Multilingual meetings often pose significant challenges for English as a Second Language (ESL) researchers, who face difficulties in communication due to language barriers. English being the lingua franca in international research settings often leads ESL participants to encounter hesitation and reduced confidence when articulating complex ideas. To address these issues, the development of the LINC system was initiated, offering a real-time transcription and translation module that fosters multilingual collaboration.

Research indicates that 64 ESL researchers engaged in multilingual collaborations frequently struggle with understanding and being understood during meetings in English. This communication breakdown often limits individual contributions and diminishes the overall quality of collaboration. The LINC system, designed to mitigate these barriers, employs real-time transcription to provide live translations and supports participants by allowing them to speak in their preferred language while receiving spoken input in English.

During trials with multiple multilingual teams, LINC facilitated clearer communication and helped ESL participants comprehend discussions more effectively. The system’s post-meeting dashboard allows for meeting analysis, offering summaries and visual aids that enhance comprehension and facilitate follow-up action plans. This multimodal approach provides ESL researchers with structured outputs, enabling them to review discussions, comprehend technical jargon better, and prepare for future meetings.

Efforts to integrate peer mentorship alongside technological interventions, such as providing peer mentors fluent in English, have shown promise in fostering inclusivity and bolstering confidence among ESL researchers. Speech adaptation systems within LINC also enhance understanding by optimizing system responses for diverse accents and dialects.

Addressing multilingual meeting challenges through LINC not only promotes diversity by valuing multiple perspectives but also encourages balanced participation from all team members. Ultimately, fostering inclusivity in research environments enriches collaborative projects, making them more dynamic and innovative.