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<TITLE>RE: Language policy affects supply of nurses</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>Forgive me, gang, for lurking, but according to the article the nurses CAN communicate but lack a certain written command of the language. The question is: how does their knowledge of written French (or lack thereof) impact their ability to do their job effectively? <BR>
<BR>
Maria<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Maria Coady, Ph.D.<BR>
Assistant Professor<BR>
ESOL/Bilingual Education<BR>
University of Florida<BR>
Gainesville, FL 32611<BR>
mcoady@coe.ufl.edu<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
-----Original Message-----<BR>
From: owner-lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu on behalf of Nassira Nicola<BR>
Sent: Tue 1/18/2005 3:28 AM<BR>
To: lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu<BR>
Subject: Re: Language policy affects supply of nurses<BR>
<BR>
I have to admit that I'm a bit disturbed at the tone of the article,<BR>
which seems to imply that the nurses' right to employment is the only<BR>
right at stake here. There's no mention of the right of Francophone<BR>
patients to treatment in their language.<BR>
<BR>
In a political territory with one official language, the care of a<BR>
patient who speaks that official language should not be contingent<BR>
upon that patient's ability to speak a second language ... especially<BR>
when the patient is under stress and in poor health and thus *less*<BR>
likely to be able to communicate effectively in L2.<BR>
<BR>
And, call me crazy, when this political territory is a small part of a<BR>
larger territory where English-speaking nurses are in high demand, my<BR>
sympathy doesn't really lie with an Anglophone nurse who cannot<BR>
communicate with Francophone patients and who might therefore be<BR>
putting those patients in danger.<BR>
<BR>
Nassira<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
-------------------------------------------<BR>
Nassira Nicola<BR>
Harvard University<BR>
nicola@fas.harvard.edu<BR>
-------------------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 08:40:54 -0700, Michelle Daveluy<BR>
<michelle.daveluy@ualberta.ca> wrote:<BR>
> What about registering to writing classes in order to improve abilities with<BR>
> a language these individuals claim knowledge and use of?<BR>
><BR>
> Human resources are lacking in the health services all over Canada.<BR>
> Employment opportunities are indeed available in English only environments.<BR>
><BR>
> The media coverage of this specific case is to be understood in the current<BR>
> debate on the funding and construction of 2 research hospitals in Montreal:<BR>
> one English, the other French.<BR>
><BR>
> MD<BR>
><BR>
> le 12/01/05 08:46, Harold F. Schiffman à haroldfs@ccat.sas.upenn.edu a<BR>
> écrit :<BR>
><BR>
> > Language cops bust Quebec nurses<BR>
> ><BR>
> > By BRIAN DALY<BR>
> > Canadian Press<BR>
> ><BR>
> > POSTED AT 8:29 PM EST Tuesday, Jan 4, 2005 Montreal Two nurses at an<BR>
> > English hospital have had their licences revoked after failing a written<BR>
> > French test even though Quebec faces a nursing shortage. Elizabeth<BR>
> > Davantes, 47, and Eulin Gumbs, 43, who both speak French, say they'll look<BR>
> > for work outside Quebec after losing their jobs recently at the Jewish<BR>
> > General Hospital.<BR>
> ><BR>
> > Quebec's language watchdog and the provincial nursing federation require<BR>
> > that all nurses, even those in English hospitals, pass a written French<BR>
> > test. Ms. Gumbs has failed the test five times, while Ms. Davantes has<BR>
> > failed on four occasions. Ms. Gumbs, a single mother of two, said Tuesday<BR>
> > she's looking for a job elsewhere now that she can't work here.<BR>
> ><BR>
> > I don't want to leave, said Ms. Gumbs, who rates her spoken French as<BR>
> > excellent. Quebec is my home. My family lives here, my kids live here. But<BR>
> > I cannot support myself on nothing. The Office de la langue francaise<BR>
> > recently warned the use of French in the workplace is in a precarious<BR>
> > state in Quebec and Premier Jean Charest has hinted at a crackdown.<BR>
> ><BR>
> > However, the province faces a major nursing shortage. A report released in<BR>
> > 2003 suggested the province will lose 16 per cent of its nurses to<BR>
> > retirement in 2006. Head nurse Serge Cloutier, who worked with the two<BR>
> > women, said the ranks of his profession are already thin and won't be<BR>
> > helped if nurses are forced out. It's a bad situation, Mr. Cloutier said<BR>
> > in an interview.<BR>
> ><BR>
> > Of course, if you lose two nurses it makes a difference. The nursing<BR>
> > federation did not return phone calls on Tuesday. The hospital said<BR>
> > Tuesday it did its best to help the women. The Jewish General Hospital<BR>
> > actively tried to keep (the nurses) on staff, even though they failed the<BR>
> > written section of the French exam, the hospital said in a statement.<BR>
> ><BR>
> > Officials at the hospital wrote several letters to the nursing federation<BR>
> > and spoke with the language agency in an attempt to have the nurses'<BR>
> > licences extended, said the hospital. But the nurses had their licences<BR>
> > revoked in October, said the hospital. A spokesman for the language<BR>
> > watchdog, the Office de la langue francaise, said his organization isn't<BR>
> > to blame for the two nurses losing their jobs.<BR>
> ><BR>
> > Gerald Paquette said the French tests are drafted with the help of<BR>
> > professional orders and employers. Rev. Darryl Gray, president of the<BR>
> > English-rights lobby group Alliance Quebec, said Quebec is showing ill<BR>
> > will towards the women.<BR>
> ><BR>
> > Anglophone nurses definitely are not going to jeopardize the French<BR>
> > language in this province, he said in an interview. Rev. Gray said he<BR>
> > wonders why the province won't work with Ms. Davantes and Ms. Gumbs to<BR>
> > help them improve their written French skills. How can we attract people<BR>
> > to this province if it has been made clear to us by the province that<BR>
> > we're not wanted? he asked.<BR>
> ><BR>
> > <A HREF="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050104.wnurz0104/BNPrint/">http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050104.wnurz0104/BNPrint/</A><BR>
> > National/<BR>
> ><BR>
><BR>
><BR>
<BR>
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