TOWARDS LANGUAGE OF CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND DIALOGUE IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION DISCOURSE: A CASE OF MULANJE MOUNTAIN BIODIVERSITY PROGRAMME

Abstract

This study examines the language used in the discourse of environmental conservation in Mulanje Mountain Biodiversity programme in Mulanje district. This is premised on the assumption that environmental communication is technical in nature and is carried out within the domain of local discourse in which the language of engagement is the local communities’ everyday language. In Mulanje the value attached to the conservation of Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve is viewed differently by environmentalists and the local communities which has resulted in friction between the two parties. This has been compounded by miscommunication which is a result of differences in lexical resources used by the two stakeholders. The study used qualitative approach. The study sample was selected using purposive sampling and accidental random sampling techniques. The study also analysed the documents used in environmental communication in order to evaluate the use of language in the environmental conservation process. The study found out that although the documents are presented in Chichewa, there are differences in the conceptualization of some lexical resources by the local communities and environmentalists. This is due to the differentiated social contexts from which the two stakeholders are operating. The study also revealed a variegated stylistic construction of citizen participation and linguistic representation of conservation activities. The study therefore suggests that when framing the messages, language must be reprocessed to meet the expectations of the local communities, who are the end-users, and must be contextually appropriate to the context of situation in which the discourse is taking place.