Linguistic and Cultural Considerations for English–Spanish Short Message Risk Communication Best Practices in Guatemala and the United States

Abstract

This dissertation assesses short message emergency communication on government alert systems in Guatemala and the United States in tropical cyclone (TC) scenarios. First, it explores emergency communication in Guatemala to understand how the guidance for short emergency communication established by research literature—predominantly developed for the English language in the United States—were applied by organizations in Guatemala during TCs Eta and Iota in 2020 to find patterns in terms of timing and message content with the evolution of the cyclones. Through content analyses, samples of the original Spanish tweets and their English translations were analyzed with a primary focus on messages that direct the population to protect themselves.

Next, to expand considerations of culture and language in the alert text, insights were drawn from emergency communication and linguistics literature, particularly speech act theory. As a result, more targeted content analysis was designed and conducted. This analysis focused on the cultural and linguistic characteristics embedded in best practices, such as imperativeness, urgency, and trust. Government short emergency communication messages in the form of tweets and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) for mobile devices were analyzed and compared across the sequential TCs Eta and Iota in Guatemala (2020) and TC Helene (2024). Findings demonstrate that few tweets from Guatemala’s emergency agencies were interpreted by Spanish- and English-speaking reviewers as providing storm-specific protective guidance; fewer still adhered to best practices. Regarding the comparison of alerts in Spanish and English, variations were found in the imperative strength of the directives, as well as in the combination and absence of verbs across languages, delivery channels, and storm phases. A balanced and consistent mix of action and mental verbs was observed in Spanish and on Twitter, whereas in the U.S., WEA alerts primarily featured verbs calling for physical action. Furthermore, various politeness strategies were identified in Twitter messages to either strengthen or soften the imperativeness of directives, with notable differences between Spanish and English. The analyzed WEA format employed a more straightforward communication style, aligning with the best practices of risk communication literature.

Insights from this dissertation could be used to expand the best practices for organizations' short emergency communication messages by providing more nuance on the influence of imperativeness and politeness strategies on directive language, tone, and message structure, particularly in social media contexts. More detailed and specific guidance could be developed on the multiple factors involved in writing directive messages to protect the population. Enhancing best practices in a multicultural world with diverse languages and increasing international migration is crucial for saving lives. Insights from this dissertation could enhance protections for limited-English-proficient communities in the United States and inform the development of standardized systems to safeguard populations in Guatemala and in countries with similar linguistic and cultural contexts. This dissertation advances the development of language and culture considerations for risk communication by decentering knowledge production and focusing on Guatemala, one of the countries most frequently and intensely impacted by disasters worldwide, but which has received limited attention in the research literature on disaster resilience and emergency response.