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Abstract

This Virtual Special Issue (VSI) was originally intended to be a compilation of past Latin American research papers in the Language Testing journal. Due to the limited number of articles found, this VSI reflects on the underrepresentation of research from Latin America and other Global South regions. Latin American publications account for only 0.6% of the journal’s content. A broader search across 101 other Global South countries revealed similarly low representation, with only 1.7% of all publications from the region. An interview with researchers from the Latin American Association for Language Testing and Assessment (LAALTA) sheds light on potential contributing factors for this underrepresentation. These include the preference for local journals, the fear of rejection from high-ranking international journals, cultural differences in academic literacy, limited resources and challenging working conditions, and geographical isolation. The interviewees offered their recommendations to address these disparities, which include creating dedicated spaces in international journals for Global South research, promoting multilingual publishing, and welcoming diverse academic conventions. Providing accessibility and support to Global South researchers could encourage the number of publications in the journal from the region, and, in turn, the language testing community could benefit by enriching global academic discourse.

Este Virtual Special Issue (VSI, número especial virtual) se concibió originalmente como una recopilación de trabajos de investigación latinoamericanos publicados con anterioridad en la revista Language Testing. Debido al limitado número de artículos encontrados, este VSI reflexiona sobre la escasa representación de la investigación de América Latina y, además, de otras regiones del Sur Global. Las publicaciones latinoamericanas representan solo el 0,6% del contenido de la revista. Una búsqueda más amplia sobre otros 101 países del Sur Global reveló una representación igualmente baja, con solo el 1,7% de todas las publicaciones de la región. Una entrevista con investigadores de la Latin American Association for Language Testing and Assessment (LAALTA, Asociación Latinoamericana de Evaluación de Idiomas) arroja luz sobre los posibles factores que contribuyen a esta infrarrepresentación. Entre ellos se encuentran la preferencia por las revistas locales, el temor al rechazo de las revistas internacionales de alto nivel, las diferencias culturales en la literacidad académica, los recursos limitados y las difíciles condiciones de trabajo académico, así como el aislamiento geográfico. Proporcionar accesibilidad y apoyo a los investigadores del Sur Global podría fomentar el número de publicaciones procedentes de la región en la revista y, a su vez, la comunidad de evaluación de idiomas podría beneficiarse al enriquecer el discurso académico a nivel global.

Keywords

Assessment literacy Global South scholarship language education anguage testing in Latin America localization multilingualism underrepresented contexts

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Towards inclusive publishing practices in language testing: Voices from the Global South

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