Thread: AZ-Language issue emerges in Liberian rape case

Language issue emerges in Liberian rape case
Linguists speculate about English differences
by Jahna Berry - Aug. 13, 2009 12:00 AM

The Liberian 8-year-old refugee speaks English. The four Liberian boys accused of brutally raping her speak English. And the victim's father speaks English.

Yet since the July 16 incident at a Phoenix apartment complex, the interaction among police officers, child-welfare officers and the refugee community has shown how complex language can be, even when everyone speaks the same tongue.

The police inquiry into the assault, which drew international attention, suggests that not everyone tied to the case may have clearly understood what was being said during the investigation, linguists and Liberian leaders say.
Throughout the investigation, Phoenix police, who routinely interact with Spanish speakers, have maintained that the victim and the suspects speak and understand English as it is spoken in the United States.

"The conversation about culture and diversity is important, but it's not important to the facts of the case," said police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill, adding that the children attended Phoenix schools and had no problems comprehending investigators. "The facts of the case are that a girl was brutally raped and held against her will."

Yet some say a series of incidents raises questions.

After the girl received a five-hour medical examination following the attack, the father asked a hospital worker about her condition.

"I asked her twice: 'Anything wrong with her? Anything took place?' " he told an Arizona Republic reporter in an interview. "She said, 'No, nothing happened to her.' " That led him to believe that his daughter had not been attacked, he said.

The exchange that has attracted the most attention in the case, that the girl's father disowned her in front of authorities after the attack, also has been clouded by miscommunication, advocates for the family say.

Police say that the victim's father made the comment in front of several witnesses and that people often later retract statements made in front of officers.

The girl and the four boys, ages 9 to 14, were born in Liberia, where English is the official language. But experts and Liberian community leaders say Liberian English is different from the English spoken in the United States. And many Liberians also speak one of an estimated 20 African languages at home.

"We have Liberian English. It's very different," Deputy Ambassador Edwin Sele said during a recent visit to Phoenix, where he met with police, Child Protective Services, local politicians and local Liberian leaders. "That's very important because it's possible that there was a problem of communication."


Teen indicted

Steven Tuopeh, 14, has been indicted as an adult on sexual-assault charges in the case. Prosecutors also seek to charge another boy, a 13-year-old, as an adult. The youngest boys, 9 and 10, are scheduled to have mental-competency hearings on Tuesday.

It's unclear whether language will play a factor in the legal case against the boys.

In Tuopeh's recent arraignment, where a not-guilty plea was entered, he answered questions in English. But a court-appointed interpreter stood at his side, translating the proceedings into a dialect called Liberian English. Liberian English includes many shades of the language, an expert said.

"There is a whole range of varieties of English spoken in Liberia," said John Singler, a New York University professor who is a linguist and an expert on Liberian English.

That leaves room for confusion, Singler said, but he is unsure if those nuances would crop up in young children who have lived in the U.S. for a few years, as the children in the case have.

"Basically, given the situation, including the frightening aspects of it, it increases the likelihood of things not going right in terms of communication," Singler said during a phone interview from Ghana, where he was teaching a course.

Although the language is called English in both countries, he said, there are many subtle differences in meaning that come up with some yes-or-no questions.

For example, in the U.S., if someone said, "Don't you want me to do that?" someone could answer, "No, I don't want you to do that." In Liberia, they would say, "Yes, I don't want you to do it."


Cultural miscues

Even if the children speak English well, that doesn't mean they fully understand what's going on, Liberia expert Augustine Konneh said.

Even refugees who have been in the country for years would find it difficult to sort through something as complicated as a police investigation, said Konneh, who has been following the case.

"In terms of the interrogation that is going on, the level of understanding of those kids will be so low that they will not understand what you ask them and how to respond," said Konneh, a native of Liberia who teaches at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga.

Police arrested the boys July 21. Investigators explained their rights and asked if the boys wanted a parent or legal guardian present. They said no.

Since then, some community members and legal observers have questioned whether the boys fully understood waiving those rights.


About Liberians

Although some refugees come from large cities, other Liberians experience urban life for the first time on U.S. soil, said Konneh, adding that it is estimated that as many as three-quarters of Liberians are illiterate.

Like refugees who come to the U.S. from other war-torn nations, many Liberians are intelligent, hardworking people, but they often must learn basic skills, such as how to use banks and how to navigate cultural differences, he said.

Nearly 1,200 Liberians fleeing the civil war, which ended in 2003, and its aftermath have settled in Arizona, according to the Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program.

Liberia gained independence in 1847 and was established by freed African-American slaves.

But most of the country's estimated 3.4 million people are indigenous Africans who belong to several ethnic groups, which speak different languages.

"Many times, because Liberia was founded by African-Americans who were returning home, so people have this thinking that we have this exposure to America," Konneh said. "And then, when you come to America, the systems are so different."



http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoe ... guage.html

Moving to other topic's , there is no mention of these people being illegal!