enrolment in Kiswahili and English medium schools expandedin consequence (Merritt and Abdulaziz 1987).

English is used at the upper primary level and is the language of the KenyaCertificate of Primary Education Examination which regulates admission to secondary schools. Itis the medium of all secondary and higher education. The universalization of primary schooling andincreasing levels of educational attainment have stimulated the growth of English language schoolingin urban and rural areas (Scotton 1988, 211).

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In recent years, access to English primary schooling has become increasingly

competitive. Although all children are entitled to primary education, many English schools in urban

areas require interviews in English at the time of initial registration. Where competition for entry

is great, headmasters often use English language proficiency to select students (Eisemon, Eshiwani

and Rajwani 1986) which, in turn, has stimulated expansion of English pre-schools. Many parents

and headmasters reason that students' performance on the national examinations is improved by the

number of years of English instruction a student has received.

There have been complaints about the "urban bias" of these examinations resulting

in the mnid-1980s in re-organization of the Kenya National Examinations Council (Eisemon 1988,34),

testing of student achievement in Kiswahili and practical subjects, and the use of test items for other

subjects whose content is presumably more relevant to rural life. More radically, the government

has introduced contentious district quotas for admission to the elite extra-provincial and provincial

secondary schools which produce a disproportionate number of university stuidents. The quotas favor

"backward" rural areas and indigenous candidates over migrants. The language of instruction and

examination from the upper primary level, the source of the "urban bias", remains English: "In

making English official, but taking no radical steps to make it accessible to the masses, Kenya (has)

chosen a policy that keeps the possibility for socioeconomic mobility in the hands of a minority

(Scotton 1988, 221)."

In Morocco, classical Arabic and French are used for instruction in primary schools

and universities with instruction in French predominating from the sixth grade (Salmi 1987).

Classical Arabic, it is necessary to emphasize, is quite different from the dialects spoken in Morocco,

especially Berber. Thus, instruction takes place in two languages which are related in different ways

to the mother tongue of most students. What is important is that classical Arabic is used for

transition to French. The effects of poor proficiency in classical Arabic are compounded by being

instructed in French. Government studies have "established that knowledge of the French language

was the single most important determinant of success at the end-of-primary examinations. While a

pupil weak in (classical) Arabic could still pass the exam, the same was not true of children with

inadequate command of French (Salmi 1987, 28)." Facility in French is 'directly correlated with the

socio-economic position of the child's family (Salmi 1987, 30)." Students in the poorer rural areas

where there is little exposure to French outside of schools and few students use French at home, are

the most seriously affected. Those students from low income families who attend university are more

likely to study humanities subjects which are offered in Arabic. Students from more linguistically

advantaged social backgrounds attend the French lycees and often go abroad for their university

education (Salmi 1987, 30).

In India, Hindi has replaced English as the country's official language and there is

provision of basic and higher education in vernacular languages. While these measures undoubtedly

broaden educational and economic opportunities, they also strengthen patterns of social

differentiation by restricting access to English language schooling on the basis of place of parental

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residence and wealth. In urban areas, private English language pre-schools, primary and secondaryschools and colleges have flourished. A large number of them are operated by Christian religiousgroups like Cathedral School and St. Xavier's College in Bombay. Fees and "voluntary" donationsto these institutions are often very high. Many elite English language pre-schools administer entryexaminations.

At the university level, the most selective institutions are operated by the nationalgovernment including the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Indian Institutes ofManagement and the Indian Institutes of Technology. To reiterate, they are English languageinstitutions entrance to which is dependent on performance on national examinations. They arerequired reserve places for disadvantaged students from scheduled castes and tribal backgrounds.Until the mid-1970s, reserved places were seldom filled because scheduled caste and tnbal studentsfailed to score high enough on the entrance examinations due to their poor basic education inmathematics and science and poor English language proficiency (Eisemon 1974). The institutionswere then forced to admit disadvantaged students who if they are able to complete their programs,are entitled to public sector employment. Alas, better employment opportunities for graduates inscience, engineering, medicine and management are available in the private sector. Thus, evenaccess to elite English language higher education does not ensure equality of educational outcomes.

Teaching in a Metropolitan Language

Teachers' and students' proficiency in the metropolitan language affects curriculumimplementation, teaching methods and, more importantly, the construction of classroom learningtasks from which students acquire knowledge and skills. The poor proficiency of students is muchcommented upon. The poor proficiency of school teachers in languages used for instruction andpoor language teaching skills is less well recognized.

