Access to Medical Care Hindered by Language Barriers

A recent case in Riverside CA in which patient, Francisco Torres, had the wrong kidney removed during surgery has invigorated a new look at the language barriers between patients and doctors and the increased likelihood of medical errors that can occur as a result. The fact that Mr. Torres was not provided a medical interpreter prior to surgery is concerning especially since he speaks one of the most common languages, Spanish.

Statistics have proven that language plays a major role in misdiagnosis or poor treatment in hospitals or delays in access to preventive care. Patients with limited English proficiency are almost twice as likely to suffer adverse events in United States hospitals resulting in harm or even death. There is a rising number of people that fit into this category and thus there is a need for a nationally recognized process for certifying medical interpreters, a requirement that only certified medical interpreters can be hired by healthcare organizations and national funding to help hospitals pay for these measures. In the meantime, there is a nationally available procedure to ensure that medical interpreters are adequately prepared for the field and needs of the patients. Titled the Certified Medical Interpreter program, it does just as the name suggests and helps to ensure the qualifications of these interpreters. However the lack of funding and reimbursement to hospitals that use such services continues to contribute to trends of healthcare disparities in lower income communities where such services are needed the most.

I agree with the position of the author and see this as a serious problem. Such little things could get lost in translation and the interpreters need to have the proper experience in order to best help communication between patients and doctors. However I do see the difficulty in getting funding for such programs and people may argue that patients with limited English proficiency should focus on improving their English instead of the government catering to them. Regardless, it is an issue that will continue to affect the medical field and the government will have to address the problem in order to avoid deaths due to miscommunication.

The article can be found here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/louis-provenzano/language-access-and-the-p_b_587920.html

Animal Communication and the Roots of Language

In the search for the roots of language, there has been a large debate over the connection between animal communication and human language. Because language leaves little archaeological record, much of the debate has been talk and not enough actual testing. However the field is moving towards more empirical research and since 1996, a group meets at Evolang every 2 years to discuss the evolutionary origins of language. This new empiricism may help resolve one of the most popular language debates: whether the first human language consisted of articulated speech or gestures.

Past studies have been done on chimpanzees in order to see if they can learn human language. However results often show poor vocalization skills and much better control and complexity with gestures. A gestural theory of language origin has arisen and suggests that the first human language had gestures and articulated speech came later. Studies have also been done to examine the connection between gestures and speech and concluded there is a link because they share similar regions of the brain.

Another shift has been the study of birds instead of primates. Studying primates seemed reasonable since they are seen as the closest to the human species. However birds began to be studied for their vocal learning abilities that mirrors the language acquisition of humans. A songbird learns to sing essentially the same way a child learns to talk: from the parents. Other parallels have been found between bird song and human language and have brought researchers closer to understanding how they could possibly construct a brain that can do vocal learning.

Here's a link to the article: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/328/5981/969

Children Learning Languages in Math & Science Courses

A partnership between WRAL-TV and the George Lucas Educational Foundation called Project Education: Edutopia has pioneered a different method of foreign language learning in order for children to be able to compete in a global economy. Seattle students that attend John Stanford International School become immersed in either Spanish or Japanese instead of a class dedicated to either language. Students have the choice of which of these languages they want to learn and then spend half of the school day studying math and science in that language and the other half studying social studies and language arts in English.

The reason for having students immersed in the language when studying math and science as opposed to social studies where one might discuss culture is because those subjects are much more abstract. Math and science have more hands on activities and factual learning. Other educators have witnessed in awe at the school's ability to teach second language skills while also improving test scores; the international schools has one national awards and the success of the program has led to the creation of five other international schools including one that teaches Mandarin. Because it is an international school, the mix of languages helps level the playing field for those with English as a second language. All the students benefit from exposure to children of other cultures and everyone understands what it takes to learn a language which fosters greater appreciation within the school's community.

I think such a program is a brilliant idea and the success of it should urge other schools across the country to consider reforming foreign language learning. This school probably has many more resources than the average public school and sadly many schools would not have the money or qualified teaching staff in order to implement such a program. Hopefully the government will take note of such programs and seek to change the way languages are learned; these children feel more comfortable using the language and they are more likely to utilize it in the future. Most schools have a language requirement but a great number of students fulfill that requirement and lose their language abilities after a few years. This integration of language learning and conventional curriculum would probably lead to better retention of the language and more confidence using it in a real world setting.

