Help with English Scheme

The working language of ESERA is English. Presentations at ESERA conferences and Summerschools are conducted in English, and all the written documentation involved (summaries, outlines and articles for proceedings) also has to be in English. This gives native English speakers a considerable advantage. So ESERA has set up the Help with English Scheme to assist members whose native language is not English to prepare their work for publication in English.

How does the Help with English Scheme work?

The scheme works by pairing an author who wants some assistance with an article, with a helper who is a native English speaking member. The helper then assists the author to improve the article so that it can be submitted for publication.

The article has to be in as good English as possible before the process begins; the scheme does not offer translation! And it is not the helper’s job to suggest changes or improvements to the content of the article – though sometimes the author may see things that need to be changed as a result of having to explain and clarify points that the helper is struggling to understand and express in good English. The aim is simply to improve the article, so that it reads as fluently and clearly as possible in English.

How do I use the Help with English Scheme?

The steps are as follows:

1. Any ESERA member who wants assistance in preparing an article for publication in English should send an email to Robin Millar (rhm1@york.ac.uk). This should say what the article is about, how long it is, and where they hope to have it published. If it has to be ready by a certain date, they should say at this stage. They should NOT send the article! The author will receive an acknowledgement that this email has been received.
2. A few days later, the author will receive a second email, giving them the name and email address of their helper (one of the English-speaking members of ESERA who has agreed to take part in the Help with English scheme).
3. The author then sends the article to their helper, as an email attachment. The helper suggests any changes that are required to the English, and the two correspond by email to discuss any points that are unclear.
4. When the work is finished, the author sends an email to inform Robin Millar that the article is ready for submission. This closes the file on this particular article – and on this particular pairing arrangement. The author is free to use the scheme again for another article if they wish, by repeating the process from step 1.

In addition to its obvious benefits to authors, the scheme enables ESERA members to gain a better understanding of each others work, and helps to develop collaborative links. In this way it contributes to ESERA’s general aim of developing and strengthening the science education research community in Europe.