Participant role shifting in minority language institutional interactions: COVID-19 contact tracing telephone calls as complex spaces of linguistic non-understanding
-
Romeo De Timmerman
,
Anne-Sophie Bafort
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of collecting and disseminating publicly relevant health information from and to lay audiences to combat global health crises. In Flanders, Belgium, reaching linguistic minority groups within this context largely depended on government-mandated contact tracing through telephone interactions, which was initially put in place to contain the level of outbreak, but was gradually tasked with relaying safety measures and other information related to the pandemic. In line with these developments, Flemish contact tracing over the telephone initially supported Belgium’s three national languages, viz. Dutch, French and German, as well as English as a lingua franca. This list was gradually expanded with minority languages including, among others, Turkish, Arabic, Bulgarian and Polish. This article reports on a one-year fundamental research project as part of which we recorded and analyzed telephone contact tracing conversations which were conducted in the minority languages Turkish and Arabic. We specifically analyze these Turkish and Arabic data as spaces of linguistic non-understanding from the perspective of the researcher-fieldworker (van Hest, Ella & Marie Jacobs. 2022. Spaces of linguistic non-understanding in linguistic ethnography (and beyond). In Methodological issues and challenges in researching transculturally, 14–38. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8772518), and aim to uncover their impact on the interactional dynamics in this ‘novel’ institutional activity type. Through a Goffmanian analysis, the study reveals how the inclusion of minority languages in contact tracing practice led to complex shifts in participant roles, as contact tracers balanced their institutional responsibilities with imperatives of patient-centered rapport, cultural mediation, and enabling the data collection on behalf of the researchers. The condition of linguistic non-understanding also underlines how the (potential) presence of an overhearing eavesdropper may have influenced the interactional dynamics between contact tracers and index patients. The paper hence provides insights into the complexities of conducting contact tracing in a multilingual context, while simultaneously shedding light on the implications of linguistic diversity on situated institutional practices.
Soyut
COVID-19 salgını, küresel sağlık krizleriyle mücadele etmek için kamuyu ilgilendiren sağlık bilgilerinin toplanmasının ve yaygınlaştırılmasının önemini öne çıkarmıştır. Bu bağlamda Belçika’nın Flaman bölgesinde dilsel azınlık gruplarına ulaşmak büyük ölçüde, başlangıçta salgın seviyesini kontrol altına almak için uygulamaya konan ancak giderek güvenlik önlemlerini ve salgınla ilgili diğer bilgileri aktarmak için düzenlenen, hükümet tarafından zorunlu kılınan telefon etkileşim yoluyla yapılan temas takibine dayanmaktaydı. Bu gelişmeler doğrultusunda Flaman bölgesinde telefon üzerinden gerçekleşen temas takipleri ilk başta Belçika’nın üç ulusal dili olan Hollandaca, Fransızca ve Almanca’nın yanı sıra ortak dil olarak İngilizce’de gerçekleşmekteydi. Bu liste zamanla Türkçe, Arapça, Bulgarca ve Lehçe gibi azınlık dillerini de kapsayacak şekilde genişletildi. Bu makale, azınlık dilleri olan Türkçe ve Arapça dillerinde gerçekleşen telefon görüşmelerinin kaydedilip incelendiği bir yıllık temel araştırma projesini sunmaktadır. Özellikle Türkçe ve Arapça verileri, araştırmacı ve saha çalışanı (van Hest, Ella & Marie Jacobs. 2022. Spaces of linguistic non-understanding in linguistic ethnography (and beyond). In Methodological issues and challenges in researching transculturally, 14–38. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8772518) perspektifinden dilsel anlamama alanları biçiminde incelenmiştir ve böylelikle bu ‘yeni’ kurumsal uygulama türünün etkileşimsel dinamiklere etkisini ortaya çıkarmak amaçlanmıştır. Goffman’ın analizine dayanan bu çalışma, temas takip uygulamasına azınlık dillerinin dahil edilmesinin katılımcı rollerinde nasıl karmaşık değişimlere yol açtığını göstermektedir; temas takip görevlileri kurumsal sorumluluklarını hastaya yönelik yaklaşım, kültürel arabuluculuk ve araştırmacılar adına veri toplanmasını sağlama gibi zorunluluklarla dengelemişlerdir. Dilsel anlamama durumu, (olası) gizli bir dinleyicinin varlığının temas takip görevlileri ve indeks hastaları arasındaki etkileşim dinamiklerini nasıl etkileyebileceğini de vurgulamaktadır. Dolayısıyla bu makale, çok dilli bir bağlamda temas takibi yapmanın karmaşıklıklarına dair görüşler sunarken, aynı zamanda dilsel çeşitliliğin yerleşik kurumsal uygulamalar üzerindeki etkilerine de ışık tutmaktadır.
Funding source: Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Award Identifier / Grant number: G0G6120N
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© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- ‘Spaces of linguistic non-understanding’ when ‘researching multilingually’: analyses from a linguistic-ethnographic perspective
- Articles
- Engaging with spaces of linguistic partial understanding in multilingual linguistic ethnography
- Cultivating capabilities and coping: accepting and analysing moments of communicative opacity in multilingual encounters
- Participant role shifting in minority language institutional interactions: COVID-19 contact tracing telephone calls as complex spaces of linguistic non-understanding
- Co-constructing meaning through semi-understanding: conducting the sociolinguistic interview in an (un)known language
- Exploring the complexity of multilingual spaces: embracing diverse perspectives of linguistic non-understanding
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- ‘Spaces of linguistic non-understanding’ when ‘researching multilingually’: analyses from a linguistic-ethnographic perspective
- Articles
- Engaging with spaces of linguistic partial understanding in multilingual linguistic ethnography
- Cultivating capabilities and coping: accepting and analysing moments of communicative opacity in multilingual encounters
- Participant role shifting in minority language institutional interactions: COVID-19 contact tracing telephone calls as complex spaces of linguistic non-understanding
- Co-constructing meaning through semi-understanding: conducting the sociolinguistic interview in an (un)known language
- Exploring the complexity of multilingual spaces: embracing diverse perspectives of linguistic non-understanding
