Agency and Multilingualism in public health care: How practitioners draw on local experiences and encounters

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Drawing on experiences of practitioners in the health care sector in Manchester, England, we demonstrate how, in an environment that is highly de-regulated and where there are often various options to manage encounters, power is not derived exclusively from institutional roles. Instead, language policy is appropriated, enacted, and implemented by a range of actors in different roles. We show how contextualised testimonials indicate how practitioners assume agency in negotiating key decision-making nodes in the institutional setting. Actors’ ability to take decisions and to navigate institutional provisions relies on local knowledge and personal experiences gained in the multilingual city.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationUnderstanding the Dynamics of Language and Multilingualism in Professional Contexts
Subtitle of host publicationAdvances in Language-Sensitive Management Research
EditorsPhilippe Lecomte, Mary Vigier, Claudine Gaibrois, Betty Beeler
Place of PublicationCheltenham
PublisherEdward Elgar
Chapter4
Pages46-55
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9781789906783
ISBN (Print)9781789906776
Publication statusPublished - 13 Jan 2023

Keywords

  • Agency
  • Health care
  • Interpreting
  • Language policy
  • Multilingualism

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