Abstract
The aim of this paper is to examine how nurses in family clinics use language, and clients’ perceived English proficiency in particular, when categorizing their non-Finnish-speaking clients in their talk. Through membership categorization analysis (Schegloff, Emanuel A. 2007. A tutorial on membership categorization. Journal of Pragmatics 39(3). 462–482), this study shows that perceived proficiency in English, along with migration status and reliance on the native English speaker norm, seemed to be the most decisive elements in how the nurses categorized their migrant clients. The findings demonstrate the power of categorization as an instrument in institutional decision-making and highlight the role language plays in these categorizations. In particular, the study shows how influential perceived English language proficiency and the native speaker norm are in how nurses categorize their migrant clients. The findings suggest that being able to interact with clients in English is becoming a more and more important skill in working life in Finland, also in the health care sector. It would be important to understand how influential perceived language proficiency is in the way nurses conceptualize their clients, and to what extent this relates to the standard language ideology (Milroy, James. 2001. Language ideologies and the consequences of standardization. Journal of Sociolinguistics 5. 530–555).
Abstrakti
Artikkelin tavoite on selvittää, miten neuvolan terveydenhoitajat käyttävät puheessaan kieltä, erityisesti englannin kieltä, ei-suomea-puhuvien asiakkaidensa kategorisointiin. Tutkimuksessa hyödynnetään jäsenkategoria-analyysiä (Schegloff, Emanuel A. 2007. A tutorial on membership categorization. Journal of Pragmatics 39(3). 462–482) osoittamaan, miten englannin kielen osaaminen maahanmuuttostatuksen ja syntyperäisen englannin puhujan normin ohella näytti olevan määräävin tekijä siinä, miten terveydenhoitajat kategorisoivat siirtolaistaustaisia asiakkaitaan. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat kuinka vahvasti jäsenkategoriapohjainen luokittelu näkyy institutionaalisessa päätöksenteossa, ja ne korostavat kielen roolia tässä luokittelussa. Tutkimustulokset antavat viitteitä siitä, miten merkityksellisiä asioita koettu englannin kielen osaamisen taso ja syntyperäisen kielenpuhujan normi ovat siirtolaistaustaisten asiakkaiden kategorisoinnissa. Tulosten perusteella voidaan olettaa, että englannin kielen osaamisesta on tulossa yhä tärkeämpi osa ammattitaitoa suomalaisessa työelämässä, myös terveydenhuoltoalalla. Olisikin tärkeää ymmärtää asiakkaiden kielitaidon vaikutus heistä terveydenhoitajille muodostuvan mielikuvan muotoutumisessa ja missä määrin tämän mielikuvan muodostuminen liittyy syntyperäisten kielenpuhujien mallin eli standardikieli-ideologian ihannointiin (Milroy, James. 2001. Language ideologies and the consequences of standardization. Journal of Sociolinguistics 5. 530–555).
About the author
Päivi Iikkanen is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Language and Communication Studies, University of Jyväskylä in Finland. Her research is focused on the role that language (English in particular) plays in migrants’ integration into a new home country. Her data consists of interviews with eight migrant parents, their family clinic nurses and senior nurses. She has previously published one article (Iikkanen 2017), “The use of language in migrant stay-at-home parents’ process of integration: Experiences of inclusion and exclusion.”
Appendix 1: interview outline for the nurses
How many of your clients at the family clinic do not have Finnish as their first language? What languages do you usually use with these clients? Do you use English, book an interpreter or how does it work? Do you have any general guidelines for this at the clinic or do all the nurses decide for themselves how they will handle these situations?
Do you have materials available in different languages (e. g. forms or instructions)?
How do you as a nurse deal with the fact that the client does not speak Finnish? What kind of effects does it have on the visit; are there some things that are more difficult to handle or talk about in another language?
Can you give any examples of situations where language-related issues have caused e. g. misunderstandings?
How well do current family clinic services address the needs of families who have migrated to Finland from abroad? Do you think any extra services are needed? How should these services be arranged?
Have you done any client surveys with different groups of clients on how well family clinic services suit their needs or how the services should be developed in order to better meet their needs?
What kind of co-operation do you have with third sector organizations (e. g. multicultural centers, social and health care organizations)?
Additional questions for the senior nurses:
Tell me about your work: what does it entail? How does the growing number of clients with different first languages show in your work?
How does the growing number of clients with different first languages show in the nurses’ work? Have they faced any challenges related to that?
Have the nurses expressed any needs for further education regarding clients who use different languages?
Appendix 2: transcription conventions
| […] | simultaneous talk, inserted clarification, omitted place name |
| (xxx) | unidentifiable word/utterance |
| @@ | laughter |
| (…) | omitted speech |
| , | separation of thought units |
| ? | a direct question |
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