English for research purposes at the University of Santiago de Compostela: a survey Francisco Javier Fern andez Polo * , Mario Cal Varela Department of English Philology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain Abstract Although much research has now accumulated on the dominance of English in world science, attention to the specific reality of Southern European countries has been comparatively scarce. This paper intends to partly redress this imbalance by reporting on survey data gathered at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Data were collected by means of a 25-item postal questionnaire sent to the research staff of 25 (1/3) of the University’s departments. A total of 213 questionnaires were returned (24.94% return rate). Generally, findings indicate that English clearly plays a lesser role than in other institutions previously investigated, that the local languages are still the default choice for most functions and that there is a localized but significant demand for other foreign languages as well. While some groups of respondents already estimate their current English writing competence to be sufficient, most staff are keenly aware of an increasing pressure to improve their English-speaking skills and of their deficits in this area. Finally, means available in the institution to meet the staff’s English needs are comparatively scarce, which is likely to place them in a difficult position vis-a `-vis other more ‘privileged’ groups of NNS scholars, particularly in Europe. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: English for research purposes; Spain; Survey; Non-native speaker; Language needs 1. Introduction By now it has become a commonplace to state that English is the lingua franca of science, as it is in many other areas of human activity (Crystal, 2003; Graddol, 1997). This situation generates mixed feelings not only in the global scientific community but also among sociolinguists and EAP scholars and practitioners. While some view this dominance as a blessing that facilitates the knowledge exchange and dialogue that are essential to the development of science (Crystal, 2003), its critics and detractors see in it a source of all sorts of problems: discrimination of individuals and groups (Gibbs, 1995), colonisation of the registers of the local languages that put at risk the very future of these tongues (Dus zak, 2006; Gunnarsson, 2001), division within national scientific communities (Eggington, 1987), empoverishment of science and knowledge-construction in general (Canagarajah, 1996; Gibbs, 1995), alienation of science and scientists from society (Gunnarsson, 2001; Mendieta, Phillipson, & Skutnabb- Kangas, 2006; Truchot, 1990), among others. Some minimize the importance of these allegations, simply dismissing * Corresponding author. Facultade de Filoloxı ´a, Despacho 307. Avda. de Castelao, s/n. Universidade de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela 15782, Spain. Tel.: þ34 981563100x11858; fax: þ34 981574646. E-mail address: xabier.fernandez@usc.es (F.J. Fern andez Polo). 1475-1585/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jeap.2009.05.003 Journal of English for Academic Purposes 8 (2009) 152e164 www.elsevier.com/locate/jeap