TPC-Journal-V5-Issue3

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 3 421 watched in which people were seen engaging in accidental and intentional behaviors, such as cracking an egg or popping a balloon. Results revealed that English speakers recalled the person responsible for the accidental events more frequently than did Japanese speakers. Conversely, no differences among language groups were found in memory recall for the intentional events. The authors explained these results in terms of language and culture. They stated that, on average, English speakers use agentive language (e.g., Fred broke the balloon) more often to describe accidental events than do Japanese speakers, who more commonly use non-agentive language (e.g., the balloon broke) to describe accidental events. Framed from a different perspective, the cultural paradigms of independence or fatalism embedded in the participants’ native languages likely contributed to the respective memory recall abilities of English and Japanese speakers. If culture and language are indeed interconnected, as the results of these studies suggest, it is plausible to infer that learning a second language would expose second-language learners to diverse cultural paradigms, and in turn facilitate multicultural counseling competency development (Ivers, Ivers, & Duffey, 2013). Ivers et al. (2013) postulated a connection among bilingualism, cognitive complexity and MCC. Specifically, they suggested that native English speakers learning a new language, who are accustomed to individualistically laced phrases in their native language, would likely be challenged to function in and make meaning of a fatalistically oriented language and culture. This level of struggle and cultural immersion likely would enhance the language learners’ cognitive complexities as well as their MCC (Ivers, 2012; Ivers et al., 2013). Although Ivers et al. (2013) linked bilingualism and MCC conceptually, empirical studies related to bilingualism and MCC are limited. Most counseling articles on bilingualism have examined the construct in terms of increasing access and quality of counseling services for non-English speaking clients (Guttfreund, 1990; Smith-Adcock, Daniels, Lee, Villalba, & Indelicato, 2006) or on training culturally competent, bilingual counselors (Fuertes, 2004; Trepal, Ivers, & Lopez, 2014). Fuertes (2004) asserted that “language and culture are inextricably tied” (p. 88). He also shared that effective bilingual counselors recognize this connection and are culturally aware and knowledgeable about the sociopolitical realities and cultural backgrounds of their clients. Few studies (Guttfreund, 1990; Ramos-Sánchez, 2007; Ramos-Sánchez, 2009; Ramos-Sánchez, Atkinson, & Fraga, 1999) have examined the effect of bilingualism on facets of MCC. Ramos- Sánchez (2007), for example, tested the effect of language switching and ethnicity on bilingual clients’ emotional self-disclosures. Trained observer ratings revealed that Caucasian counselors who engaged in language switching (i.e., speaking Spanish and English in session) elicited more emotional expression from their bilingual clients than did their monolingual counterparts. This result is similar to that of Guttfreund (1990), in which Spanish-English bilingual clients exhibited more emotional expressiveness when Spanish was spoken in the counseling session than when English was the primary form of communication in session. Other studies (Ramos-Sánchez, 2009; Ramos-Sánchez et al., 1999) have specifically examined the effects of language on client ratings of counselors’ cultural competence. Ramos-Sánchez (2009) analyzed the effects of counselor ethnicity and bilingualism on Mexican-American bilingual clients’ perceptions of counselors’ credibility and cultural competence. Although no significant differences between ethnicities and bilingual ability were uncovered, rank-order results revealed that clients perceived Caucasian bilingual counselors as more culturally competent than their monolingual counterparts. Ramos-Sánchez (2009) explained these results in terms of cultural