Acceso usuarios
Gerald Eliniongoze Kimambo
Multilingual practices facilitate communication in multicultural settings, specifically in the linguistic landscape (LL) of tourism. Most linguistic research on tourism has focused on language hierarchies, often showing the predominance of English. This paper adds a new dimension to that perspective by demonstrating that languages do not compete but form a shared system of multimodal resources. Linguistic actors leverage these resources in the form of symbols, icons, and indices to express meaning. Thus, exploring how multimodal resources interact within the LL of tourism through a translanguaging lens is vital. This qualitative paper employs a multi-site case design, collecting photographic, field observation, and interview data from two tourist sites in Dar es Salaam, namely the National Museum and House of Culture and the Dar es Salaam Zoo. Thematic analysis reveals that signage at these sites commonly uses translation, accommodates linguistic diversity, uses graphical symbols and icons, provides cultural contextualisation, integrates technology, and incorporates idioms and scientific jargon. These findings highlight the importance of translanguaging practices in addressing the communication needs of tourists from various cultures and professions to improve their experience.
