Language Influence on Professional Mobility Along the Kenya-Uganda Highway
摘要
Mobility process is mediated through language, yet related analysis is scarce. We focus on the Kenya-Uganda highway, where individuals are confronted with various levels of choices, taking responsibility for outcomes of choices made, unsure of what one believes in, open to influence and manipulation from others among other conditions. What role does language play in the mobility process along the Kenya-Uganda highway, and how does language influence professional mobility and how does it structure such roles in interactions among individuals during mobility along the Kenya-Uganda highway? Using face-to-face interviews, observation, and in-depth interviews, targeting specific sites along the highway, namely, Bukembe, Kanduyi and Bungoma town, data on various reflective perspectives on mobility was elicited. Participants were randomly selected from stratified domains of the hospitality industry, transport, trade, and health, with a conscience effort to balance the gender. Case study informants were carefully selected purposively as subset of the available number of participants, for mobility and identity experience narratives. Language functions include but not limited to forming of identities which are relationally constructed through self and/or others, shaping individual’s aspirations, and serving as a pathway to successes and benefits in mobility.