Teacher's qualifications in many developing countries have improved notwithstandingthe dramatic expansion of enrollments and frequent recourse to untrained teachers to staff schools.For example, most of Kenya's primary school teachers are Ordinary level graduates with at least twoyears of teacher training. They have had a minimum of eight years of instruction in English as amedium and have passed an examination given at the end of their teacher training which includescompulsory papers in English and in Kiswahili (Eisemon 1988, 30). Classroom observations ofprimary schools in rural (Eisemon 1988) and peri-urban areas (Cleghorn, Merrit and Abagi 1989)suggest that many teachers have difficulties in communicating with students in English as presentlanguage policies require them to do: "When teachers cannot use language to make logicalconnections, to integrate and explain the relations between isolated pieces of information, what istaught cannot be understood: the target language cannot be learned, and important concepts cannotbe mastered (Cleghorn, Merrit and Abagi 1989, 36)."

- 27 -

Throughout the colonial period, primary school teaching was one of the few careersin the modem sector open to educated, Englsh speaking East Africans. While colonial teachers hadlittle teacher training by contemporary standards, recruitment was bighly selective-Presidents Moiand Nyerere were primary school teachers and Jomo Kenyatta the principal of a primary teacher

training college. After independence, primary school teaching became a career selected by thosewho failed to score high enough on the Ordinary level examinations to proceed to Advanced level

and university. In a very selective educational system which allocates educational opportunitieslargely on the basis of English proficiency, the English proficiency of teachers probably increases withlevel of schooling; the least proficient, it may be conjectured, being placed at the primary level wherestudents are first exposed to English as a subject and medium of instruction.

Imprecise, often incoherent discourse is characteristic of much science teachingobserved in the upper stage of Kenyan primary schooling when English is used as the medium of

instruction (Eisemon 1988; Eisemon, Cleghorn and Nyamete 1989). When use of vemacularlanguages is discouraged, teachers search for English language equivalents of more familiarveemacular language terms engaging in a process of dual translation; i.e. mentally translating anEnglish term into the vernacular for which the nearest English equivalent is found. The Englishsynonyms may not be equivalent to the new scientific concept that is being presented. For instance,primary school teachers in western Kenya frequently use "worms' to refer to parasites in sciencelessons (Cleghom, Merrit and Abagi 1989). Parasites look like worms (in Kiswahili, migb&ngo) andsome live in the stomach and intestines (in Kisli ebianda worms of the stomach). Nevertheless, therelationship between parasite and host is not conveyed in this analogy. Sometimes, of course,English scientific terms can be transformed in ways that make the terms directly equivalent to termsin vemacular languages. Many Kenyan English speakers transform diarrhoea into a transitive verb"diarrhoeaing" which makes it equivalent to, say, kuhara and ogosaa (literally, running stomach inKiswahili and Kisii). But more often, teachers use an English equivalent for a vernacular term whicimay be inappropriate for explanation or produce misunderstanding: "The question at hand is not oneof the variety of English used or the specifics of grammar but, clearly, the facility with which abstractideas can be expressed and communicated (Cleghorn, Merrit and Abagi 1989, 35)."

Methods of Instruction

Teaching methods at the primary level are designed to reduce linguistic demands onboth the teacher and student (Eisemon 1988, 70-103). Primary school classrooms may be descnrbedas impoverished language learning environments. Teacher questioning elicits short answers fromstudents---usually, one or two words, a quantity, date or fact--- expressed in incomplete sentences tofaciiitate teacher summarization and subsequent repetition by the whole class. Students have fewopportunities to practice English language communications skills. Because there are not enoughtextbooks especially in rural schools, students listen and do Uttle reading. Because classrooms are

- 28 -

often overcrowded and teachers have little time for lesson prcparation an% marking, they rarely givetests and substantial written assignments.

Notwithstanding the barriers to developing communicative competence, there is muchemphasis on metropolitan language leaming. It is both the medium and the object of instruction inmost academic subjects. In Burundi, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education provideslesson guides (fichier du maitre) for teachers. These are highly detailed scripts for instruction ratherthan resource materials. A typical lesson plan begins with a statement of objectives. Learningactivities are described with emphasis on new vocabulary. Avery high porportion of activities involvelisting exercises. For instance, a fifth grade lesson on mammals starts with an exercise designed toteach the classification of mammals according to their diet; vegetarians, carnivores and omnivores.Another purpose of this exercise is to teach a large number of French words ostensibly as examples;carnivores: chien, chat, mangouste, igue, civette, genette, hyene, sal, leopard, lion, oiseauxrapace, genouille, and so on (Bureau of Rural Education 1982, 37). These are not simply given asexamples to be subordinated to the purpose of teaching taxonomic schemata. A smaller number ofexamples might suffice for that purpose. The principal objective is to teach French through themedium of biology (Eisemon, Prouty and Schwille 1989).

