Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 1

Socio-cultural Implications
of IT
Language issues and cultural
appropriateness
H. Mongi
The School of Informatics
University of Dodoma
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 2
Outline
Introduction
Cultural appropriateness
Language as the medium of
communication
Languages of the internet
Language barriers in IT
Language enabling technologies
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 3
Introduction
Language is the major medium of
communication around the globe.
However, there are a lot of cultural diverse
(multi-cultural environment) around the
world connected to the use of languages on
the internet.
As millions and millions of webs pages are
added everyday, cultural appropriateness of
these materials is becoming more of a
concern.
Cultural appropriateness sensitivity is
therefore called for all web users.
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 4
Cultural appropriateness
Sensitivity to other cultures refers to the
awareness of how other ethnic, racial,
and/or linguistic groups differ from one's
own.
Sensitivity can be manifested through:
Knowledge of different languages or
Manners of speech, norms, and mores;
religious beliefs and practices; family
structures and dynamics; community
decision-making patterns and class
consciousness; and socioeconomic
realities.
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 5
Cultural appropriateness2
Cultural appropriateness puts this sensitivity
in action through the tailoring of public
interventions to specific cultures or
subcultures.
Cultural appropriateness is often manifested
through attention to the literacy needs of a
population.
Communication messages aimed at
immigrant or minority communities will often
specify the audience's ethnicity in an
attempt to render the communication more
interesting, attractive, and acceptable to
the audience
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 6
Cultural appropriateness3
Multi-cultural environment: World
Migrants (emigrants, immigrants)
Races (Black, White, Latino, Indians etc)
Religion (Christian, Moslems, Budas, etc)
Political differences
Multi-cultural environment: Tanzania
Immigrants
Ethnicity
Religion
Races
Political differences
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 7
Language as medium for communication
Language is the common medium of
communication across societies.
Language is one of the cultural
components.
Written and spoken languages mark the
central communication medium in the
Internet.
However, other forms of linguistic
communication eg use of body language
is becoming important assistive
technology for people with disabilities.
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 8
Language in the internet
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 9
Language in the internet2
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 10
Language in the internet3
Like wisely, the proportion of Tanzanians who
know English and have access to internet is
significantly small.
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 11
Language in the internet4
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 12
Language in the internet5
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 13
Language barriers in IT
According to research by Fadhul Wahid
of Indonesia revealed the following
[IJISDC, (2007), 32,6, 18]
Low proficiency of English Language
was a barrier number 2 to internet
accessibility after cost of the service
[Indonesia]
In Tanzania, the majority of internet users
are English speakers. Therefore, their
internet access is limited to English
language materials.
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 14
Language barriers in IT
Dialectic nature of some languages:
for example the same spoken words but
different written words and vice versa
Fast growing languages not widely
spoken: Statistics indicate that Chinese
and Arabic languages are growing fast in
the Internet. This may be both an
opportunity for diversification and barrier
among non-speakers of these languages
Socio-Cultural Implications of IT 15
Enabling technologies
Web 2.0 Collaborative software
development
Translating some content into different
languages
Multi-lingual enhanced websites: user
can choose language he/she prefer
Software that automatically translates
information into other languages. eg
google swahili.
Applications supporting other languages
eg Linux based Ubuntu project at UDSM.