Abstract:
In many cities in the Philippines, the use of one local language in news broadcasting may be influenced by the monolithic view that a city must have one linguistic identity; otherwise, it is not “unique” from other cities. Such seems to be the case for the use of Chabacano in local news broadcasting in Zamboanga City. Initial observations of news broadcasts in radio, television, and social media revealed that even when news broadcasters belabor to use Chabacano “only” as best as they can to legitimize their value in the city’s news industry, they inevitably use features from other languages in the city. This prompted the present study to examine the use of languages in selected news broadcasts of one of the city’s popular news outfits. From the findings, the study proffers the use of translanguaging as necessary for the multilingual news consumers’ understanding of the news broadcasts, as well as it helps make news broadcasting in a multilingual city more efficient and more accessible, thus engendering translanguaging as a means to empower and promote linguistic equity in public spaces such as the mass media. Subsequently, this study advocates for translanguaging as an inevitable and necessary practice in today’s multilingual world.

Name of Journal or Publication:
Springer Nature, Singapore

Volume/Issue No.:
No Available Volume or Issue No.