Browsing by Author "Viljoen, Zania"

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    The discursive construction of South African-based communication practitioners’ linguistic repertoires and their perceptions of culture
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Viljoen, Zania; Mongie, Lauren; Southwood, Frenette, 1971-; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : In South African companies, communication practitioners are typically assumed to have high levels of intercultural communicative competence as they are responsible for communicating with a range of multilingual and multicultural stakeholders such as employees, funders, and government departments. Given that one foundational aspect of such competence is cultural awareness of self and others (Deardorff, 2015: 141) this study investigated the linguistic and cultural self-awareness of a multilingual team of communication practitioners in a South African public works company by analysing the way in which they discursively construct their linguistic and cultural repertoires. Eight communication practitioners from what was deemed a typical marketing and communication team participated in this study. The study followed a qualitative, multimodal approach, in which data was collected using (i) an electronic background questionnaire that focussed on the participants’ linguistic repertoires and levels of proficiency; and (ii) an in-person Language and Culture workshop that included two art-based research activities, namely language portraits and culture sketches. These activities were followed by (iii) semi-structured group discussions and (iv) individual follow-up interviews, both of which were audio-recorded and transcribed. These transcriptions, along with the completed language portraits and culture sketches, were analysed making use of Braun and Clarke’s (2012) Thematic Analysis and Gee’s (2011) Discourse Analysis. Nine main themes were identified. In terms of the discursive construction of linguistic repertoires, these themes were (i) “Language serves as a marker of group identity”; (ii) “Languages are tools that unlock connections”; (iii) “Languages are associated with geographically located communities”; and (iv) “English serves as a bridge, a business basic, and a badge”. Themes relating to the discursive construction of culture were, (v) “Participants’ understanding of the concept ‘culture’”; (vi) “Participants recognise the dynamic nature of culture”; and (vii) “Mixing cultures could lead to a sense of culture-loss”. Themes relating to the perceived link between language and culture were: (viii) “Language is an essential component of culture”; and (ix) “Languages unlock cultural knowledge and enable connection”. The findings of this study are that communication practitioners regard their linguistic resources as both markers of their cultural identities and as communication and relational tools that enable them to connect with people from other cultural groups and gain insight into other cultures. Further, the study found that communication practitioners described culture as a dynamic set of elements and characteristics that are rooted in shared norms regarding behaviour and worldviews, and that they linked both language and culture to geographically bound communities. These findings have various implications for our understanding of how communication practitioners prepare communication products for their culturally diverse target audiences. One practical recommendation that stemmed from the findings of this study is that communication practitioners can benefit from training that is focussed on intercultural awareness as they largely seem to work under the assumption that their communication strategies are appropriate for multicultural audiences if they abide by the Company’s selected lingua franca, English, and translate pertinent technical communication for those with limited English proficiency.