Mediating intercultural bureaucratic encounters
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v7i3.317Keywords:
Intercultural communication, Aboriginal English, identity, code-switching, Aboriginal practitioners, bureaucracy, communication strategy, social policyAbstract
Governments throughout Australia have deployed Aboriginal specific positions within government departments in an effort to improve access to government services for Aboriginal people. This small-scale study uses a qualitative interpretive interview approach to explore the communication strategies that enable two Aboriginal staff to act as mediators between the bureaucracy and Aboriginal communities. The paper also reveals unique types of professional pressures, which may not be evident in the wider public service. Although focused on Australia, the findings may have implications for other intercultural communication contexts that involve interaction between indigenous people and government bureaucracies.
References
Arthur, J. M. (1996) Aboriginal English: A Cultural Study. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Bain, M. S. (1992) The Aboriginal-White Encounter: Towards Better Communication. SIL AAIB Occasional Papers, No.2. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Bain, M. S. (2006) White Men are Liars: Another Look at Aboriginal-Western Interactions. Alice Springs: AuSIL.
Basso, K. K. (1970) “To give up on words”: Silence in Western Apache culture. SouthWestern Journal of Anthropology 26 (3): 213–230.
Braithwaite, C. A. (1990) Communicative silence: A cross-cultural study of Basso’s hypotheses. In D. Carbaugh (ed.) Cultural Communication and Intercultural Contact, 321–327. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erbaum.
Brown, R. and Gilman, A. (1960/1972) Pronouns of power and solidarity. In T. A. Sebeok (ed.) Style in Language, 253–276. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (Reprinted in P. Giglioli (ed.) Language and Social Contexts, 252–282. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.)
Clark, D. C. (1999) Communication between cultures: Navajo discourse strategies. Intercultural Communication Studies 8 (1): 13–32.
Corson, D. (1995) World view, cultural values and discourse norms: The cycle of cultural reproduction. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 19 (2): 183–195. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(95)00003-T
Crago, M. B., Eriks-Brophy, A., Pesco, D. and McAlpine, L. (1997) Culturally based miscommunication in classroom interactions. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools 28: 245–254.
Cram, F., Smith, L. and Johnstone, W. (2003) Mapping the themes of Maori talk about health. Journal of the New Zealand Medical Association 116 (1170): 1–7.
Debridge, A. (1999) Standard Australian English. World Englishes 18 (2): 259–270. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-971X.00138
Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (2003). The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N.K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (eds) The Landscape of Qualitative Research: Theories and Issues, 1–46. London: Sage.
Eades, D. (1984) Misunderstanding Aboriginal English: The role of socio-cultural context. In G. R. McKay and B. A. Sommers (eds) Applications of Linguistics to Australian Aboriginal Contexts, 24–33. Applied Linguistics Association of Australia, Occasional Papers No. 8.
Eades, D. (1988) They don’t speak an Aboriginal language or do they? In I. Keen (ed.) Being Black: Aboriginal Cultures in Settled Australia, 97–115. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
Eades, D. (1991) Communicative strategies in Aboriginal English. In S. Romaine (ed.) Language in Australia, 84–93. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Eades, D. (1996a) Legal recognition of cultural differences in communication: The case of Roby Kina. Language & Communication 16 (3): 215–227. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0271- 5309(96)00011-0
Eades, D. (1996b) Aboriginal English. In A. A.Wurm, P. Mühlhäusler and D. T. Tryon (eds) Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia and the Americas, 133–141. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Eagleson, R. D. (1985) Urban Aboriginal English: Misunderstandings and misconceptions. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 8 (1): 131–139.
Flick, U. (2006) An Introduction to Qualitative Research, 3rd edition. London: Sage.
Goffman, E. (1981) Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Goldflam, R. (1995) Silence in court! Problems and prospects in Aboriginal legal interpreting. In D. Eades (ed.) Language in Evidence: Issues Confronting Aboriginal and Multicultural Australia, 29–54. Sydney: UNSW Press.