The article can be found here: http://www.wral.com/news/edutopia/story/7611054/

Differences in Brain Language Circuits linked to Dyslexia

Children and adults diagnosed with dyslexia often struggle with writing, reading, and spelling despite the quality of their education. Researchers from Vanderbilt University Sheryl Rimrodt and Laurie Cutting have begun to understand some of the underlying reasons behind dyslexia. They discovered that people's difficulties with written language may be connected to structural differences in the brain that play a major role in oral language.

Using an emerging MRI technique called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), these researchers searched for evidence linking structural differences in a crucial bundle of white matter in the left-hemisphere language network. White matter consists of fibers that allows brain cells to communicate between one another and the left-hemisphere language network is made up of bundles of white matter that extend from the back of the brain to frontal parts that are responsible for speech and articulation. Cutting makes the point that when someone reads written language, they are essentially saying the words out loud in their head and thus if the decreased integrity of white matter means that the front and back parts of the brain are not talking to one another. This communication is crucial because you need the visual (back part of brain) and oral (front) to act as a cohesive unit.

These researchers used DTI and found that white matter bundles in this network and less organized and oriented differently in the dyslexic brain. While this does not provide a full reason behind the basis of dyslexia, the discovery will prompt further research into the physical characteristics of the region and bring the field closer to finding out how dyslexia happens.

Article can be found here: http://news.oneindia.in/2010/05/11/differencesin-brains-language-circuits-linked-todyslexia.html

Fading English Proficiency for Filipinos

In the Philippines, the official language is technically called Filipino but most Filipinos simply call their language Tagalog (Filipino is based on Tagalog according to sources). Because of historical colonization of the country, the Philippines have many other languages that are commonly spoken including English, Spanish, and a wide variety of native dialects (such as Ilokano or Cebuano). Being the prominent world language that it is, English became widely popular in the Philippines and at one point ranked as an official language due to its usefulness in communicating with the world economy. However, Filipino businesses have noticed a trend in the decline of English proficient Filipinos; the offshore and outsourcing market, in particular, needs Filipinos that can speak English so they can work as call-center agents. Unfortunately employers in the industry say they have to deny 95 out of 100 applicants because their English proficiency does not meet the standards needed for the industry.

The economy of the Philippines creates so few jobs that one-tenth of the population work abroad. The institutionalization of Tagalog as the official language in the 1970s and the pride of the people caused Tagalog to become far more popular than English. Residents report that it is hard to find people under the age 40 who are comfortable speaking in English now. The government has reacted and implemented programs to keep English instruction in schools.

While I understand the economic benefits of having more English proficient speakers, I think it is great that most people in the Philippines have embraced their native language and that is more prominent than English. There is so much cultural pride tied to one's native language and I find it interesting that English decline is considered a "problem." Instead I think the Philippines should be further pushing Tagalog (or other native dialects) and preserving the cultural heritage that is embedded in the language.

Here's the link to the article: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0510/For-Filipinos-English-proficiency-is-fading

Language Translation Application: Jibbigo

An application for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone Touch 3G called Jibbigo is one of the most popular applications to date which can now translate into Arabic. Arguably one of the smartest applications available, the creators Jibbigo recently released the fourth version which includes an Iraqi dialect of Arabic. The success of this application comes from its simple use and applicability ranging from casual travelers to doctors. Someone can simply speak into their iPhone in either English or another language and shortly a voice translates your words both orally and in a written form. Although not very cheap (the price ranges from $25 to $30), the application has various functions such as translating a road sign; someone can take a picture of the sign with the phone's camera and the application will interpret and translate the meaning of the sign.

Perhaps the most useful ability of this application is the voice-to-voice translation that occurs without the need for Internet connections. This makes the application vital in regions such as war zones in Iraq. The United States military has been giving iPhones to soldiers and officers in order to assist them and help break down language barriers in the Middle East. Jibbigo has further developments in store; originally designed for travelers, it makes mistakes when the translation does not pertain to travel or first aid.

