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Credibility in Risk Communication: Oman’s Official Arabic COVID-19 Risk Communication and Its English Translation

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Language as a Social Determinant of Health

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting ((PTTI))

Abstract

Risk communication relies on credibility and trust. Communicators create credibility in their discourse by using a range of discursive strategies such as transparency, empathy, accepting uncertainty, and collaborating with credible sources. The chapter uses a corpus of 297 official statements and 23 press conferences issued by the Omani Covid-19 Supreme Committee over a period of 11 months from January 2020 to February 2021 and their official translations into English. All official statements in Arabic and English are analysed to identify the expressions that directly or indirectly build credibility, and in turn trust. The discussion is contextualized against the linguistic diversity of Oman, putting forward considerations regarding the trust-building strategy of bilingual communication for increased credibility and its effectiveness among foreign nationals who do not speak Arabic or English.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See details on the government website, available on: https://www.ncsi.gov.om/Pages/NCSI.aspx (accessed May 24, 2021).

  2. 2.

    These definitions are specific to the Omani context. In general terms, Glottolog classifies Baluchi and Swahili as fully fledged languages in their homelands, respectively Pakistan and Tanzania (among other African countries). For Jibbali, Shehri, Mihri, and Bathari, they are classified as either threatened or at risk. The same classification applies to Luwati, Kumzari, Harsusi, and Hobyot; no data is currently available on the status of Zadjali. Retrieved from https://glottolog.org/ (accessed May 24, 2021).

  3. 3.

    Data source available online: https://www.omaninfo.om/library/74/show/6143 (accessed May 24, 2021).

  4. 4.

    The Arabic version of the statement is available online: https://www.moh.gov.om/ar/media-center (accessed May 24, 2021).

  5. 5.

    The English version of the statement is available online: https://www.moh.gov.om/en/media-center (accessed May 24, 2021).

  6. 6.

    I am grateful to Mr Ayman Al-Oweisi and Ms Fatma Al-Ajmi, the two professional translators at the GCC. They provided me with all these details about Oman’s risk translation landscape.

  7. 7.

    Personal communication with the Omani Association for those with hard of hearing (March 15, 2021).

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Acknowledgement

This research project was kindly supported by Sultan Qaboos University Internal Grant IG/ART/ENGL/21/01. I express my gratitude to the awarding panel. I would also like to thank Federico Marco Federici, the editor, and Shaun Pickering, the proofreader, for their invaluable suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

    Abdul Gabbar Al-Sharafi

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  1. Abdul Gabbar Al-Sharafi
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Correspondence to Abdul Gabbar Al-Sharafi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Translation Studies, University College London, London, UK

    Federico Marco Federici

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Al-Sharafi, A.G. (2022). Credibility in Risk Communication: Oman’s Official Arabic COVID-19 Risk Communication and Its English Translation. In: Federici, F.M. (eds) Language as a Social Determinant of Health. Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87817-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87817-7_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-87816-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-87817-7

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