Literacy Autobiography 2:

In 2001, I had the opportunity to live and work as a visiting scientist in Hatoyama, Japan, near Tokyo, for three months. With a few exceptions, all the scientists at the Hitachi Research Center spoke some English, and although there were some language barriers, and casual conversation was forced, my Japanese coworkers and I were effective collaborators. Their decent English (and my pathetic Japanese) was more than adequate for us to generate a master's thesis worth of data together. This experience was a pivotal one for me, it demonstrated the power of scientific literacy.

Literacy and language competency involves the mastery of subtle concepts that require a social context. But science is in many ways a universal language. Northern, Southern and Western blots are performed and interpreted the same way in every country, no matter how far north, south or west. And although a scientific story can be spun with a culturally relevant flavor (I once gave a talk titled, "Ricin, it Does a Body Good"), the story could be as effectively grasped in Javanese as in Japanese.

In an increasingly globalized environment, scientifically literate students are abundantly equipped to work together. Physical, racial, cultural, socioeconomical and gender barriers fall away. Teaching scientific literacy is preparing students for a lifetime of effective interaction and collaboration.

NPR podcast of "The Unsuccessful Quest For A Universal Language"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=185348917