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TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION: MULTILINGUAL STRATEGIES FOR GEOSCIENCE CAPACITY BUILDING AND EDUCATION
Abstract
This research confronts the linguistic hegemony within geoscience education, which systematically marginalizes non-native English speakers and constrains global capacity building. Moving beyond merely identifying this barrier, the research proposes and evaluates concrete multilingual strategies to foster a more equitable and effective discipline. Through qualitative investigations, including interviews with educators, students, and professionals, and a systematic review of existing resources, we identify both best practices and significant hurdles. Our findings demonstrate that practical implementation, such as co-developing bilingual glossaries and field guides, utilizing parallel-language assessment formats, and creating digital repositories for open-access multilingual resources, significantly enhances comprehension and engagement. However, these initiatives face challenges, including a lack of institutional funding, a shortage of professionally translated technical materials, and resistance from traditional academic structures. We argue that these challenges can be mitigated through strategic partnerships with international bodies like UNESCO and The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), collaborations with professional translation networks, and the formal recognition of translation work in academic promotion criteria. Critically, this multilingual approach is framed as a vital step toward the decolonisation of geoscience education. It actively challenges the dominance of Western knowledge systems by legitimizing local languages and, by extension, the place-based and Indigenous knowledge often embedded within them. This shifts the epistemic centre of the discipline from a monolingual monologue to a multicultural dialogue. To ensure the viability of these strategies, the research proposes a framework for evaluation, measuring success through pre- and post-implementation assessments of student learning outcomes, longitudinal tracking of professional participation from underrepresented regions, and sentiment analysis of classroom discourse. By demonstrating how multilingualism dismantles barriers to participation, this research provides a roadmap for cultivating a truly global geoscientific workforce, whose diverse perspectives are essential for solving interconnected challenges in climate adaptation, sustainable resource management, and public health policy.
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