{"title":"Language Styles of Automotive Mechanics in Selected Garages in Dar es Salaam","authors":"Devet Goodness","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2089719","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study investigates the language styles used by automotive mechanics in Dar es Salaam to communicate mechanical information. It is guided by conceptual metaphor theory and translanguaging. Data was obtained from interviews with 20 participants, observation, and social media, specifically Jamii Forums and Facebook. The findings of the study show that automotive mechanics employ a variety of strategies to communicate messages to their clients when giving instructions, advising, explaining mechanical processes, and recommending spare parts to them. These strategies include using loan words, translanguaging, and assigning the names of body parts and human actions to car parts and mechanical processes respectively. Other strategies include the metaphorical use of body parts and personification. The study shows that automotive mechanics use these strategies not only because of their incompetence in using English or Swahili to communicate technical issues but also as a matter of style.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"53 1","pages":"68 - 84"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Language Matters","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2089719","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract This study investigates the language styles used by automotive mechanics in Dar es Salaam to communicate mechanical information. It is guided by conceptual metaphor theory and translanguaging. Data was obtained from interviews with 20 participants, observation, and social media, specifically Jamii Forums and Facebook. The findings of the study show that automotive mechanics employ a variety of strategies to communicate messages to their clients when giving instructions, advising, explaining mechanical processes, and recommending spare parts to them. These strategies include using loan words, translanguaging, and assigning the names of body parts and human actions to car parts and mechanical processes respectively. Other strategies include the metaphorical use of body parts and personification. The study shows that automotive mechanics use these strategies not only because of their incompetence in using English or Swahili to communicate technical issues but also as a matter of style.
期刊介绍：
The purpose of Language Matters is to provide a journal of international standing with a unique African flavour focusing on multilingualism in Africa. Although the journal contributes to the language debate on all African languages, sub-Saharan Africa and issues related to multilingualism in the southern African context are the journal’s specific domains. The journal seeks to promote the dissemination of ideas, points of view, teaching strategies and research on different aspects of African languages, providing a forum for discussion on the whole spectrum of language usage and debate in Africa. The journal endorses a multidisciplinary approach to the study of language and welcomes contributions not only from sociolinguists, psycholinguists and the like, but also from educationalists, language practitioners, computer analysts, engineers or scholars with a genuine interest in and contribution to the study of language. All contributions are critically reviewed by at least two referees. Although the general focus remains on multilingualism and related issues, one of the three issues of Language Matters published each year is a special thematic edition on Language Politics in Africa. These special issues embrace a wide spectrum of language matters of current relevance in Southern Africa.
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