Clark Atlanta University College of Arts and Sciences Department of Public Administration Muhannad Alfawtawa [email protected] Employees don’t meet with language competency PAD 502: Organizational Theory and Behavior Master of Public Administration Program Dr.Rhonda L. Franklin Problem statement Communication barrier that results from varied language competency among employees in the public sector is a challenge to the effective discharge of duty by the employees. Background Attaining competency in whatever field that a worker is in is very important. There are a number of things that contribute toward this competency and all of these also contribute to the productivity of the worker. In multilingual societies, it may be important to understand the effect that language competency among public workers has on their levels of productivity. While a lot of literature is in the public domain as concerns language proficiency and how it affects the labor market dynamics there is a gap as far as the effects on productivity for public sector workers who do not meet the language competency levels that are needed for them to discharge their duties effectively. A greater focus of this study is intended to highlight the inadequacies that are experienced particular within the health care sectors where the providers have not attained the language competency levels necessary for them to discharge their duties effectively. According to Davila, Bohara, & Saenz (1993) accent that is directly related to language competency has remained a vital factor in determining the worker’s earnings. This has been particularly the case with the earning rate among American Mexicans. Since language competency affects worker productivity it is possible to note that decreased productivity will affect the worker earnings. In yet another study by Cooney & Ortiz (1983) English language proficiency is noted as a very important factor to successful integration into the work force particularly among the Hispanic females. Apparently at this point it can be inferred that employees who do not meet language competency levels as expected within the labour market are disadvantaged whereby apart from earning less because of limited productivity, some of them hardly make it into the labor market. While focusing on the service delivery within the health care sector Pillay (2011) asserts that among a collection of skills that were considered important in helping nurses to discharge their management role in the public health sector, language competency ranked highly. Since all other management roles rely on effective communication it was possible to determine lack of language competency was likely to adversely affect the nurses’ ability to take on a public management role. According to Barrera & Corso (2002) the areas of social work particularly in a society that is multicultural has its own challenges particularly for the social worker who must overcome the language barrier to.

1. Clark Atlanta University
College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Public Administration
Muhannad Alfawtawa
[email protected]
Employees don’t meet with language competency
PAD 502: Organizational Theory and Behavior
Master of Public Administration Program
Dr.Rhonda L. Franklin
Problem statement
Communication barrier that results from varied language
competency among employees in the public sector is a challenge
to the effective discharge of duty by the employees.
Background
Attaining competency in whatever field that a worker is in
is very important. There are a number of things that contribute
toward this competency and all of these also contribute to the
productivity of the worker. In multilingual societies, it may be

2. important to understand the effect that language competency
among public workers has on their levels of productivity. While
a lot of literature is in the public domain as concerns language
proficiency and how it affects the labor market dynamics there
is a gap as far as the effects on productivity for public sector
workers who do not meet the language competency levels that
are needed for them to discharge their duties effectively. A
greater focus of this study is intended to highlight the
inadequacies that are experienced particular within the health
care sectors where the providers have not attained the language
competency levels necessary for them to discharge their duties
effectively. According to Davila, Bohara, & Saenz (1993)
accent that is directly related to language competency has
remained a vital factor in determining the worker’s earnings.
This has been particularly the case with the earning rate among
American Mexicans. Since language competency affects worker
productivity it is possible to note that decreased productivity
will affect the worker earnings.
In yet another study by Cooney & Ortiz (1983) English
language proficiency is noted as a very important factor to
successful integration into the work force particularly among
the Hispanic females. Apparently at this point it can be inferred
that employees who do not meet language competency levels as
expected within the labour market are disadvantaged whereby
apart from earning less because of limited productivity, some of
them hardly make it into the labor market.
While focusing on the service delivery within the health care
sector Pillay (2011) asserts that among a collection of skills that
were considered important in helping nurses to discharge their
management role in the public health sector, language
competency ranked highly. Since all other management roles
rely on effective communication it was possible to determine
lack of language competency was likely to adversely affect the
nurses’ ability to take on a public management role.
According to Barrera & Corso (2002) the areas of social
work particularly in a society that is multicultural has its own

