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Influence of bilingualism in usual word designation in naming tasks: a study with Brazilian preschoolers.

AIM: To verify if children enrolled in bilingual preschools are influenced by a second language. METHOD: 60 children were assessed, 30 enrolled in a bilingual preschool (Group I) and 30 in a regular Brazilian school (Group II), with ages ranging from 4 to 5 years and 11 months. To assess their lexical competence the ABFW Vocabulary test (Befi-Lopes, 2000) was used. RESULTS: When comparing the results obtained in the inter-group study, no significant difference was observed in the groups' performance, in most of the semantic fields. In the intra-group study a superior performance was observed for Group I in the Portuguese language. CONCLUSION: Learning a second language may influence the lexical competence of children, although these preschoolers are still proficient only in the Portuguese language.

Brazil↗
PubMed2004

Aligning words in French-English non-parallel medical texts: effect of term frequency distributions.

In this paper, we present a method for aligning words based on a statistical model of word distribution similarity. The basis underlying our method is that there is a correlation between the patterns of word co-occurrences in texts of different languages. Using automatically downloaded pages from different medical web sites and a combined bilingual lexicon of general and medical terms as language sources, a similarity score is assigned to each proposed translated pair of words, based on the distributional contexts of these two words. We vary several parameters of the method. Experimental results confirm a positive effect of frequency, show that medical words are better handled than less specialized words, and do not evidence a clear influence of context window size. Future directions for improvement include working with very large, part-of-speech tagged corpora.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2004

Language barriers and access to care.

The purpose of this chapter is to examine how language barriers contribute to health disparities among ethnic and racial minorities in the United States. A literature search was systematically conducted using selected computer databases (MEDLINE and CINAHL). Searches were limited to English-language-published research in the years from 1985 to 2003. A total of 47 published articles were included in this review. Overall these studies indicate that language barriers are associated with longer visit time per clinic visit, less frequent clinic visits, less understanding of physician's explanation, more lab tests, more emergency room visits, less follow-up, and less satisfaction with health services. The results also indicate that people who are older, poorer, and female tend to have severe language barriers compared to those who are younger, wealthier, and male. Improvement of communication between patients and providers in relation to health disparity consists of cultural competency and communication skills. Implications of these studies for practice and further research are outlined.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2004

[Studies on bilingual teaching of genetics].

Bilingual teaching of genetics is a new teaching research area. This paper introduces a number of texts of genetics in English, and outlines principles of bilingual teaching of genetics.

Genetics↗
PubMed2004

Exploring access to cancer control services for Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities in Southern California.

During the last 25 years, numerous studies have been conducted to promote breast cancer and cervical cancer screening. Most of these studies focused on individual-level factors predicting screening, but we are unaware of any that directly examined community and ecological influences. The goal of this project, Promoting Access to Health for Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian Women (PATH for Women), was to increase community capacity for breast and cervical cancer screening and follow up in Los Angeles and Orange counties. We focused on Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander women because, although they have the lowest rates for cancer, compared to all other ethnic groups, relatively few programs have specifically targeted Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women to promote and sustain screening practices. The PATH for Women project involved a partnership between 5 community-based organizations and 2 universities, and included 7 Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities: Cambodians, Chamorros, Laotians, Thais, Tongans, Samoans, and Vietnamese. In this paper, we share our experiences in developing a Geographic Information System (GIS)-mapping evaluation component that was used to explore availability and accessibility to culturally responsive breast and cervical cancer screening services for Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander women in all 7 communities. We describe the methods used to develop the maps, and present the preliminary findings that demonstrate significant geographic and language barriers to accessing healthcare providers, services for breast and cervical cancer screening, and follow up, in each of the communities. Finally, we discuss implications for programs designed to promote breast and cervical screening and policy education.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Cultural competence and language interpreter services in Minnesota: results of a needs assessment survey administered to physician members of the Minnesota Medical Association.

Physicians in Minnesota are seeing an increasing number of immigrants in their practices, some of whom have limited English proficiency. Because of the growing diversity of the patient population, health care providers are becoming more aware of the importance of cultural competency and effective cross-cultural communication. This article reports on the results of a survey administered to members of the Minnesota Medical Association that queried physicians about their knowledge of and access to language interpreter services, and their perceptions about barriers to cross-cultural communication.

Cultural Diversity↗
PubMed2004

A community study of language concordance in Russian patients with diabetes.

PURPOSE: Unique challenges exist in the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate health care to ethnically diverse populations. The purpose of this study was to improve the metabolic control of Russian patients with diabetes through increased attention to language and cultural concordance between the provider and patient. PROCEDURES: This is a retrospective cohort study of 55 Russian immigrant type 2 patients with diabetes to assess levels of glycemic, lipid, and blood pressure control before and after the arrival of a bilingual Russian internist trained in both the United States and Russia. Paired t test was used to compare these parameters before and after the bilingual Russian provider joined our practice. FINDINGS: Overall, the mean low density lipoprotein (LDL) level decreased by 20% from 126 mg/dL to 102 mg/dL (P=.0002) respectively before and after the Russian provider began treating these patients. Mean hemoglobin A1c decreased from 8.4% to 8.0% (P=.007), and diastolic blood pressure was reduced from 82.7 mm Hg to 76.3 mm Hg (P=.0002). Systolic blood pressure also improved from 143.2 mm Hg to 140.6 mm Hg (P=.3). At the end of the study period more than 90% of the patients with diabetes were appropriately taking lipid-lowering medications and an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that it is important to facilitate the health care of ethnically diverse minority populations in a manner that attempts to maximize language and cultural concordance. These potential benefits will assume an even greater importance with the expansive growth of ethnic minorities in the United States and their unique healthcare needs.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

The informed consent process in a cross-cultural setting: is the process achieving the intended result?

This report is based on the experiences of Navajo interpreters working in a diabetes clinical trial and describes the problems encountered in translating the standard research consent across cultural and linguistic barriers. The interpreters and a Navajo language consultant developed a translation of the standard consent form, maintaining the sequence of information and exactly translating English words and phrases. After four months of using the translated consent, the interpreters met with the language expert and a diabetes expert to review their experiences in presenting the translation in the initial phases of recruitment. Their experiences suggest that the consent process often leads to embarrassment, confusion, and misperceptions that promoted mistrust. The formal processes that have been mandated to protect human subjects may create barriers to research in cross-cultural settings and may discourage participation unless sufficient attention is given to ensuring that both translations and cross-cultural communications are effective.

Adult↗