Heller, M. (1992) The politics of code-switching and language choice. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 13 (1): 123–142. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01434632.19 92.9994487
Heller, M. (1995) Language choice, social institutions and symbolic domination. Language in Society 24: 37–405. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500018807
Holliday, A., Hyde, M. and Kullman, J. (2004) Inter-Cultural Communication: An Advanced Resource Book. London: Routledge.
Kaldor, S. and Malcolm, I. (1991) Aboriginal English – an overview. In S. Romaine (ed.) Language in Australia, 67–83. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Koch, H. (1991) Language and communication in Aboriginal land claims hearings. In S. Romaine (ed.) Language in Australia, 94–103. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lee, B. P. H. (2001) Mutual knowledge, background knowledge and shared beliefs: Their role in establishing common ground. Journal of Pragmatics 33 (1): 21–44. http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00128-9
Lee, B., McGrath, S. and Moffatt, K. (2002) Exploring the insider role in community practice with diverse communities. Critical Social Work 2 (2): 69–78.
Leitner, G. (2007) The Aboriginal contribution to Australia’s language habitat. In G. Leitner and I. G. Malcolm (eds) The Habitat of Australia’s Aboriginal Languages: Past, Present and Future, 197–236. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Lowell, A. (2001) Communication and Cultural Knowledge in Aboriginal Health Care. Darwin: Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health.
Lustig, M. W. and Koester, J. (2006) Intercultural Competence: Interpersonal Communication across Cultures, 5th edition. Shangai: Shanghai Foreign Language and Education Press.
Malcolm, I. G. (1989) Invisible culture in the classroom: Minority pupils and the principle of adaptation. In O. G. Garcia and R. Otheguy (eds.) English Across Cultures: Cultures Across English, 117-135). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Malcolm, I. G. (1994) Aboriginal English inside and outside the classroom. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 17 (2): 147–180.
Malcolm, I. G. (1996) One language two cultures: Implementing bidialectal education. In J. E. James (ed.) The Language–Culture Connection, 123–135. Anthology Series 37. Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.
Malcolm, I. G. (2001) Aboriginal English: Adopted code of surviving culture. In D. Blair and P. Collins (eds) English in Australia, 201–22. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Malcolm, I. G. (2002) Aspects of Aboriginal English oral discourse: An application of cultural schema theory. Discourse Studies 4 (2): 169–181. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/14 614456020040020301
Malcom, I. G. and Grote, E. (2007) Aboriginal English: Restructured variety for cultural maintenance. In G. Leitner and I. G. Malcolm (eds) The Habitat of Australia’s Aboriginal Languages: Past, Present and Future, 153–180. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Malcolm, I. G. and Rochecoute, J. (2000) Event and story schemas in Australian Aboriginal English discourse. English World-Wide 21 (2): 261–289. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/ eww.21.2.05mal
Malcolm, I. G. and Sharifian, F. (2002) Aspects of Aboriginal English oral discourse: An application of cultural schema theory. Discourse Studies 4 (2): 169–181. http://dx.doi.org /10.1177/14614456020040020301
Mason, J. (2002) Qualitative Interviewing: Asking, listening and interpreting. In T. May (ed.) Qualitative Research in Action, 225–241. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
McConvell, P. (1988) Mix-Im-Up Aboriginal code-switching, old and new. In M. Heller (ed.) Code-Switching: Anthropological and Sociolinguistic Perspectives, 97–147. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Mobbs, R. (1986) But do I care? Communication difficulties affecting the quality of care delivered to Aborigines. Medical Journal of Australia 144: 53–55.
Morgan D. L., Slade M. D. and Morgan, C. (1997) Aboriginal philosophy and its impact on health care outcomes. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 7: 597–601. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842X.1997.tb01762.x
Morgan, D. and Slade, M. (1998) A case for incorporating Aboriginal perspectives in Education. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 26 (2): 6–12.
