Document

Linguistic Diversity and Communication of COVID- 19 in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Linked Agent
Ahmed, Madani Othman , Thesis advisor
Date Issued
2023
Language
English
Extent
[1], 13, 79, [31] pages
Place of institution
Sakhir, Bahrain
Thesis Type
Thesis (Master)
Institution
UNIVERSITY OF BAHRAIN, College of Arts , Department of English Language and Literature
English Abstract
Abstract : This study aims to shed light on the Linguistic Landscape (LL) of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) safety signage in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It investigates the linguistic representation degree and multimodality degree of COVID-19 safety signs in public and private sectors in the Kingdom of Bahrain using Gomaa (2017) developed three-level classification system. Then, it compares the results with Bahraini residents’ feedback and expectations. Finally, the study compares between 20 posters of COVID-19 signs of public streets, restaurants, and hospitals in Bahrain on LL representation and multimodality level. The results reveal that in Bahrain, English is highly represented in the corpus and most Bahraini residents are aware of this fact. Arabic language comes second leaving Hindi in the third position. Arabic and English was the typical combination shown in the LL which the Bahraini residents are also aware of. Moreover, the results show that most signs are multimodal. Therefore, the survey reveals that most participants did not face any difficulty in understanding and reading COVID- 19 instructions. Moreover, the results of comparing COVID-19 signs of public streets, restaurants, and hospitals in Bahrain reveal some interesting findings. Arabic and English monolingual signs are used equally in public streets posters, whereas English’s preference over Arabic is noted in hospitals and restaurants. The only combination found in the corpus is the Arabic and English languages. Monolingual or bilingual signs are not preferred in restaurants, whereas the monolingual signs are more predominant in public streets. On the contrary, the bilingual instructions which are written in Arabic and English languages are dominant in hospitals. On the multimodal level, COVID-19 posters in streets, restaurants, and hospitals are considered multimodal. The study’s significance is represented in using the LL as a tool to measure how effective the communication is in such crucial global health crisis like COVID-19. Keywords: Linguistic Landscape, COVID-19, Monolingual Signs, Bilingual Signs, Multilingual Signs, Monomodal Signs, Multimodal Signs, MSA, BA
Note
title on cover :
التنوع اللغوي والتواصل بكوفيد١٩- في مملكة البحرين
Member of
Identifier
https://digitalrepository.uob.edu.bh/id/b01c9653-5d1d-4fcf-828a-dd31bf52a1d6