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From chaos to cultural competence

Analyzing language access to public institutions
  • Michal Schuster
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Interpreting in a Changing Landscape
This chapter is in the book Interpreting in a Changing Landscape

Abstract

This paper presents a sociological, five-stage model for analyzing the development of language access services in the public sector. The process starts with a state of ‘chaos’, where no institutionalized or professional solutions facilitate communication between service providers and clients from linguistic minorities, to a state in which the public sphere is linguistically accessible, as part of a comprehensive policy of cultural competence. As a case study, the model will analyze processes taking place in Israeli society since the 1990s.

Abstract

This paper presents a sociological, five-stage model for analyzing the development of language access services in the public sector. The process starts with a state of ‘chaos’, where no institutionalized or professional solutions facilitate communication between service providers and clients from linguistic minorities, to a state in which the public sphere is linguistically accessible, as part of a comprehensive policy of cultural competence. As a case study, the model will analyze processes taking place in Israeli society since the 1990s.

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