Multilingual access: Language hegemony and the need for discoverability in multiple languages | McElroy | College & Research Libraries News Home Current Issue Past Issues Publish Subscribe Alerts About MAIN MENU Home Current Issue Past Issues Publish Subscribe Alerts About About College & Research Libraries News (C&RL News) is the official newsmagazine and publication of record of the Association of College & Research Libraries,  providing articles on the latest trends and practices affecting academic and research libraries. About The Authors Kelly McElroy is student engagement and community outreach librarian, email: kelly.mcelroy@oregonstate.edu, at the Oregon State University Libraries Laurie M. Bridges is instruction and outreach librarian, email: laurie.bridges@oregonstate.edu, at the Oregon State University Libraries Article Tools Print this article How to cite item C&RL RBM ALA JobLIST About ACRL Advertising Information Most Popular The American Civil War: A collection of free online primary sources (95638 views) 2018 top trends in academic libraries: A review of the trends and issues affecting academic libraries in higher education (69745 views) 2016 top trends in academic libraries: A review of the trends and issues affecting academic libraries in higher education (44708 views) More >> Home > Vol 79, No 11 (2018) > McElroy Multilingual access: Language hegemony and the need for discoverability in multiple languages Kelly McElroy, Laurie M. Bridges Abstract It is widely accepted that English is the current lingua franca, especially in the scientific community. With approximately 527 million native speakers globally, English ranks as the third most-spoken language (after Chinese and Hindu-Urdu), but there are also an estimated 1.5 billion English-language learners in the world. The preeminence of English reflects the political power of the English-speaking world, carrying privileges for those who can speak, write, and read in English, and disadvantages to those who cannot. This is also the case in scholarly communication. Linguist Nicholas Subtirelu identifies three privileges for native English speakers: 1) easier access to social, political, and educational institutions; 2) access to additional forms of capital; and 3) avoiding negative opinions of one’s speech. For example, we were both born into families that speak American English at home, we were surrounded by English books and media growing up, and our entire education was in English. Even defining who counts as a “native” speaker can be refracted through other social identities. As college-educated white Americans, our English is never questioned, but the same is not true for many equally fluent people around the world.   Full Text: PDF HTML DOI: https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.79.11.617 Copyright Kelly McElroy, Laurie M. Bridges Article Views (Last 12 Months) No data available Contact ACRL for article usage statistics from 2010-April 2017. Article Views (By Year/Month) 2020 January: 29 February: 23 March: 15 April: 50 May: 24 June: 38 July: 35 August: 19 September: 24 October: 36 November: 62 2019 January: 79 February: 43 March: 40 April: 80 May: 46 June: 26 July: 43 August: 28 September: 25 October: 58 November: 59 December: 44 2018 January: 0 February: 0 March: 0 April: 0 May: 0 June: 0 July: 0 August: 0 September: 0 October: 0 November: 10 December: 384 © 2019 Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association Print ISSN: 0099-0086 | Online ISSN: 2150-6698 ALA Privacy Policy ISSN: 2150-6698