Language and Economics Mutual Incompatibilities or a Necessary Partnership.docx

Language and Economics Mutual Incompatibilities or a Necessary Partnership.docx

《Language and Economics Mutual Incompatibilities or a Necessary Partnership.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Language and Economics Mutual Incompatibilities or a Necessary Partnership.docx（28页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

LanguageandEconomicsMutualIncompatibilitiesoraNecessaryPartnership

文献类型

论文类

标题

LanguageandEconomics:

MutualIncompatibilities,oraNecessaryPartnership?

著者

UldisOzolins

机构

SchoolofSocialSciences,LaTrobeUniversity

主题词

Economicbenefitsoflanguages;Languagelearning;Multilingualism;interpreting;internationalorganisations;economicdisadvantage

系列号

ISSN1466-4208

集合名

CURRENTISSUESINLANGUAGEPLANNING

年

2003

卷

4

期

1

地域

Victoria,Australia

文件大小

184.25KB

页数

17

描述

Misunderstandingsbetweeneconomicapproachestolanguageandthefieldoflanguagepolicy/languageplanningarisefromdeficienciesintheliteratureofbothcamps.Thispaperexaminesfourexamples:

（1）liaisoninterpreting,wheretraditionaleconomicanalysispointstosurprisingbenefitsofengaginginterpreters,oftennotrecognisedbypractitionersthemselves;

（2）sometimesexaggeratedclaimsbylanguageprofessionalsfortheeconomicbenefitsofstudyinglanguages;（3）unresolvedissuesinlanguageuseininternationalorganisationsandtrade;and（4）misinterpretationsoflinksbetweenmultilingualismanddisadvantage.Lackofunderstandingbyeconomistsoflanguageissuesisoftenmatchedbyilliteracyineconomicsonthepartoflanguageprofessionals.

原始链接

UldisOzolins

SchoolofSocialSciences,LaTrobeUniversity,Victoria,Australia

Misunderstandingsbetweeneconomicapproachestolanguageandthefieldoflanguage

policy/languageplanningarisefromdeficienciesintheliteratureofbothcamps.This

paperexaminesfourexamples:

（1）liaisoninterpreting,wheretraditionaleconomic

analysispointstosurprisingbenefitsofengaginginterpreters,oftennotrecognisedby

practitionersthemselves;

（2）sometimesexaggeratedclaimsbylanguageprofessionals

fortheeconomicbenefitsofstudyinglanguages;（3）unresolvedissuesinlanguageuse

ininternationalorganisationsandtrade;and（4）misinterpretationsoflinksbetween

multilingualismanddisadvantage.Lackofunderstandingbyeconomistsoflanguage

issuesisoftenmatchedbyilliteracyineconomicsonthepartoflanguageprofessionals.

Keywords:

Economicbenefitsoflanguages,interpreting,languagelearning,

internationalorganisations,multilingualism,economicdisadvantageIntroduction

FrançoisGrin’spaperinthisvolumeidentifiesseveralcrucialintersections

betweenlanguagesandeconomics,andalertsustoafieldinsufficientlytheo-

risedandinsufficientlyattendedtobylanguageanalystsinperformingrealistic

economiccalculationsoflanguagepolicy.

YetdespitetheeffortsofauthorssuchasGrin,agapstillexistsbetween

economicapproachestolanguageandthefieldoflanguagepolicy/language

planning.Reasonsforthisaremany,withdeficienciestobeobservedinboththe

languagepolicyandtheeconomicliterature.Thispaperlooksbrieflyatfour

examples,where:

（1）economicilliteracyhaspreventedtherecognitionofbene-

fitsthatcanflowinsomelanguageprofessionalfields,takingexamplesfrom

interpreting;

（2）economicjustificationsdominatetherationaleforparticular

languageprogrammesbuttheseprogrammesstruggletorealisetheireconomic

claims,takingexamplesfromprogrammespromotinglanguagestudyfor

economicpurposes;（3）economicissuesinlanguageuseariseininternational

affairs,takingexamplesfrominternationalorganisationsandtheregulationof

trade;（4）speakinganotherlanguageisautomaticallyequatedwitheconomic

disadvantageandanalysedaccordingly,takingexamplesfromeconomicanaly-sesofbenefitsandcostsofmultilingualismandmajority/minoritylanguages.CostsandBenefitsofLanguageServices

Onefieldwhereeconomicbenefitshaveoftennotbeenrecognisedhasbeen

thatofinterpreting,particularlyinrelationtotheworld’smostcommonformof

interpreting–liaisoninterpretinginsituationsofimmigrationorcontactwithindigenousordeafcommunities,wherelanguageminoritypersonsandtheinsti-

tutionsthatservethemneedameansofcommunication.

1

Overthepastfew

decades,socialsystemsaroundtheworldhaveacknowledgedtheneedfor

languageservices,butwhatisconsideredtoconstituteanadequateservice

differswidely,andsuchserviceshaveoftendevelopedhaphazardly.Generally,

thosedesiringtoimproveserviceshaverarelybeenabletomustereconomic

argument,whileadministratorsorprofessionalsunsympathetictosuchprovi-

sioncouldcitecostaswellasanyotherreasonforinaction（Hornberger,1998）.

