Keyword : Language, Barrier, Health Services, Communication, Multilingual
Author(s) : CHIE Esther Phubon, PhD & CHENWI Atoh Julius
Abstract :
This paper sets out to address the effects of the language barrier, resulting from the use of the two official languages (English and French), on the health sector in multilingual Cameroon where over 289 languages, including Pidgin English, exist. (Ethnologue, 2019). In Cameroon, communication is very difficult in public sectors such as the courtroom (Atoh, 2008) and in the hospitals where the doctors meet patients from various linguistic backgrounds who cannot express themselves in English, French, or Pidgin English. This paper aims at investigating the problems caused by such communication breakdown and proposes a remedy to this language barrier. Using instruments such as interviews, questionnaire, and participant observation, data for this study were collected from fifty (50) less educated and uneducated patients and ten (10) educated medical doctors from two hospitals: one public hospital (Bamenda Regional Hospital) and one mission hospital (Mbingo Baptist Hospital), both in the North West Region of the country. Our primary language variable was derived using language designations collected from patients’ registration databases. While employing both the quantitative and qualitative approaches, the data were analysed using two models and one theory which include the Transactional Model of Communication (Barnlund, 2018), the Interactionist Sociolinguistics Theory (Fishman, 1980), and the Cultural Competency Model (Brach and Fraser, 2000). The study reveals that the language barrier clearly exists in the hospitals found in both the rural and urban areas in the North West Region of Cameroon. Our findings conclude that understanding imbalances between languages can help address communication challenges across the Cameroonian healthcare sector and would reduce the number of deaths.
Stereotypes and Its Influence on the Course of Study Choice and Communication Skills of First-Year Students of Christopher University
Philip Teniola David; Ayoola Olalekan Ajasa, Ph.D; Adejoke Adekanmbi, Ph.D & Aderinola Babatunde
Information Literacy Skills: Prerequisite for Library Resources Use by Public Secondary School Students in Oyo State, Nigeria
Touitou, Tina C., PhD; Ambassador-Brikins, Helen O.C., Ph.D; Owolabi Ruth Onajite, PhD & Adekunle, Janet Oluyemi, PhD
Bollywood Movie, Dubbing, Subtitling, Nigerian Yoruba Language and Audience Perception
Adeyemo Saheed O.A. & Adeyemi A. Ridwan, PhD.
Audience Perception of the Influence of Abrahamic Mission Programme of Radio Nigerian Network on Religious Intolerance
Greatandy Victor Iguoba & Onyedikachi Stanley Onovo, PhD
Utilisation of Social Media for the Promotion of Exclusive Breastfeeding among Nursing Mothers in Rural Communities in Akwa Ibom State
Benson Reuben Oke & Helen Ijeoma Nwachukwu
Women Awareness of Endometriosis Misdiagnosis through Mass Communication Strategies in Wukari LGA, Taraba State
Agabison Dorcas;? Okpoko C.C.? & Lazarus Siman
Newspaper Framing of Fubara-Wike Political Crisis in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: A Comparative Analysis of Daily Sun, The Punch and Vanguard Newspapers
Ezemba Assumpta Onyinyechi
Content analysis of select Nigerian newspapers' Reportage of #EndbadGovernance Protest
Lega Agbadu Hassan;? Prof. T.M Akase? & Dr. Anthony Ogande
Application of Public Relations Strategies in the Management of Patients at Federal Medical Centre and Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi
Inja, Ndernen? & Nyitse, Gabriel T., PhD
Influence of Billboard Advertisements on Audience Awareness of Insecurity Issues in Nigeria: A Study of Edo State Residents
Blessed Frederick Ngonso, PhD?; Peter Eshioke Egielewa, PhD?; Betcher Osaguona Ekhosuhun, Esq.? & Ekwe Okwudiri, PhD
Promotion and Patronage of Products of Access and Zenith Banks by Customers in Akwa Ibom State
Nsikak Solomon Idiong? & Blessing Ufot Urua•
Language and Ideologies in Selected Advertising Posters of MTN and Orange from Dschang and Bafussam (Cameroon), 2024-2025
Dohseh Abigail Gabwa & Afutendem Lucas Nkwetta
Preliminary Pages for IJALMS
IJALMS Editorial Crew
FRSC SPEED LIMIT IN THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION: A SURVEY OF ENUGU STATE RESIDENTS
Dr. Maxwell M. Ngene
Appraisal of the Influence of Globalization on Local Cultural Identity in Nigeria
Omavuaire Lucky Edewor, Ph.D; & Collins Kediehor, PhD