Tourists' English Expectations: Discourse Analysis of Attitudes Towards Language and Culture on Travel Websites
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Tourists' English Expectations: Discourse Analysis of Attitudes towards Language and Culture on Travel Websites Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Traiger, Cheryl B. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 27/09/2021 06:28:47 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194974 TOURISTS’ ENGLISH EXPECTATIONS: DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE AND CULTURE ON TRAVEL WEBSITES by Cheryl B. Traiger _____________________ Copyright © Cheryl B. Traiger 2008 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the GRADUATE INTERDISCIPLINARY DOCTORAL PROGRAM IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND TEACHING In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2008 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Cheryl Traiger entitled “Tourists’ English Expectations: Discourse Analysis of Attitudes towards Language and Culture on Travel Websites” and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _________________________________________________Date: 5/07/08 Linda Waugh _________________________________________________Date: 5/07/08 Grace Fielder _________________________________________________Date: 5/07/08 Jun Liu _________________________________________________Date: 5/07/08 Richard Ruiz Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. __________________________________________________Date: 5/07/08 Dissertation Director: Linda Waugh 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: __________________________ Cheryl B. Traiger 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people to thank for helping me in all sorts of ways. Of course, primary thanks goes to Dr. Linda Waugh, my Dissertation Director, mentor and friend, whose intellect, uncanny insights into academic life, and obvious love for her work and enthusiastic support for her students serves as a continuing inspiration. Thanks also go to the rest of my committee members: Dr. Grace Fielder, my friend whose valuable contributions and energy never waned, and whose taste for holding discussions over great food made reviews of my writing such a pleasure; Dr. Jun Liu, an extraordinary professor, supervisor, scholar and visionary who proves that academics can also be incredible managers; and Dr. Richard Ruiz, who introduced me to the field of language planning and gave me insight into how these topics can be reflected internationally. To Dr. Susan Penfield, who gave me much encouragement during my comprehensive exams and much-needed perspective for the most critical times of writing my dissertation. To my friend, Linda LeClair, who went far beyond the call of friendship when she repeatedly donated her considerable editing talents. Her expressions of enthusiasm for my topic kept reminding me why I was so excited about this, and made the slog much easier. And to Jim MacVean, who put up with all of this. To all the incredibly talented members of the Identity and Ideology discussion group who listened, advised and commiserated. To my parents, Aaron and Joyce Traiger, whose never-ending support and encouragement meant that they ended up with a doctor to go with my two lawyer siblings. To Jason Cureton, Amanda Vossler Cureton, Jeff Cureton, Jacqueline Hendy Cureton, Fran, Don and Elyse Poor and Warren, Diane and Larry Traiger, who offered me support, and gave very helpful non-academic perspectives on travel. To Coconut Tree Divers in Roatan, Honduras – a living “English as a lingua franca ” scuba diving shop – whose expertise is what started me thinking about English and tourism. To our various foster dogs from Southern Arizona Beagle Rescue – Duke, Annie, Raja and Sadie – who kept me company by sleeping for endless hours under my computer desk, and who also kept my feet warm. Ahrooo! 5 DEDICATION To my summer fling, best friend and partner, Burt Cureton, who would be absolutely mortified if I wrote about how really important he is to me and gave any details about all of the ways in which he was critical to my completing my degree. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………….... 7 1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………... 9 2. METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………….. 13 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK/LITERATURE REVIEW…………….…….. 18 4. DATA ANALYSIS - LOCAL LANGUAGES……….………………….………. 45 5. DATA ANALYSIS - POOR ENGLISH PROFICIENCY…………….…..…… 98 6. DATA ANALYSIS - ENVIRONMENTAL BUBBLE...….……………….……. 139 7. DATA ANALYSIS - IN-GROUP/OUT-GROUP AND RELATIVE POWER... 200 8. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………..…. 235 APPENDIX A - BEIJING DATA SAMPLES….…….…………………………...……. 251 APPENDIX B - HONG KONG DATA SAMPLES…………….………………...……. 260 APPENDIX C - MADRID DATA SAMPLES…………….……………………………. 269 APPENDIX D - PARIS DATA SAMPLES……………….………………….………… 275 APPENDIX E - PHUKET DATA SAMPLES……………………….…………………. 282 APPENDIX F - PUNTA CANA DATA SAMPLES………………………….….…..… 292 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………. 304 7 ABSTRACT While the importance of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in business and the media is well-studied, little attention has been paid to ELF in tourism. This study analyzes postings on websites such as TripAdvisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com/ ), which feature non-professional reviews of international travel destinations and services, in order to evaluate the effects of cultural capital, stereotypes and relative power on: expectations of English availability in non-English speaking countries, evaluation of the language spoken by EFL speakers (e.g. hotel clerks, shop owners), and attitudes towards speaking the local language. This study explores the issue of speech accommodation between the tourists and the local hospitality industry workers and other residents (Giles, Taylor, and Bourhis, 1973; Giles, Coupland, and Coupland, 1991; Giles and Powesland, 1997) and the likely factors leading to convergence/divergence as indicated by attitudes towards language choices. Website excerpts will show the circumstances in which travelers expect the locals (who deal with tourists) to speak English as well as how much of the local language the travelers are willing to learn and use. Findings indicate that the tourists’ willingness to take responsibility for linguistic accommodation, tolerance for restricted English proficiency levels, and attitudes 8 towards being exposed to the local culture and language differ according to the presumed cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986, 1991; Hanks, 2005) – often governed by stereotypes – and relative power of the interlocutors, the visited location and the local language. The role of ELF in the tourism sector and attitudes toward the local residents and language(s) are highly relativized, such that the specificity of the local context must be taken into account. Proficiency in the English language itself is, in some locations, the source of presumed higher status and symbolic of luxury. The second important dynamic demonstrated to affect the levels and type of language expectation is the degree to which the traveler desires interaction with and exposure to the local culture, or wants to stay with familiar experiences in an “environmental bubble” (Cohen and Cooper, 1986). The differences in expectation of ELF demonstrate that traveler attitudes towards specific locations are key to determining linguistic needs. 9 1. INTRODUCTION In my personal experience of international travel, for both short-term vacations and longer-term employment, I observed many interactions in which fellow English speakers (both native and non-native) demonstrated expectations of widespread proficiency in their native language. Overheard complaints from fellow travelers about the low English proficiency of hotel staff in non-English speaking countries were common. Tourists with a wide variety of first languages used English as a lingua franca to communicate with each other, and English language availability was, and is, mentioned frequently in hospitality industry advertising. Native English speakers planning trips to foreign destinations fretted about the possibility of “language barriers,” and often stated that they chose a particular destination due to the availability of their native language. Although these personal experiences with language expectations are anecdotal, the generalized English demands they reflect, if true, would have significant effects on the local tourism destinations The status