Bilingual workers in a monolingual state: bilingualism as a non-skill

ABSTRACT

This article examines the institutional and market treatment of the profession of interpreting in the English-monolingual context of Australia. Based on qualitative interview methods with 67 healthcare interpreters in Australia, the study aims to explore the impact of the linguistic hierarchies in favour of English on the financial and professional valuing of bilingualism and bilingual workers, most of whom are migrants speaking English as their additional language. With Bourdieu’s linguistic market as a key theoretical framework, the findings reveal how deeply English monolingualism is entrenched in the local interpreting industry and healthcare institutions and how the pervasive monolingual ideologies work to devalue bilingualism as a non-skill. The study highlights strong ties between monolingualism, power, class and race, with a particular focus on the migrant-concentrated aspect of the interpreting profession. It illuminates the role of language in justifying and sustaining power and structural inequalities, which, in turn, disproportionately impacts vulnerable populations.

KEYWORDS:

• Australia
• bilingualism
• interpreting
• migrants
• linguistic market
• monolingualism

Data availability statement

Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Bilingual speakers who wish to become interpreters and translators in Australia need to pass exams administered by NAATI, a governing body of translation and interpreting. Language capabilities, cultural competence and professional ethics are tested, with language capabilities serving as a key determinant of success.

2 Ethics approval for the research was obtained from the University for which the author works. The ethics approval number is 520221116436588.

3 In order to sit for interpreting certification exams administered by NAATI, candidates are required to complete an interpreting course at institutions endorsed by NAATI. Depending on the levels of certifications, it takes one to two years to complete relevant courses.

Additional information

Funding

The research was funded by the Macquarie University Research Acceleration Scheme.

Notes on contributors

Jinhyun Cho

Jinhyun Cho is Senior Lecturer in Translation and Interpreting in the Department of Linguistics at Macquarie University, Australia. Her research interests are primarily in the field of sociolinguistics with a focus on intersections between interpreting, language ideologies, language policies, and intercultural communication. She is the author of two previous monographs: English language ideologies in Korea: interpreting the past and present and Intercultural communication in interpreting: power and choices.