The fact is, for all intents and purposes, English *IS* the language of science. When I read the physics job ads, nearly every international teaching position I see specifically states that the science teaching will be done in English.

That point aside, I don’t understand the notion that “promoting STEM” means we somehow think nothing else is important. If we keep adding art and language and writing and music and poetry to the acronym until we have STEMPLAM or whatever… suddenly we aren’t really “promoting” anything. Either science, math, technology, and engineering need some special attention in education at this moment because they are lagging, or they DON’T.