Broadening the Conceptual Lens on Language in Social Work: Difference, Diversity and English as a Global Language

Abstract

SummaryLanguage is infused in multiple dimensions of human behaviour, and social work is essentially a language-centred activity. Yet, despite the pivotal position of language to many social work activities, its significance has rarely been explored in terms of difference. Moreover, the linguistic diversity that characterizes the local and global contexts in which many practitioners operate has been given minimal attention in the social work literature. In this paper, I contend that how language is conceptualized in social work both shapes and constrains the way that practitioners perceive issues relating to linguistic diversity. The paper maps out the limitations of some of the existing conceptual lens used for viewing language in relation to the multilingual milieu in which social work takes place. It also draws attention to the global pre-eminence of English, the significance of bilingualism and the limitations of a monolingual frame of reference for social work. A case is made for augmenting the existing knowledge base on language with a multidisciplinary approach to language that incorporates bilingual perspectives. Rather than providing a definitive model for understanding language, I suggest that such an approach expands the conceptual landscape for exploring language and difference in social work.

Participatory social work and report writing

“…The practice of writing reports is important because social work is essentially a language‐centred activity (Parton & O'Byrne 2000; Hall et al. 2006; Harrison 2006; Van Nijnatten 2006). Through report writing, social workers can have a significant influence on outcomes for individual clients.…”

“…In this paper, we report a research project dealing with how this participative paradigm comes to the fore in the practice of report writing, more specifically reporting on the work with looked-after children in Flanders, Belgium (see Note 1). The practice of writing reports is important because social work is essentially a language-centred activity (Parton & O'Byrne 2000;Hall et al 2006;Harrison 2006;Van Nijnatten 2006). Through report writing, social workers can have a significant influence on outcomes for individual clients.…”

Language as resource and challenge among bilingual social workers in the Swedish social services

“…Communication, verbal as well as non-verbal, has a profound role in social work and lies at heart of a social worker's interaction with clients (Payne 2014). How to accomplish a meaningful dialogue with clients is a skill needed to perform good practice (Harrison 2006). Furthermore, written forms of communication such as assessments, reports and case notes are central parts of a social worker's day to day duties (Dunk-West 2013).…”

“…Even though language is the 'lifeline' through which all communication occurs, the interest in language in social work has traditionally been reduced to its communicative aspects (Gregory and Holloway 2005, 49). A conventional understanding of language as transmission from sender to receiver tends to overlook meaning construction taking place in communication (Harrison 2006).…”

“…In the early 2000s, poststructuralist and postmodernist ideas became influential in social work, and the role of discourse and power-shaping linguistic practices was emphasized (Dominelli 2004;Fook 2002;Hall, Slembrouck, and Sarangi 2006;Parton and O'Byrne 2000). Harrison (2006) makes an argument for an even broader conceptualization and acknowledges that social work today takes place in a global, postcolonial context, resulting in a linguistically diverse work environment. Despite the demographic changes that have taken place in many countries, research on linguistic diversity and its implications in social work is still limited.…”