Developing Chinese scientists' skills for publishing in English: evaluating collaborating-colleague workshops based on genre analysis

Getting papers published in the (largely English-language) international literature is important for individual researchers, their institutions, and the academic community, and the resulting pressure is being felt increasingly in China as a result of top-down policy initiatives. For many researchers, reaching this goal involves two intersecting aspects: developing very specific skills in English as an additional language, often from an initial intermediate proficiency level; and learning to meet the discipline-specific expectations of English-speaking journal referees and editors. This paper describes and evaluates workshops, designed to improve the publication skills of researchers in the agricultural and environmental sciences, which seek explicitly to address both aspects. Key features include a collaborative presentation team consisting of an EAP practitioner and practising scientists who are experienced referees, and methodology based on research findings from genre analysis and EAP. The paper analyses evaluative data from four workshops in China during 2001–2003. Findings include high satisfaction levels of participants, strong endorsement of the value of the collaborating-colleague presentation team, and significantly increased confidence to write a paper in English for international submission. The only participant characteristic associated with best benefit was a completed higher degree. Implications are presented for future practice.Margaret Cargill and Patrick O’Conno