Penetration of the English language in science: the case of a German national interdisciplinary critical care conference

Globalization in business, politics and other aspects of our everyday life is viewed by many as an inevitable reality. The English language has undoubtedly benefited significantly from the new era, in gradually penetrating into other cultures in many fields such as music, arts, education, and more recently science. Previous reports indicate that such penetration is also evident in the field of biomedical sciences [1,2], primarily supported by the paper and online publication in the English language of the majority of about 6,000 journals indexed in PubMed. The adoption of a universal language in science, namely English, could facilitate communication between individuals from different countries and enhance the timely interchange of ideas among researchers and scientists with potential benefits to scientific advancement and development [3]. Language barriers could also potentially be eliminated and diffusion of knowledge could be promoted through the World Wide Web in real time. However, the dominance of the English language in the scientific field, including teaching, academic education, research publications, meetings, conferences and scientific societies, could also lead to poorer outcomes in the field of research and development because of the possible exclusion of those not able or not willing to adapt. It might also contribute to the gradual elimination of other languages and potentially other cultures, with unknown consequences for the advancement of science. Biodiversity in nature is viewed as an important factor in the maintenance of a balanced and healthy environment. Perhaps a similar diversity in languages and cultures promotes instead of obstructs scientific advancement [4]. German researchers have contributed significantly to science in many different fields, including the biomedical sciences. In the past century, the German language was recognized among Europeans as the language most frequently used in science [5]. To evaluate the possible penetration of English into the German language, we studied the use of English at a German national medical conference. We assessed the use of the English language in the published abstracts of a major German national conference, namely the German Interdisciplinary Conference of Intensive Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine (Deutscher Interdisziplinärer Kongress für Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin, Deutschen Interdisziplinären Vereinigung für Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin (DIVI)). The abstract books of all seven DIVI conferences, organized between 1991 and 2004, were reviewed to count the number of abstracts presented at each conference as well as the subsets of abstracts presented in English. All abstracts presented in English were reviewed further to identify the …