Teacher training usually does not de- I with how metropolitan languages are learnedby speakers of non-European languages and used to acquire knowledge. A recent study (Eisemon,Schwille, Prouty, Ukobizoba, Kana and Manirabona 1989) of sixth grade teachers in primary schoolsin Burundi revealed that many could not distinguish French language errors that reflect lack ofknowledge of French grammar from those that result from mother tongue interference. Correctionof mother tongue syntactical, semantic or grammatical interference errors requires replacement ofone set of oral or written productions by another appropriate for the target language. This is mostlikely to be accomplished by practice in oral and written communication rather than by drillsdesigned to impart knowledge of production rules. Teacher skills in understanding causes of studentlanguage production errors and selecting appropriate remedial strategies were positively correlatedwith teaching experience and demonstration teaching as well as with student achievement in Frenchtext comprehension and composition, and in mathematics, science and agriculture which are taughtin French.

Effects of Language on Student Achievement

Measurements of student achievement in a metropolitan language and in their mothertongue produce different estimates of learning outcomes. In a study carried out by Radi reportedby Salmi (1987), Moroccan lower secondary school students were given tests of verbal, mathematicaland spatial abiliti.as in which French and classical Arabic were manipulated. The versions of the testinstruments that most closely corresponded to the ways students are tested in Moroccan schoolsproduced the poorest student results. In a similar study of Kenyan Kiswahili speaking children, the

- 29 -

comprehension of science texts was investigated under various experimental conditions (Eisemon1988). Verbal protocols were obtained from the students. The highest levels of performance wereobtained for the mother tongue text and mother tongue question condition; children of the age groupstudied are taught and examined in English in school. Analysis of the students' responses indicatedthat only when they were tested in their mother tongue with mother tongue texts was there any

evidence of high level comprehension skills such as integrating information and making inferencesfrom text propositions (Frederiksen and Chitepo 1987).

Bcrry describes two types of language-related learning problems that occur in Africanschools which use a metropolitan language for instruction; type A problems that reflect poormetropolitan language proficiency and type B problems that may be attributed to the "distancebetween the cognitive structures natural to the student and implici: in his mother tongue and thoseassessed by the teacher (Berry 1985, 20)." Type A and type B problems are often reinforcing sincemore proficient metropolitan language learners possess more linguistic and substantive knowledgeto assimilate new information. Greater metropolitan language proficiency is usually thought tofacilitate transfer between the mother tongue and the metropolitan language. However, someresearch suggests that there may be little integration of knowledge (Lemon 1981) and cognitive skills(Zepp 1982) because of mother tongue "interference."

The complex interaction of metropolitan language proficiency, the use of vernacularlanguages for instruction in lower stage of the primary cycle and student achievement in coreacademic subjects is illustrated in a study of grade six students in Burundi (Table 9).

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Table 9

Studen Paezman in Reading Compeenio, Written Compositon,Mathematics and Scienoe/Agriculture iKundi and Frach

Test: Mean Scores(N=1,946)

1. Comprehension (15 items)

Standard French 5.98Colloquial French 6.49Kirundi 8.10

F=49.34***2. Composition (maximum score=10)

French 2.27YKirundi 4.11

F=137.32***3. Mathematics (19 items)

French 8.57Kirundi 7.94

F=4.194. Science/Agriculture (19 items)

French 7.08Kirundi 9.34

F=187.91***

***p.O01

Source: Eisemon, T.O., Schwille, J., Prouty, R.,Ukobizoba, Kana, D., and Manirabona, G. (1989)."Empirical Results and Conventional Wisdom: Primary School Effectiveness in Burundi,"Bridges Project Research Report, mimeo, 79.

Tests were developed in French and Kirundi for measuring text comprehension andwritten composition skills and achievement in mathematics, science and agriculture. In measuringcomprehension skills, a simplified, colloquial French text was used as well as a standard French textusing the vocabulary of student textbooks. Mean scores for all tests were low, particularly for thetest measuring composition skills which are examined in the concours national with a multiple choicetest. Students obtained significantly higher scores on the Kirundi tests except in mathematics.

