{"title":"Examining Language Accessibility in the Linguistic Landscape of Tanzania: The Case of Labels on Pre-packaged Foods and Beverages","authors":"P. Mdukula","doi":"10.56279/jk.v85i1.9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This study examined the language accessibility on labels of commercially produced pre-packaged foods and beverages in Tanzania, targeting local consumers, and its implication on information access. Being guided by Backhaus (2005) and Spolsky (2004) Sociolinguistic Framework, the study extends the scenery of research in the field of linguistic landscape (LL) that places the presumed reader(s) as key actors in analysing LL. The study analysed 129 photographic data (semiotic resources) from labels of pre-packaged foods and beverages collected randomly from six shopping locations in Dar es Salaam. It also interviewed 25 respondents. Findings revealed that two main languages, English and Kiswahili were observed on the studied pre-packaged food and beverage labels. However, it is English and not Kiswahili (the official and national language) which is mostly represented on labels of commercially produced pre-packaged foods and beverages in Tanzania. The majority of local consumers who are not proficient in the most preferred language on labels were reported to have difficulties in reading and understanding the information written on labels a situation that hinders their access to the information contained on labels.","PeriodicalId":411809,"journal":{"name":"Jarida la Kiswahili","volume":"63 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Jarida la Kiswahili","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.56279/jk.v85i1.9","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study examined the language accessibility on labels of commercially produced pre-packaged foods and beverages in Tanzania, targeting local consumers, and its implication on information access. Being guided by Backhaus (2005) and Spolsky (2004) Sociolinguistic Framework, the study extends the scenery of research in the field of linguistic landscape (LL) that places the presumed reader(s) as key actors in analysing LL. The study analysed 129 photographic data (semiotic resources) from labels of pre-packaged foods and beverages collected randomly from six shopping locations in Dar es Salaam. It also interviewed 25 respondents. Findings revealed that two main languages, English and Kiswahili were observed on the studied pre-packaged food and beverage labels. However, it is English and not Kiswahili (the official and national language) which is mostly represented on labels of commercially produced pre-packaged foods and beverages in Tanzania. The majority of local consumers who are not proficient in the most preferred language on labels were reported to have difficulties in reading and understanding the information written on labels a situation that hinders their access to the information contained on labels.
本研究调查了坦桑尼亚针对当地消费者的商业生产的预包装食品和饮料标签上的语言可及性及其对信息可及性的影响。在Backhaus(2005)和Spolsky(2004)《社会语言学框架》(social linguistic Framework)的指导下,本研究扩展了语言景观(linguistic landscape, LL)领域的研究视野,将假定读者作为分析LL的关键角色。该研究分析了从达累斯萨拉姆的六个购物地点随机收集的预包装食品和饮料标签上的129个图片数据(符号资源)。它还采访了25名受访者。调查结果显示,在研究的预包装食品和饮料标签上观察到两种主要语言,英语和斯瓦希里语。然而,在坦桑尼亚,商业生产的预包装食品和饮料的标签上主要是英语,而不是斯瓦希里语(官方和国家语言)。据报告,大多数不精通标签上最受欢迎语言的本地消费者在阅读和理解标签上的信息方面有困难,这妨碍了他们获取标签上所载的信息。