Interpreting sensitive Aboriginal cultural information: challenges presented by the ecology of multilingual interactions in tourism at Uluru

Presented by Dr Liz Ellis, Discipline of Linguistics, UNE

Wednesday 1 October 2014

12-1pm

UNE Education Building room 105

All Welcome

This paper reports on an ongoing project which explores the sociolinguistic challenges of multilingual language use in tourism services in a key Aboriginal-owned culturally significant site: Uluru in Central Australia. The project investigates the different modes of provision of foreign-language tour guiding, analysing how stakeholders conceptualise the cross-linguistic provision of full, accurate and culturally appropriate information for overseas visitors. It discusses the complexities of this multilingual situation from the perspective of ideologies about language, intercultural communication and the nature of cross-linguistic interaction. Data from interviews and tour guide commentaries is presented to clarify key issues, and implications for the development of tourism policy and the training and development of foreign language tour guides in this key cultural site are discussed.