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A detailed item analysis of the mathematics, science and agriculture tests comparingan estimate of a students' ability derived from responses to all test items to the students' responseto specific items revealed that the performance of the most able students was most poorly estimatedby being tested in French (Eisemon, Schwille, Prouty, Kana and Manirabona 1989). Conversely,testing in the mother tongue did not increase the performance of students with less ability. The itemanalyses also revealed underlying differences in measurement that cast doubt on the nominalequivalence of items especially in the science and agriculture tests. In mathematics, however, mostitems performed similarly in French and Kiriundi although many items were multi-step storyproblems eliciting text comprehension as well as problem solving skills.

The explanation is likely to have to do with the fact that while language policiesrequire that science and agriculture be taught mostly in French, mathematics is taught in Kirundi inthe lower stage of the primary cycle before it is introduced in French. French language proficiencymay be less important to learning mathematics than to learning, say, science because concepts likethe base ten number system are related operations which have been imported into Kirundi throughits use as a medium of instruction, thus, facilitating acquisition of new knowledge in anotherlanguage.

Student repetition was positively related to test performance in both languages. Theoverall gains in test scores were greatest on the French tests (Table 10). The longer a studentspends in school the more proficient the student becomes in French, and the more the studentlearns. The greatest gain recorded was for the French test in mathematics (23%), the test for whichthe difference between the French and Kirundi scores was smallest. It may be hypothesized thateffects of repetition in increasing French proficiency and student achievement are more pronouncedin subjects that are taught in the mother tongue. Repetition did not appreciably increaseperformance on the science/agriculture test.

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Table 10Prcentage Diffen by Teat Repeates Vers Nonrepeaters

% of Maximum score

Test: Repeaters Nonrepeaters Difference

1. Comprehension

Standard French 46.3 33.3 13.0Kirundi 60.6 45.3 15.3

2. Composition

French 30.9 10.5 20.4Kirundi 43.9 29.2 14.7

3. MathematicsFrench 55.1 31.9 23.2Kirundi 51.0 33.7 17.33

4. Science/Agriculture

French 41.2 32.6 8.6Kirundi 51.3 46.3 5.0

Source: Schwille, J., Eisemon, T.O., Ukobizoba, F., Houang, R. DaeBong, K. and Prouty,R.(1991), "Is Grade Repetition Always Wasteful? New Data and Unanswered Questions,"Bridges Project Research Report, mimeo, 49.

Implications of Language Policies for Using Science in Daily Life

Despite increased concern for "scientific literacy," little is known about how individualsperform practical tasks in daily life involving modern scientific knowledge. In many developingcountries, such knowledge is acquired at school and in most African countries, only in a metropolitanlanguage. Science and subjects like health, nutrition and agriculture are taught mainly or entirelyin a metropolitan language from the primary level. Since indigenous languages are not used to teachscience and related subjects, they lack the scientific vocabulary to become languages of lay scientificdiscourse. The implications for practical cognition may be profound.

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The Whorf (195%) and Sapir (1963) hypothesis asserts that since we can not thinkwithout language, linguistic structures and vocabulary which develop from particular socialexperiences produce distinctive patterns of cognition. The plausibility of the linguisiic relativityhypothesis has been suggested by some cross-cultural research on topics such as memory for digitsequences. Several studies have established, for example, that Chinese speakers remember abouttwo digits more than English speakers; about nine digits compared to seven, the length of a localtelephone number in North America (Stigler, Lee and Stevenson 1986). The explanation may haveto do with the shorter and more regular way numerical information is expressed and "chunked" inChinese.

A great deal of attention has been given to determining whether non-Europeanlanguages permit expression of kinds of logical thought which English facilitates with connectives suchas "and," "ore, "ir" and "then." There has been little support for the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis in studiesof bilinguals whose logical reasoning is tested in a second language and whose logical patterns wouldbe evident in their errors. For example, in a study of Chinese bilingual reasoning using di'junctionand implication---which are expressed differently in English and Chinese---no significant differencesin performance were observed in English and the subjects' mother tongue (Zepp, Monin and Let1987). Nor did this study report significant differences between Chinese and English first languagegroups. The researchers conclude that "if the learning of different logical principles depends onone's experience, it is possible that different logical principles may be learned for different situations(7Z,epp, Monin and Let 1987,16)."