While I think such technologies do serve as a great aid to soldiers and people in general where language barriers may exist, I do not think it should become the future of language. If anything, such technologies should be a temporary fix for the lack of fluency in certain languages. However in the long run, I hope these developments will not discourage people from actually learning languages themselves and simply relying on a device to do rudimentary translations for them. There are so many aspects of culture, history, and customs that are embedded within language and even the most advanced non-human translators cannot capture all of that.

Here's the article: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/050710-language-translation-app-jibbigo-goes.html?page=1

Arabic and French in Mauritania, Africa

Recently in Mauritania, Africa students at the University of Nouakchott violently clashed over language policy, leaving many students severely wounded. This behavior arose when the Prime Minister, Moulaye Ould Mohammed Lagdaff, made an announcement over the status of Arabic language in the country which provoked the uproar across campus between students. During a celebration of the Arabic language, the Prime Minister mentioned that the country would begin implementation of compulsory Arabic programs as the only official "lingua franca" or working language that people use regularly to communicate. This sparked tensions between two groups of students: Arabo-Berbers who have Arab descent and Negro-Mauritanians who have African descent. The Prime Minister's statement fueled ancestral quarrels about language that started with heated debates and soon turned into violence that had to be stopped by police and tear gas.

The history behind these two ethnic groups and their respective attitudes towards French and Arabic play a monumental role in how people view the situation. A Negro-Mauritanian students reported that they do not want to "inherit cultural oppression and linguistic humiliation" similar to their ancestors faced. On the other side, an Arabo-Berber student pointed out that the country's Constitution only recognizes Arabic as the official language and sees those that clamor for the coexistence of French and Arabic as "agents of imperialism." The current debate, fueled by cultural and linguistic identities, highlights a long struggle for power and control within the country between these two communities. Looking further into Mauritania in general, I found that the country has only recently outlawed slavery (within the past few years) and the civilian government of Mauritania was overthrown in 2008 by a military coup d'etat. On top of that, it is amongst the most poverty stricken countries in Africa with about 20% of the population living on less that $1.25 U.S. a day. I think these amongst other cultural and historic factors have influenced the current situation and attitudes within the country. The circumstances in Mauritania illustrate the immense cultural pride and ties that people can grow to associate with a language and its real world implications.

Here's a link to the article: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20100424181813316

Sign Language Study

Findings from a new study done at the University of Rochester show that there does not exist a lone area of the human brain "that gives it language capacities above and beyond those of any other animal species." The team working on this consisted of both brain and cognitive scientists at the University and they came to this conclusion by analyzing if different human brain regions are used to decipher sentences with varying types of grammar. The reason for choosing American Sign Language for the study is because of the language's versatility with grammar. English for example relies on word order within a sentence to convey the meaning and relationships between the elements of the sentence. Spanish on the other hand depends on inflections and suffixes (me, te, se) in order to portray subject-object relationships and the order of words in sentences are often interchangeable. American Sign Language has both of these qualities of word order and inflection to show meaning. The signer can use word order or choose to "use physical inflections such as moving hands through space or signing on one side of the body to convey the relationship."

The experiment used native signers and had them watch videos of recorded sentences. Half of the group watched sentences that utilized word order and the other half used inflection. Native signers were hooked up to an MRI to monitor brain activation when processing different types of sentences. The results of the study show that there are"distinct regions of the brain that are used to process the two types of sentences." Our understanding of grammar draws upon different brain regions; for example "a word order sentence draws on parts of the front cortex that give humans the ability to put information into sequences, while an inflectional sentence draws on parts of the temporal lobe that specialize in diving information into its constituent parts." This dispels any belief that humans' language capacities are derived from some special region of the brain that has developed and does only language and nothing else; instead, humans use and adapt the capabilities of our brain that are already present.

Not only does this provide more evidence for the possibilities of how language abilities might have evolved in humans, but it could also be useful for medicine. According to Elissa Newport, this could be valuable in assessing how to best teach language to people with brain damage in specific areas such as a stroke victim. This also provides cognitive empirical evidence of the legitimacy of American Sign Language as a distinct language. As discussed previously in class, there has been debate over whether or not American Sign Language (or sign languages in general) are considered to be distinctive languages that are on par with other languages such as Spanish or English. Activating different brain regions proves that processing and understanding American Sign Language mimics that of understanding a spoken language and the lack of speech does not undermine the language.

here's the article: http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=3610