Wa as An Alternative Language Regime at a China’s Border Hospital

Language at workplace can constitute a site of empowerment and reproduction of inequality (Kaft & Flubacher, 2023). Many previous studies show that different language regimes may emerge and subsequently replace or reinforce the dominant language due to the changing market conditions, economic and political development as well as the shifting profile of medical consumers (Muth, 2018; Muth & Suryanarayan, 2020). Situated at a China’s border hospital where ethnic Wa people from China and from Myanmar constitute a great majority of patients, this study examines how speaking Wa language is managed as a linguistic resource for ‘languaged’ medical staff. The multiple ethnographic data were collected in September 2024 from semi-structured interviews with Wa medical staff, hospital signages, participant observation and field notes. Findings indicate that speaking Wa language facilitates the medical access of Wa people, particularly those who are lack of Mandarin proficiency, and speaking Wa also nurtures the heuristic approach for doctor-patient communication between modern medical science and indigenous practices. However, findings also show that medical staff of Wa-speaking background suffer from the differential exposure of vulnerability given that their multilingual repertoires may end up being exploited and banalized by the segmented labor division and other forms of disadvantages. This study aims to investigate the current usage status and institutional support of the Wa language at a border hospital, provide insights into the evolving language systems within multilingual medical environments, and offer theoretical and practical references for constructing a multilingual medical governance system that aligns with the actual conditions of border areas and facilitates cross-border collaboration.