Another study of English and Sesotho bilinguals produced similar but also moreinteresting results insofar as the cognitive effects of metropolitan language instruction are concerned(Zepp 1982). A logic test was administered to students at several grade levels in secondary schoolsin English and Sesotho. Performance in Sesotho was higher in the lower grade levels but by thefourth year of secondary school, students performed better in English than in their mother tongue.This was. attributed to the fact that students had been "studying mathematics and using logicalthinking in English (Zepp 1982, 217)." Although the study does not show language relateddifferences in capacities for certain kinds of logical thought, it does point to the cognitive effects ofmetropolitan language instruction. The African students had more facility in logical thinking inEnglish than in their mother tongue. In the Chinese study, the performance of bilinguals on mosttests was closer to the English first language group than to the Chinese group which, likewise,suggests an effect of second learning on cognition in the mother tongue.

There is increasing evidence of the effect of second language learning on frracticalcognition in the mother tongue in African countries (Eisemon 1989). Schooling changes the waysindividuals think about and perform practical tasks involving literacy and use of modem scientificknowledge such as administration of modern medicines or application of fertilizers and otheragricultural chemicals. This is an important mechanism through which schooling may affect healthstatus, agricultural productivity and human welfare, generally.

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It is well established that schooling increases demand for modern medicines andmodern agricultural inputs. Their safe and effective use requires performing very complex cognitivetasks, often in a metropolitan language, with modern scienJfic knowledge that is well understood(Eisemon, Patel and Ratzlaff 1991). Studies of Kenyan mothers' and farmers' comprehension ofinstructions for using commercial medicines and agricultural chemicals indicate that: 1) competenttask performance is weakly related to level of schooling (Eisemon, Patel and Ole Sena 1987;

Eisemon and Nyamete 1988; Patel, Eisemon and Arocha 1989 a.); 2) vernacular languageinstructional texts do not significantly improve task performance (Eisemon 1988; Eisemon andNyamete 1988; 1990); 3) such texts tend to elicit indigenous prior knowledge while English textselicit knowledge of school science (Eisemon and Patel 1988; Eisemon 1989); and 4) modern andindigenous scientific knowledge is often not integrated in comprehension and causal reasoning amongwell educated English bilinguals (Eisemon, Patel and Ole Sena 1987; Eisemon and Patel 1988; Patel,

Eisemon and Arocha 1989 a. & b.).

The prototypical Maasai mother with many years of English schooling who combines

oral rehydration therapy with administration of traditional purgatives best illustrates the implicationsof these findings (Eisemon, Patel and Ole Sena 1987; Eisemon and Patel 1990). Oral rehydrationtherapy which is taught in school and promoted by the government health service is adopted becauseit is associated with the powers of modem medicine. But traditional practices that are apt to worsena child's condition are not discarded because they are better understood.

How science, health and agriculture are taught in African schools may have a lot to

do with how modern scientific knowledge is used in daily life. Teaching and assessment practices,for instance, do not encourage st ident understanding of science (Eisemon, Patel and Abagi 1987).

Examination reform can change teaching practices and learning outcomes in ways that foster

capacities to use technologies and practices derived from modern science (Eisemon 1990).

Language policies in African countries may need to be re-considered as well. Modern

science has almost no connection to indigenous scientific knowledge in African school curricula, and

this is reinforced by the teaching of scientific subjects in metropoiitan languages. In student texts

and teachers' guides, indigenous scientific knowledge is either condemned by neglect or is juxtaposedwith modern health and agricultural practices to invite invidious comparisons (Eisemon 1989,14-18).Traditional practices that are acknowledged to have practical benefit like inter-cropping aresometimes presented as discoveries of modern science and students taught about them in a

metropolitan language! Metropolitan language proficiency is a pre-requisite for learning modemscience and is likely to remain so. Nevertheless, the poverty of modern scientific vocabulary in

indigenous languages may inhibit the use of this knowledge in daily life.

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SUMMARY

Centrifugal tendencies in the international scientific system favor the use of Englishfor scientific production and communication and as a medium of scientific training. While theinternational growtn of scientific activity has increased the importance of English, English has not

displaced other European languages ari the amount of scientific literature in non-Europeanlanguages is rapidly expanding.

Use of indigenous languages for scientific training and research is thought to createa barrier to scientific communication with the international scientific community. Indeed, languagepolicies have sometimes been used to erect barriers to scientific communication following theexample of the Soviet Union after its revolution. However, language policies are usually notintended to have this effect nor is such an effect evident in countries like Korea and Taiwan wheremost scientific training is carried out in the indigenous language and science policies promote itsdevelopment for scientific communication. These countries are important producers of mainstreamEnglish language scientific research and send many science and engineering graduates to Englishspeaking countries for advanced training. Their educational policies emphasize the teaching ofEnglish as a second language for students entering science and engineering, and local journals existin English as well as in indigenous languages.