3. challenges particularly for the social worker who must
overcome the language barrier to communicate and effectively
discharge his or her duties. Most notable within such settings
there are challenges posed by cultural linguistic diversity
particularly for workers who don’t have the desired language
competency levels. As a result social workers with inadequate
language competency are likely to experience challenges when
they serve children and families from diverse cultural and
linguistic backgrounds.
Parthab Taylor, Nicolle & Maguire (2013) also affirm that
employees who don’t have language competency in the health
care sector are likely to encounter cross cultural communication
barriers that are detrimental to their productivity in the health
care sector. Whereas workers within this sector are expected to
be proactive in rendering their services, it is always impossible
to meet these levels of expectation particularly when the
workers are dealing with the poor and those who are limited in
language proficiency. Therefore this situation is made worse
where the health care provider’s language competency is
inadequate implying that the communication barrier will
adversely affect the discharge of services to such patients.
The role played by language competency as a skill among public
sector workers is very crucial. When considering the public
health care sector, so important is the need to accomplish this
competency that a number of tools have been developed to try
and address this issue.
Accordingly Davies & Milligan (2013) emphasize the
importance of using a language identification tool as revealed
during a study to achieve service improvement by overcoming
the communication barrier that affects service delivery. Since
communication barrier can be linked to lack of language
competency the introduction of a language identification tool
was intended to improve language competency of the health
worker thereby improving his or her service delivery.
The US has seen unprecedented levels of immigrant influx in
the last decade and as these immigrants finally settle some of

4. them eventually get absorbed into the human resource capital of
the economy. Since the field is very competitive, the employer
is always looking for a collection of skills that will ensure that
the employee is most productive. Since workplace
communication is mandatory the basics that these employers
look out for is what the employee brings into the organization.
Being able to adapt and work in a cross cultural environment is
considered as an important requirement. However in order for
one to effectively communicate in such an environment he or
she must demonstrate the desired language competency among
other skills.
The negative effect associated with employees who don’t
meet the language competency levels is thus a very serious
consideration particularly for those employees who find their
way into public sector. While amplifying the effects of such
incompetency particularly in the public health care sector
August, Nguyen, Ngo-Metzger & Sorkin (2011) opine that
language-related communication barriers between minority
patients and their physicians may contribute to racial and ethnic
disparities in mental health care. In this case language
competency appears to have a negative effect on the physician
as well as the patient. However the physician is likely to be
unproductive and ineffective if this communication barrier
remains in place. The fact the physician wants to discharge his
or her duty more effectively calls for the need to redefine his or
her language competency status.
Apparently the use of interpreters particularly within the
public sector to mitigate the effects of language barrier is not
only a costly affair but introduces a lot of inconsistencies.
Schenker, Smith, Arnold & Fernandez (2012) concur with this
fact and particularly when a social worker is handling critically
ill patients whose families speak little English.
Significance
Communication remains a very important aspect in any
administration process and particularly so within the public
sphere. As such there is a need to have a deeper understanding

5. of what effective communication entails and this involves the
use of an appropriate language. Language competency levels
therefore become very significant in ensuring that a public
administrator is able to effectively articulate his or her ideas
without being misunderstood. Since the audience can be of
varied background, competency is very critical to ensuring that
the public officer communicates effectively. To some extend
this study has revealed the importance of language competency
within various fields. While focusing on the public sector and
most particularly the health care sector, it is notable that
language competency is at the heart of service delivery within
this sector and the effects of low levels of competency
negatively affects the discharge of services within this sector.
Therefore basing on the findings from the research it is evident
that language competency is important particularly in the
public administration for effective service delivery.
Conclusion
Certainly there is a need for employees, especially in the
public sector to attain a desirable level of language competency
in order to remain effective in discharging their duties. Hence
employees who don’t meet the desirable language competency
levels will continue to face challenges in their work
environment and will be limited in discharging certain duties.
By establishing a relationship between the language
competency, communication barrier and public employee
productivity it becomes pertinent to discuss some of the ways to
address this concern. Therefore addressing the effects of the
communication barriers that arise from employees who don’t
meet the language competency levels is an important area of
study.

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