The Language Barrier in the Republic of South Africa: Is Google Translate a Help or Hinder?

Victoria-Ann Verkerk ()
Additional contact information
Victoria-Ann Verkerk: University of Pretoria

A chapter in Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2025, 2025, pp 225-235 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Although language and tourism are inseparable, language can also pose significant barriers within the industry. Machine translation (MT) (i.e., Google Translate) tools are critical for overcoming language barriers. Despite the considerable potential of MT, research on its application in global South countries remains limited. This study investigates whether MT, particularly through Google Translate, can help to bridge language barriers in South Africa or if it inadvertently contributes to the problem. The conceptual research method, along with case study and literature review methods, is employed to achieve the aim. The results highlight the language barriers tourists and locals encounter in South Africa, as well as the benefits and drawbacks associated with using Google Translate.

Keywords: Machine translation; Google translate; Language barriers; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-031-83705-0_19

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783031837050

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-83705-0_19

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().