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Unseen and Unheard: Increasing the Visibility of Limited English Proficiency Individuals Through a Language Justice Framework
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Unseen and Unheard: Increasing the Visibility of Limited English Proficiency Individuals Through a Language Justice Framework
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Journal Article
Unseen and Unheard: Increasing the Visibility of Limited English Proficiency Individuals Through a Language Justice Framework
2024
Overview
Recently, I received a text from my mom asking howto describe her symptom-\"amar haath paa chabay\"- in English. Literally, this means \"my hands and feet are chewing,\" but I knew the translation had to make sense In a medical context. After a few minutes of deliberating on the feelings evoked by various English words, I decided the closest translation was \"my hands and feet are throbbing.\" As a daughter of Bangladeshi Immigrants, being an on-call Interpreter was not new. Although my parents are now very comfortable speaking English, there are still times they need help finding just the right words to describe what they want to say.Many children of Immigrants living in the United States share the experience of growing up as interpreters and translators for their limited English proficient (LEP) parents. LEP refers to \"individuals who do not speak English as their primary language and have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English.\"1 According to 2013 US census data, 25.4 million Americans identified as having limited English proficiency,2 a number that continues to grow.Growing up, the primary language spoken In our household was Sylheti, a dialect of Bangia, which allowed my siblings and me to become fluent In Bangia. The significance of us learning our mother tongue is particularly noteworthy given the history of Bangladesh. During Bangladesh's fight for independence and liberation from West Pakistan, one ofthe most renowned campaigns was the language movement against the declaration of Urdu as the official state language. During a protest In 1952, five university students were murdered and thousands more injured.3 Since then, February 21 has been celebrated In Bangladesh as Shohid Dibosh, Language Martyrs' Day. Yet, although some fought and died for the right to speak Bangia, US cultural structures are restricting the Bangladeshi community from using their mother tongue by forcing them to speak English to achieve an adequate quality of life.
