‘Such a boundary is spoken language,
Seemingly unbreakable and burdensome.
I watch you as you speak,
Such a foreign language to me.
I sit in contemplative struggles,
Lost in idyllic pondering.
Is there not a universal language;
One of pure emotion and heart felt rhythm?
Could our hearts ever communicate
Beyond the spoken syllables of language?
Is there a chance you could understand?
Without my audible phrases?
It seems such a slight of Destiny
that such a little thing as a word
Should keep two affirming hearts
From beating in a gran symphony.
A hundred things I wish
I could tell you of my heart
If only I spoke your language.’
Robert L. Bixler III
The poem above describes what most health care professionals are bound to go through especially in South African hospitals. The issue with this is that, health professionals are not trained to accurately translate languages thus, they turn to informal ways of translating language. Moreover Robert (2017) describes this in the poem above where he writes about language and how it is a barrier. He mentions in stanza one that language is a boundary, a boundary that is difficult to break down especially if it’s relayed in a different language. In the second stanza, the poet’s tone seems to desire more of mutual understanding as he asks a question of whether there is a universal ‘common’, language that can be used instead. Also, in the third stanza the poet seeks to find a different way of communicating and questions why words prevent people from understanding each other and thus, seeks different ways of communicating. In the last stanza, there is some level of acceptance however, the tone is of defeat and disappointment as he wishes he the other person could understand what he wanted to say because he had quite a lot to stay
South Africa is a country that has eleven different languages and Cape town is a province within South Africa where, English, Afrikaans and IsiXhosa are the languages mostly spoken by the public. Thus, most of the patients who end up in public hospitals are likely to be Afrikaans and/or Xhosa speaking and, tend to speak only one of the mentioned languages. This requires healthcare professionals to be multilingual when it pertains to communicating with patients. Moreover, communication is stated by Lunenburg (2010) to be a process by which information is transmitted and, consumes common understanding from one person to another. Language is a component of communication and it often becomes a barrier when an individual cannot understand what is being said or cannot speak a certain language. This becomes a problem because when a patient does not understand what is being asked, he/she may become uncooperative. According to Schlemmer and Mash (2006) language barriers result in reduced patient satisfaction, when patients get discharged they in most instances do not return for check-ups and they do not consume their medication accordingly. Therefore, health professionals have to step in as informal interpreters which can result in misinterpretation and inaccuracy.
References
Robert L. (2017).’ Language barriers’, the poem hunter. Received 15 September 2018 from https://www.google.co.za/amp/s/m.poemhunter.com/poem-amp/language-barriers/
Lunenburg, F. C. (2010). Communication: the process, barriers and improving effectiveness. Schooling, volume 1, number 1. Retrieved September 15, 2018 at http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Lunenburg,%20Fred%20C,%20Communication%20Schooling%20V1%20N1%202010.pdf
Schlemmer, A., & Mash, B., (2006). The effects of language barrier in South African district hospitals: South African Med Journal (10):1084,7. Retrieved on September 16, 2018 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17164941
3 thoughts on “Such a boundary is spoken language (3611406)”
Hi Lindi, Thanks so much for sharing your work. I think it is a great topic that is relevant to all of us as physio students, and it is a struggle that we all go through. The first thing I think would help to improve this assignment is including a main heading so that the reader can immediately know what the assignment is on. I also think that you should include the title of the poem, so that the reader can go and find the poem if needs be. Another aspect I think could add more depth to the assignment is maybe adding in a few lines where you can explain why the poet changes his approach for each stanza and what this may represent.
And lastly I think it would help the assignment flow a lot better if you added in some more conjunctions to join sentences that are short, thus improving the reading experience of the reader. Words such as furthermore, In addition, and hence are always good to add in. I hope this feedback helps! Really good job!
Hi Lindi!
This is a really good topic which needs to be addressed far more often in our studying career than it is! Overall, your assignment is great. I would just start with a heading so the reader is aware of the what topic you are addressing. Maybe try breaking your reflection into a few more paragraphs so it becomes a bit easier to read. Another suggestion is to link each idea in a stanza to a problem discussed in your reflection. Also give it a good read through, as there are a few grammar errors which need to be changed. You have included references correctly. Thanks for sharing your work and I hope my feedback helps somehow. Please ask me if you have any questions! Well done and Goodluck.
hi Lindi
i love absolutely love the content of your work, However, i do agree with the comments given about how you could have added a heading to give the reader a sense of what the read would be about before actually reading it. i believe the title is important in regard to getting the reader excited about the topic. there area few grammatical errors that can be fixed. the referencing was good