Philips, S. U. (1983) The Invisible Culture: Communication in Classroom and Community on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
Platt, J. (1989) Some types of communicative strategies across cultures: Sense and sensitivity. In O. Garcia and R. Otheguy (eds) English across Cultures: Cultures across English, 13–29. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Rampton, B. (1988) Language crossing and the redefinition of reality. In P. Auer (ed.) Code-Switching in Conversation: Language, Interaction and Identity, 290–320. London: Routledge.
Romaine, S. (1995) Bilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell.
Sarangi, S. and Slembrouck S. (1996) Language, Bureaucracy and Social Control. London: Longman.
Saville-Troike, M. (1985) The place of silence in an integrated theory of communication. In D. Tannen and M. Saville-Troike (eds) Perspectives on Silence, 3–18. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.
Scollon, R. and Scollon, S. W. (1995) Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach. London: Blackwell.
Sharifian, F (2005) Cultural conceptualisations in Aboriginal children in Perth. Language and Education 19 (1): 74–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500780508668805
Sharifian, F. (2006) A cultural-conceptual approach and world Englishes: The case of Aboriginal English. World Englishes 25 (1): 11–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0083- 2919.2006.00444.x
Spencer-Oatey, H. (2000) Rapport management: A framework for analysis. In H. SpencerOatey (ed.) Culturally Speaking: Managing Rapport through Talk across Cultures, 11–46. London: Continuum.
Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990) Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. London: Sage.
Tannen, D. (1985) Silence: Anything but. In D. Tannen and M. Saville-Troike (eds) Perspectives on Silence, 93–111. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.
Taylor, B. (1998) Australian English and its interaction with other Englishes. In H. Lindquist, S. Klintborg, M. Levin and M. Estling (eds) The Major Varieties Of English, 59–68. Papers from MAVEN 97 Växjö, 20-22 November 1997. Växjo: Acta Wexionensia.
Wagner, R. K. and Sternbeg, R. J. (1985) Practical intelligence in real world pursuits: The role of tacit knowledge. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 49 (2): 436–458. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.49.2.436
Ylänne-McEwen, V. and Coupland, N. (2000) Accommodation theory: A conceptual resource for intercultural sociolinguistics. In H. Spencer-Oatey (ed.) Culturally Speaking: Managing Rapport through Talk across Cultures, 191–214. London: Continuum.
Bain, M. S. (1992) The Aboriginal-White Encounter: Towards Better Communication. SIL AAIB Occasional Papers, No.2. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Bain, M. S. (2006) White Men are Liars: Another Look at Aboriginal-Western Interactions. Alice Springs: AuSIL.
Basso, K. K. (1970) “To give up on words”: Silence in Western Apache culture. SouthWestern Journal of Anthropology 26 (3): 213–230.
Braithwaite, C. A. (1990) Communicative silence: A cross-cultural study of Basso’s hypotheses. In D. Carbaugh (ed.) Cultural Communication and Intercultural Contact, 321–327. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erbaum.
Brown, R. and Gilman, A. (1960/1972) Pronouns of power and solidarity. In T. A. Sebeok (ed.) Style in Language, 253–276. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (Reprinted in P. Giglioli (ed.) Language and Social Contexts, 252–282. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.)
Clark, D. C. (1999) Communication between cultures: Navajo discourse strategies. Intercultural Communication Studies 8 (1): 13–32.
Corson, D. (1995) World view, cultural values and discourse norms: The cycle of cultural reproduction. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 19 (2): 183–195. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(95)00003-T
Crago, M. B., Eriks-Brophy, A., Pesco, D. and McAlpine, L. (1997) Culturally based miscommunication in classroom interactions. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools 28: 245–254.
Cram, F., Smith, L. and Johnstone, W. (2003) Mapping the themes of Maori talk about health. Journal of the New Zealand Medical Association 116 (1170): 1–7.
Debridge, A. (1999) Standard Australian English. World Englishes 18 (2): 259–270. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-971X.00138
Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (2003). The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N.K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (eds) The Landscape of Qualitative Research: Theories and Issues, 1–46. London: Sage.
