How can the language of research be a barrier?

The language of research is the currency we use to exchange ideas, constructs and findings with colleagues and researchers. It is integral to the research process. As undergraduates, postgraduate researchers will have often acquired the basic terminology of their discipline. But with the transition to postgraduate research, they are expected to master a more esoteric language.

Once we have entered the research community we tend to forget that there was a time when we did not know the meaning of the words we now use so easily. Yet many postgraduate researchers find it difficult to acquire and confidently use this accepted language. Ownership of the terminology seems to be a key to crossing the threshold of, and being welcomed into, the research community. The use of complex terminology can be a challenge to ensuring clear, unambiguous communication between teacher and learner. Effective communication is essential to the development of a professional partnership between research supervisors and disabled researchers and the successful progression of the research project.