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
التنوع اللغوي والتواصل بكوفيد١٩- في مملكة البحرين
Member of
Identifier
https://digitalrepository.uob.edu.bh/id/b01c9653-5d1d-4fcf-828a-dd31bf52a1d6