Article Sidebar
Published:
Oct 19, 2015Keywords:
Article Details
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Main Article Content
Language Practices in Radio Programs on HIV/AIDS: A Call for Culturally-Sanctioned Ways of Communication
Abstract
Mozambique is one of the African countries hardest hit by the HIV epidemic, with 2010 data showing a prevalence rate of 11.5% among adults (Instituto Nacional de Saúde (INS), Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE) and ICF Macro 2010). The effect of the pandemic on the country’s human development and related economic growth is potentially devastating as HIV and AIDS are most prevalent in adults in their productive prime. Through specialised programs, the media have been playing a key role in education initiatives aiming at reducing the infection rate in the country. Amongst other things, these programs have revealed a number of linguistic and sociolinguistic patterns which are worth being investigated. Considering HIV/AIDS radio programs broadcast in Changana, I show how Changana speakers have been developing their language as well as reinventing their discourses in order to respond to these new context-specific communicative demands. In this paper, I consider some of the communication strategies used, including the coinage of terminology and the engineering of socially appropriate ways of talking about sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases in public spaces.
Keywords: Changana, Communication Strategies, Cultural Practices, HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention, Mozambique, Sexuality