Eades, D. (1984) Misunderstanding Aboriginal English: The role of socio-cultural context. In G. R. McKay and B. A. Sommers (eds) Applications of Linguistics to Australian Aboriginal Contexts, 24–33. Applied Linguistics Association of Australia, Occasional Papers No. 8.
Eades, D. (1988) They don’t speak an Aboriginal language or do they? In I. Keen (ed.) Being Black: Aboriginal Cultures in Settled Australia, 97–115. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
Eades, D. (1991) Communicative strategies in Aboriginal English. In S. Romaine (ed.) Language in Australia, 84–93. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Eades, D. (1996a) Legal recognition of cultural differences in communication: The case of Roby Kina. Language & Communication 16 (3): 215–227. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0271- 5309(96)00011-0
Eades, D. (1996b) Aboriginal English. In A. A.Wurm, P. Mühlhäusler and D. T. Tryon (eds) Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia and the Americas, 133–141. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Eagleson, R. D. (1985) Urban Aboriginal English: Misunderstandings and misconceptions. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 8 (1): 131–139.
Flick, U. (2006) An Introduction to Qualitative Research, 3rd edition. London: Sage.
Goffman, E. (1981) Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Goldflam, R. (1995) Silence in court! Problems and prospects in Aboriginal legal interpreting. In D. Eades (ed.) Language in Evidence: Issues Confronting Aboriginal and Multicultural Australia, 29–54. Sydney: UNSW Press.
Heller, M. (1992) The politics of code-switching and language choice. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 13 (1): 123–142. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01434632.19 92.9994487
Heller, M. (1995) Language choice, social institutions and symbolic domination. Language in Society 24: 37–405. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500018807
Holliday, A., Hyde, M. and Kullman, J. (2004) Inter-Cultural Communication: An Advanced Resource Book. London: Routledge.
Kaldor, S. and Malcolm, I. (1991) Aboriginal English – an overview. In S. Romaine (ed.) Language in Australia, 67–83. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Koch, H. (1991) Language and communication in Aboriginal land claims hearings. In S. Romaine (ed.) Language in Australia, 94–103. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lee, B. P. H. (2001) Mutual knowledge, background knowledge and shared beliefs: Their role in establishing common ground. Journal of Pragmatics 33 (1): 21–44. http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00128-9
Lee, B., McGrath, S. and Moffatt, K. (2002) Exploring the insider role in community practice with diverse communities. Critical Social Work 2 (2): 69–78.
Leitner, G. (2007) The Aboriginal contribution to Australia’s language habitat. In G. Leitner and I. G. Malcolm (eds) The Habitat of Australia’s Aboriginal Languages: Past, Present and Future, 197–236. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Lowell, A. (2001) Communication and Cultural Knowledge in Aboriginal Health Care. Darwin: Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health.
Lustig, M. W. and Koester, J. (2006) Intercultural Competence: Interpersonal Communication across Cultures, 5th edition. Shangai: Shanghai Foreign Language and Education Press.
Malcolm, I. G. (1989) Invisible culture in the classroom: Minority pupils and the principle of adaptation. In O. G. Garcia and R. Otheguy (eds.) English Across Cultures: Cultures Across English, 117-135). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Malcolm, I. G. (1994) Aboriginal English inside and outside the classroom. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 17 (2): 147–180.
Malcolm, I. G. (1996) One language two cultures: Implementing bidialectal education. In J. E. James (ed.) The Language–Culture Connection, 123–135. Anthology Series 37. Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.
