ABSTRACT

This chapter argues for a rhetorically engaged approach to studying transcultural health care, particularly in multilingual spaces. It also argues that translingual approaches to rhetorical research within settings where English is not the dominant language is crucial for researching discourses of health and medicine. Translingual rhetoric functions as a part of translation work in health care, but it is a bit more complex in the ways that users adjust their own usage of language and support each other to develop rhetorical adaptability for future translingual interactions. The chapter examines ways that a methodology of rhetorical engagement, and specifically translingual rhetorical engagement, enhanced the assemblage and performances of health practices during the program. Jeffrey Grabill's notion of supporting performances can allow researchers to see the supportive work that is needed to communicate in transcultural health spaces, and it promotes a collaborative approach to health care practices that draws from all of the collective resources of a multicultural team.