Atthesametimeasinterpretersworkedindifficultcircumstancestopromote

theirfield,methodsofeconomicmanagement–particularlyinthecaseofpublic

institutionssuchasthehealthorwelfaresystems–werechangingrapidly,directly

undertheinfluenceofeconomicsandcost-benefitanalysis.Public（andsome

private）medicalsystemshavebeenmostheavilyinfluencedbythisatomisationof

organisationalandprofessionalfunctionsintoeconometricunits,particularly

withthedevelopmentofDiagnosticReferenceGroup（DRG）andsimilaranalyses

thatbreakdownmedicalcostsintodiscreteandcomparableunits,sothatstandardcostscanbeidentifiedforanymedicalprocedure–fromatonsillectomytoaliver

transplant–tosetbenchmarksforperformanceandfunding.

Onenovellinkbetweenlanguageandeconomicsissuggestedhere:

ifindeedit

ispossibletoimputeavalueforamedicalprocedure,thenitispossibletocount

whathasbeenwastedifaparticularprocedurecannotbecarriedoutorneedsto

beduplicated–forexample,ifanon-speakerofthedominantlanguageisadmit-

tedtoahospitalbutiswronglydischargedduetocommunicationfailureand

needstobeadmittedagain,thenwecanplaceavalueonthisfailureofcommuni-

cationifthereisavalueforadmissionandforproceduresthatmayneedtobe

repeated.Invirtuallyanyimaginablecase,thecostofinterpretingtoensureaccu-

ratediagnosisandtreatmentthefirsttimewouldbeminisculecomparedtothe

costofothermedicalprocedures.Ofcourse,suchanattempttocountcommuni-

cationcostsitselfisdependentuponthemedicalorganisationaccuratelybeing

abletoidentifythatthecauseofdischargeorinadequatetreatmenthasbeen

communicationproblems–suchastateoftransparencystillrarelyobtains,for

variousreasons,morepoliticalandorganisationalthanmedical.Significantly,suchfundingformulaeasDRGsinnoinstancesincludethe

factorofcommunicatingwithpatientswhodonotspeakthedominantlanguage;

inallinstancesprovisionsoflanguageservices–wheremadeatall–areadhoc

one-offitems,orsubmergedinalliedhealthoperatingbudgets,orinsomeother

waynotintegratedintothemainstreamofmedicalfundingwhetherforhospitals

orclinics,healthmaintenanceorganisationsorhealthinsurancesystems.

Neitheradministrators（withtheiroftenlimitedunderstandingofinterpreting）

norinterpreters（withusuallyacompleteignoranceifnotfearofeconomics）are

inclinedtoimagineeconomicbenefits,ratherthancosts,canbeidentified.

ThemostsubstantialstudyofsuchcostsandbenefitshasbeenthatofNazneen

（1998）inanAmericanstudylookingattheeffectofprovidinginterpretersona

numberofkeyoutputvariablesforhospitalsservicinglargepopulationsof

LimitedEnglishProficiencypatients.Thesevariablesincludelengthofstay,

numberoftestsperformed,numberof‘undefined’diagnoses,numberofoutpa-

tientvisits,aswellaslookingateffectsonthenumberofsickdaysforthepatients,

andpaymentsbymedicalinsurancecompanies.Atthetheoreticallevel,Nazneenworksoutaseriesofcostsandbenefitsthatmustbetakenintoaccount

foratotalunderstandingoftheimpactofinterpreters,includingbenefitstomedi-

calstaff,patients,hospitalorganisationsandinsurancecompanies.Empirically,

shelooksatalargeMassachusettshospitalsettingwhichdoesprovideinterpret-

ersandcomparesittosomeotherhealthcaresettingswithvaryingprovisionsof

interpreters,andusescomparativedatafrom1989to1995toshowthattheprovi-

sionofinterpretersreducedlengthofstay,numberofunnecessarytests,number

ofvisitsanduncertaintyofdiagnosis,aswellasinsomeinstancessavinglives.

Benefitsalsoaccruedtomedicalstaffandinsurancecompanies.

Nazneenarguesthatthefullbenefitsofinterpreterservicesareseriouslyunder-

estimated,andithasonlybeen（intheAmericansituation）legalactionbypatients

thathasforcedmedicalproviderstoact.Importantly,herstudyidentifiesbenefits

notonlytohealthinstitutionsbutalsotolevelsofpayoutsmadebyinsurance

companies.Giventhatthemedicalfieldisincreasinglycharacterisedbymarketing

forpatientsratherthanamoretraditionalmeetingofneedsofpubliclydefined

patients,theeconomicaspectsofherconclusionshaveresonanceforthefuture.Ethnicmarketinghasalreadyarrivedinthemedicaladministrationliterature,e.g.

‘BuildingmarketshareintheLatinocommunity’（Stevenson,2002）.

Nazneenalsotakesanotherstep,highlyunusualinreckoningsofcost-benefit

analysesoflanguage,oflookingatdifferentlevelsoftrainingofinterpreters,

givingaspectrumfromthetotallyuntrainedhelpertoonefullytrainedtomeet

hospitalexigencies–andcoststhevariouslevels.Herconclusionisthestronger

inthatsheshowsthatevenifthecostoftrainingisfullycoveredbythehospitalor

healthprovider,benefitswouldstillflow.Thisisasignificantfinding,inthat

whatcountsasaninterpretertendstobeoflittleinteresttotheeconomist（orin

manycasesthehospitaladministrator）,andinmostmedicalsystemstheprocess

ofcertificationandtrainingofmedicalinterpretersisstillrudimentary.Y