Malcolm, I. G. (2001) Aboriginal English: Adopted code of surviving culture. In D. Blair and P. Collins (eds) English in Australia, 201–22. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Malcolm, I. G. (2002) Aspects of Aboriginal English oral discourse: An application of cultural schema theory. Discourse Studies 4 (2): 169–181. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/14 614456020040020301
Malcom, I. G. and Grote, E. (2007) Aboriginal English: Restructured variety for cultural maintenance. In G. Leitner and I. G. Malcolm (eds) The Habitat of Australia’s Aboriginal Languages: Past, Present and Future, 153–180. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Malcolm, I. G. and Rochecoute, J. (2000) Event and story schemas in Australian Aboriginal English discourse. English World-Wide 21 (2): 261–289. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/ eww.21.2.05mal
Malcolm, I. G. and Sharifian, F. (2002) Aspects of Aboriginal English oral discourse: An application of cultural schema theory. Discourse Studies 4 (2): 169–181. http://dx.doi.org /10.1177/14614456020040020301
Mason, J. (2002) Qualitative Interviewing: Asking, listening and interpreting. In T. May (ed.) Qualitative Research in Action, 225–241. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
McConvell, P. (1988) Mix-Im-Up Aboriginal code-switching, old and new. In M. Heller (ed.) Code-Switching: Anthropological and Sociolinguistic Perspectives, 97–147. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Mobbs, R. (1986) But do I care? Communication difficulties affecting the quality of care delivered to Aborigines. Medical Journal of Australia 144: 53–55.
Morgan D. L., Slade M. D. and Morgan, C. (1997) Aboriginal philosophy and its impact on health care outcomes. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 7: 597–601. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842X.1997.tb01762.x
Morgan, D. and Slade, M. (1998) A case for incorporating Aboriginal perspectives in Education. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 26 (2): 6–12.
Philips, S. U. (1983) The Invisible Culture: Communication in Classroom and Community on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
Platt, J. (1989) Some types of communicative strategies across cultures: Sense and sensitivity. In O. Garcia and R. Otheguy (eds) English across Cultures: Cultures across English, 13–29. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Rampton, B. (1988) Language crossing and the redefinition of reality. In P. Auer (ed.) Code-Switching in Conversation: Language, Interaction and Identity, 290–320. London: Routledge.
Romaine, S. (1995) Bilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell.
Sarangi, S. and Slembrouck S. (1996) Language, Bureaucracy and Social Control. London: Longman.
Saville-Troike, M. (1985) The place of silence in an integrated theory of communication. In D. Tannen and M. Saville-Troike (eds) Perspectives on Silence, 3–18. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.
Scollon, R. and Scollon, S. W. (1995) Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach. London: Blackwell.
Sharifian, F (2005) Cultural conceptualisations in Aboriginal children in Perth. Language and Education 19 (1): 74–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500780508668805
Sharifian, F. (2006) A cultural-conceptual approach and world Englishes: The case of Aboriginal English. World Englishes 25 (1): 11–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0083- 2919.2006.00444.x
Spencer-Oatey, H. (2000) Rapport management: A framework for analysis. In H. SpencerOatey (ed.) Culturally Speaking: Managing Rapport through Talk across Cultures, 11–46. London: Continuum.
Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990) Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. London: Sage.
Tannen, D. (1985) Silence: Anything but. In D. Tannen and M. Saville-Troike (eds) Perspectives on Silence, 93–111. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.
Taylor, B. (1998) Australian English and its interaction with other Englishes. In H. Lindquist, S. Klintborg, M. Levin and M. Estling (eds) The Major Varieties Of English, 59–68. Papers from MAVEN 97 Växjö, 20-22 November 1997. Växjo: Acta Wexionensia.
Wagner, R. K. and Sternbeg, R. J. (1985) Practical intelligence in real world pursuits: The role of tacit knowledge. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 49 (2): 436–458. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.49.2.436
Ylänne-McEwen, V. and Coupland, N. (2000) Accommodation theory: A conceptual resource for intercultural sociolinguistics. In H. Spencer-Oatey (ed.) Culturally Speaking: Managing Rapport through Talk across Cultures, 191–214. London: Continuum.
Published
2013-04-03
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Equinox Publishing Ltd.
How to Cite
Firkins, A. S. (2013). Mediating intercultural bureaucratic encounters. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 7(3), 317–339. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v7i3.317
