Multilingualism and Multiculturalism in Communication for Development. A Case Study from The Healthcare Prevention Sector in Nigeria.

Abstract: Purpose This research takes Nigeria and the healthcare prevention sector as a case study to describe the manner in which the non-profit sector is presently dealing with the challenge of communicating in a multilingual/multicultural environment. The intention is to identify the linguistic factors that affect the design of healthcare prevention interventions, indicate language strategies that are being used and potentially single out opportunities for improvement. Design/Methodology/Approach Two data sets were employed: the main one representing phone interviews with Communication for Development practitioners in the healthcare domain in Nigeria and a secondary one including online testimonials from the Here I Am campaign conducted by the Global Fund. The data collected was analysed following the Critical Discourse Analysis three-level framework. In addition to this, the micro level stage incorporated Grounded Theory Method to elicit thematic relations, and Semiotic Analysis and Discursive Analysis to determine the stance of the speakers. Findings Participants to this research perceived language and culture as two entwined concepts. Communication in the community’s local language was said to enhance message acceptance. The thematic analysis revealed that the strategy to be used, mainly translation or a combination of community interpreting and cultural mediation, depends largely on the level of literacy of the community. Of the proposed language strategies, training of bilingual individuals and a combination of community interpreting and cultural mediation appeared to be the two pivotal modes of interlingual message transposition. Pictorials are used in extreme situations. Despite the dissimilarity of the two data sets used in this research, the discursive analysis suggested the existence of an aid beneficiaries/non-profit staff binary. The way of expression of aid beneficiaries and individuals working at grassroots level exhibited traits of dependency on other players (in this case donors and non-profit staff). Similarly, the discursive analysis of the interviews put forward that the non-profit staff interviewed tended to distinguish between themselves and Others (in this case, the aid beneficiaries). This research found furthermore that translation and interpreting activities within the non-profit sphere are not always undertaken according to strict professional ethics and praxis.