ESL researcher writing academic paper with reference materials

Academic Writing in English as a Second Language

More than half of all papers published in English-language scientific journals are written by researchers whose primary language is not English. This is a profound shift from even two decades ago, and it has created both challenges and opportunities. The challenges are well documented: grammar, idiomatic usage, disciplinary register, and style conventions all present additional layers of difficulty for ESL researchers. The opportunities are less often discussed: multilingual researchers frequently bring a precision of thought about language that comes from having had to be deliberate about every word choice.

The Most Common Challenges for ESL Researchers

Article Usage (a / an / the)

The English article system is notoriously difficult for speakers of languages without articles (most Slavic and East Asian languages) and also presents challenges for speakers of languages with different article systems (Romance languages). The basic rule — "the" for specific or previously mentioned nouns, "a/an" for non-specific nouns — is complicated by a large number of exceptions.

For academic writing, the most important pattern to master is the specific vs. general distinction: "The results show" (these specific results, already described) versus "Results showed" (results as a category, common in abstracts).

Preposition Choice

English prepositions are largely idiomatic — there is often no logical reason why we say "interested in" rather than "interested about," or "independent of" rather than "independent from." Building a personal list of preposition patterns that appear frequently in your field is one of the most effective strategies. Read papers in your target journal carefully and note the prepositions used with key verbs and adjectives in your discipline.

Academic Register

Academic English has a distinctive register — a level of formality, precision, and hedging that differs from both everyday English and from formal English in other contexts. Colloquial phrases, rhetorical questions, and direct address to the reader are generally avoided. Passive constructions appear more frequently than in conversational English. Hedging language ("may suggest," "appears to indicate") is expected and signals intellectual precision rather than uncertainty.

Effective Strategies for ESL Academic Writers

Read Extensively in Your Field

The single most effective way to acquire academic English in your discipline is to read widely in that discipline. Not just the content — read for the language. Notice how authors introduce arguments, how they describe methodology, how they acknowledge limitations. The more exposure you have to good disciplinary writing, the more naturally the conventions will appear in your own work.

Build a Personal Phrase Bank

Keep a document of useful academic phrases you encounter in papers in your field. Include phrases for: introducing evidence, citing previous research, acknowledging limitations, transitioning between sections, and hedging claims. When writing, refer to this resource rather than trying to generate academic phrasing from scratch.

Use Language Resources Specific to Academic Writing

Resources developed specifically for academic writing include:

The Academic Phrasebank from the University of Manchester — a free, comprehensive resource of academic phrases organized by function
Your target journal's published papers — the best model for language appropriate to that specific publication
Field-specific style guides and reporting standards (CONSORT for clinical trials, PRISMA for systematic reviews, etc.)

Separate Writing from Editing

Many ESL researchers struggle with writing fluency because they try to edit as they write — correcting each sentence before moving to the next. This approach significantly slows productivity and often produces fragmented text. Practice writing first drafts quickly without stopping to edit, then editing systematically in a separate pass. The quality of the writing improves, and so does the speed.

Practical Strategy When you cannot think of the right English word or phrase, write a placeholder in your native language and continue. During the editing pass, address all the placeholders at once. This keeps the writing momentum going and often produces better translations than trying to find the right word mid-sentence.

When to Seek Editorial Support

Even researchers with advanced English proficiency can benefit from language editing for high-stakes manuscripts. The question is not whether your English is good — it is whether the manuscript communicates your research as clearly as possible to the peer reviewers who will evaluate it. An editor who is a native speaker of English with expertise in your field brings a different perspective from any self-editing you can do, regardless of your language background.

For guidance on what type of editorial support your manuscript needs, see the types of editing guide.