Most developing country research---in English or in indigenous languages---has littleimpact on the most influential English language scientific research. That has led to the assumptionsabout the poor quality of developing country research and lack of relevance of such research to thecurrent concerns of the international scientific community. This is suggested by th1e age of scientific

literature cited in developing country scientific papers especially those in indigenous languages.However, the overlapping authorship of mainstream and non-mainstream scientific research in some

countries indicates that scientists publish locally and in indigenous languages out of preference ratherthan from necessity. Developing country scientific literatures serve important functions; indigenouslanguage scientific literature is often used for scientific training, for instance.

In countries where both indigenous and metropolitan languages are used for scientific

training, private and public metropolitan language institutions usually provide higher quality trainingand confer better employment opportunities, locally and internationally. These institutions are

socially selective, reinforcing patterns of educational inequality. Few countries which have stratifiedhigher educational systems based on language of instruction have had much success withcompensatory measures.

Many, particularly African, countries that use only a metropolitan language for

scientific and technological training have high repetition and failure rates in their higher educational

institutions. Alarmingly, wastage is often highest in science and engineering courses which attract

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the best students. The poor quality of metropolitan language education and poor science andmathematics education at previous educational levels combined with qualitative deterioration ofinstruction ai the university level may be responsible for the resulting inefficiency and high socialcosts.

Foreign study remains an important source of advanced scientific training for manydeveloping couitries which has fostered continued use of metropolitan languages for scienceeducation and scientific training. Metropolitan language education facilitates access to universitiesin scientifically developed countries like the United States. The English language proficiency ofstudents in countries that use an indigenous language for science education and scientific training,mainly in Asia, is much lower than that of students from countries which use both metropolitan andindigenous languages or only a metropolitan language. Still, Asian students easily overcome theirlanguage handicaps and perform well in their postgraduate coursework in comparison to otherforeign students in American universities.

Language handicaps are not so easily overcome by students who study science onlyin a metropolitan language in primary and secondary schools. Poor metropolitan languageproficiency is an important cause of low student achievement in mathematics, science, and relatedsubjects. And it also negatively affects the quality instruction students receive, promoting teachingbehaviors that reduce linguistic demands in the classroom but do not encourage studentunderstanding. In addition, it is associated with high student repetition which enhances learningthrough increasing proficiency in the language of instruction.

Use of a metropolitan language for science education prevents development ofindigenous languages as languages of ordinary scientific discourse. In many countries, languagepolicies require teaching of subjects like science, health and agriculture in a metropolitan languageexclusivel.y. This may impede transfer of information acquired in the metropolitan language to thestudents' mother tongue, reducing learning of scientific subjects of much practical importance andinniibiting application of modern scientific knowledge in daily life.

Strategies to increase the effectiveness of science education and advanced scientifictraining must simultaneously address the need to improve indigeneous and foreign languageinstruction. In countries which do not use indigenous languages for science education, theimplication is that these languages shouild be adopted for instruction at least at the primary andperhaps also at the lower secondary level. Objections that indigenous languages are unsuitable forscience education ignore the fact that they can not become suitable unless they are used tocommunicate scientific knowledge. However, linguistic heterogeneity and costs associated with theproduction of teaching materials and teacher training may limit use of indigenous languages.

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A related implication of the findings presented in this paper is that more attentionmust be given to improving foreign language teaching and teaching scientific subjects in secondlanguages at all educational levels. In countries that use an indigenous language for scienceeducation and advanced scientific training, there is a need not only to increase the amount andquality of foreign language teaching, but especially where there is Uttle indigenous educational andscientific literature, to use an international scientific language for some science instruction as welLThis is likely to improve facility in foreign languages and access to important scientific information.

Conversely, where metropolitan languages are used, there is a need to improvescience teaching in second languages. Science can not be taught effectively if students are unableto follow instruction. Lack of training in teaching in second languages is a serious weakness ofteacher education in many developing countries.

Finally, national scientific and educational policies should facilitate scientists'participation in mainstream, international language scientific research as well as development of localmedia for professional communication. Publication abroad and other forms of international scientificcommunication are important to the vitality of any scientific community. So also are local media forprofessional communication, including indigenous language scientific literatures, which connectscientists to users and have an important role in scientific training.

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