Academic Bibliography

 Search 200 years of publications by Ghent University researchers.
Advanced search
1 file | 1.89 MB
Add to list
  1. Search results
  2. Multilingualism and international tou...

Multilingualism and international tourism: a content- and discourse-based approach to language-related judgments in web 2.0 hotel reviews

Patrick Goethals (UGent)
(2016) LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION. 16(2). p.235-253
Author
Organization
Abstract
This corpus-based study examines whether and how German-, French- and Spanish-speaking tourists refer to language experiences when they write an online hotel review (specifically of hotels situated in Dutch-speaking Flanders, Belgium). We find that language is indeed an issue in hotel reviews, but to varying degrees according to the language group of the tourists. French and especially Spanish-speaking tourists refer far more frequently to language experiences, and in particular to the use of their mother tongue, than German-speaking tourists. According to the 'face model of language choice', this means that French- and Spanish-speaking tourists emphasize more explicitly their 'ethnolinguistic face' than German-speaking tourists. Also, the positive-negative polarity of the judgments differs, with Spanish-speaking tourists at the most positive pole, and French-speaking tourists at the most negative pole. Furthermore, the data also reveal that the use of the mother tongue of the tourist and the use of an international link language (by default, English) are functionally different options, and that the use of English even may lead to face-threatening situations. By comparing the data with staff-related judgments and hotel ratings, it is shown that language plays a specific and independent role in the hotel reviews.
Keywords
SATISFACTION, COMMUNICATION, PERCEPTIONS, ENGLISH, Language attitudes, tourism studies, multilingual communication, 2.0 hotel reviews, language policy

Downloads

  • Download
    (...).pdf
    • full text
    • |
    • UGent only
    • |
    • PDF
    • |
    • 1.89 MB

Citation

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:

MLA
Goethals, Patrick. “Multilingualism and International Tourism: A Content- and Discourse-Based Approach to Language-Related Judgments in Web 2.0 Hotel Reviews.” LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION, vol. 16, no. 2, 2016, pp. 235–53, doi:10.1080/14708477.2015.1103249.
APA
Goethals, P. (2016). Multilingualism and international tourism: a content- and discourse-based approach to language-related judgments in web 2.0 hotel reviews. LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION, 16(2), 235–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2015.1103249
Chicago author-date
Goethals, Patrick. 2016. “Multilingualism and International Tourism: A Content- and Discourse-Based Approach to Language-Related Judgments in Web 2.0 Hotel Reviews.” LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION 16 (2): 235–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2015.1103249.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Goethals, Patrick. 2016. “Multilingualism and International Tourism: A Content- and Discourse-Based Approach to Language-Related Judgments in Web 2.0 Hotel Reviews.” LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION 16 (2): 235–253. doi:10.1080/14708477.2015.1103249.
Vancouver
1.
Goethals P. Multilingualism and international tourism: a content- and discourse-based approach to language-related judgments in web 2.0 hotel reviews. LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION. 2016;16(2):235–53.
IEEE
[1]
P. Goethals, “Multilingualism and international tourism: a content- and discourse-based approach to language-related judgments in web 2.0 hotel reviews,” LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 235–253, 2016.
@article{6989043,
  abstract     = {{This corpus-based study examines whether and how German-, French- and Spanish-speaking tourists refer to language experiences when they write an online hotel review (specifically of hotels situated in Dutch-speaking Flanders, Belgium). We find that language is indeed an issue in hotel reviews, but to varying degrees according to the language group of the tourists. French and especially Spanish-speaking tourists refer far more frequently to language experiences, and in particular to the use of their mother tongue, than German-speaking tourists. According to the 'face model of language choice', this means that French- and Spanish-speaking tourists emphasize more explicitly their 'ethnolinguistic face' than German-speaking tourists. Also, the positive-negative polarity of the judgments differs, with Spanish-speaking tourists at the most positive pole, and French-speaking tourists at the most negative pole. Furthermore, the data also reveal that the use of the mother tongue of the tourist and the use of an international link language (by default, English) are functionally different options, and that the use of English even may lead to face-threatening situations. By comparing the data with staff-related judgments and hotel ratings, it is shown that language plays a specific and independent role in the hotel reviews.}},
  author       = {{Goethals, Patrick}},
  issn         = {{1470-8477}},
  journal      = {{LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION}},
  keywords     = {{SATISFACTION,COMMUNICATION,PERCEPTIONS,ENGLISH,Language attitudes,tourism studies,multilingual communication,2.0 hotel reviews,language policy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{235--253}},
  title        = {{Multilingualism and international tourism: a content- and discourse-based approach to language-related judgments in web 2.0 hotel reviews}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2015.1103249}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}
Altmetric
View in Altmetric
Web of Science
Times cited: