The Role of Language Diversity in Climate Action Participation in Bayelsa State

Abstract

In the quest for sustainable development and climate resilience, the global community has recognized the urgency of collective action to address the challenges posed by climate change. The study examined the role of language diversity in climate action participation in Bayelsa State. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consist of all 167 staff in the communication studies department in the seven tertiary institutions in Bayelsa State. A census survey which involves the use of all the respondents in the population. The instrument for data collection was a “Language Diversity in Climate Action Participation Questionnaire (LDCAPQ)” developed by the researcher. The content and face validity of the instrument was done by communication experts. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach Alpha Formula and a coefficient value of 0.72 was obtained, which was considered appropriate for the study. The research question was answered using mean and standard deviation. The study revealed that the influence of linguistic diversity on communities' awareness of climate change in Bayelsa State was low. The study has affirmed that the extent to which different dialects in Bayelsa State convey climate-related information in Bayelsa State is low. Finally, the study identified speaking minority languages, limited access to government services and economic opportunities for individuals and ignorance are major potential barriers created by language-related exclusion in Bayelsa State. The study recommended that stakeholders should continuously develop and disseminate educational materials on climate change and sustainability in multiple local languages.

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