Identifying Spanish researchers’ needs for training in English for Research Publication Purposes: Methodological aspects of a large-scale online survey

Abstract

This paper mainly aims to report on the survey method employed in Phase 1 of the ENEIDA project to fulfil the following aims: a) locating those researchers at the five institutions participating in the project who might be interested in receiving ERPP training and in collaborating in subsequent phases of the project; b) identifying their specific needs vis-à-vis ERPP; and c) providing a context for future studies of Spanish-English intercultural rhetoric for research publication purposes. The paper also offers an overall characterisation of the informants to our survey, discusses some of the results to assess the relevance and viability of further phases of the project, and evaluates the database thus created. 24 researchers were first interviewed in-depth from one research-only institution and two universities. Interview responses were then used to design a structured questionnaire comprising thirty-seven questions related to both English and Spanish for research publication purposes. The questionnaire was piloted with 200 researchers selected from the total population of staff with doctorates (8,794) at the three institutions mentioned above, plus another two universities. The questionnaire was then sent out to the total population, yielding responses from 1717 researchers, which are kept in the ENEIDA Database. The findings suggest high levels of interest in ERPP amongst participants in that not only were 64% of respondents interested in future ERPP training, but also in that 96% of them were willing to receive information about how to participate in subsequent phases of the project. It is hoped that the information contained in the ENEIDA Database will allow us to: a) carry out precise needs analyses of specific groups of informants (e.g. according to specific disciplines); b) carry out in-depth studies of how relevant factors affect writing for research publication purposes of Spanish researchers, and c) design multiple case studies of their difficulties writing for research publication purposes grounded in sound research