DOCSLIB.ORG

Multilingualism in the Linguistic Landscape Of

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Multilingualism in the Linguistic Landscape Of MULTILINGUALISM IN linguistic landscape within the Faculty of THE LINGUISTIC Arts. LANDSCAPE OF THE 1. Introduction FACULTY OF ARTS, CHULALONGKORN A growing area of investigation into UNIVERSITY, THAILAND multilingualism is what has been called “linguistic landscape”- or the analysis of 1 language in the public space (Huebner, Aroonrung Siricharoen 2006; Backhaus, 2007; Kasanga, 2012; Bruyel-Olmedo and Juan-Garau, 2015; Manan 2015). Landry and Bourhis (1997: Abstract 25) first coined the term “linguistic landscape” with the frequently quoted This paper is an examination of definition as “the language of public road multilingual signage in the Faculty of Arts, signs, advertising billboards, street names, Chulalongkorn University, where a place names, commercial shop signs, and number of language courses are offered public signs on government buildings and not only to the university community but how they combine to form the linguistic also to outsiders who are interested in landscape of a given territory, region or learning foreign languages. Special urban agglomeration”. attention is given to the distinction between signs made by the university and Initially Landry and Bourhis examined the those by students and outsiders. By linguistic landscape as related to youth’s focusing on the multilingual signs in contact with more than one language public space, the aim of the study is to (1997 cited in Dagenais et al., 2009). investigate the extent to which More recently, linguistic landscapes have multilingualism is promoted through the been examined in reference to the linguistic landscape in the common areas commodification of language for the of the Faculty of Arts. The study reveals purpose of tourism (Bruyel-Olmedo and that Thai-English bilingualism is Juan-Garau, 2015; Moriarity, 2015), the promoted within the Faculty of Arts. A few preservation of minority languages (Lou, language departments have made attempts 2010), the marginalization or maintenance to establish their language in the public of ethnic identity (Kasanga, 2012; Manan, space while some languages appeared 2015), and the hegemony of English only on outsiders’ signs. The paper (Huebner, 2006), to name a few of its contributes to our understanding of applications. Studies have also focused on linguistic landscape research by pedagogical applications of linguistic investigating the degree to which landscape. For example, Cenoz and Gorter multilingualism is promoted via the (2008) investigate the role of linguistic landscape as language input in second 1 language acquisition. They point out the MA student, English as an International potential use of linguistic landscape as a Language Program of Graduate School at source of input through the broad Chulalongkorn University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Chulalongkorn functions of English language on University. commercial signs. A similar point of view 5 Downloaded from Brill.com10/08/2021 06:30:54AM via free access Multilingualism in the Linguistic Landscape can be seen in one local small-scale A common thread in these studies is the research project in Mexico by Sayer recognition of the utility of the linguistic (2009) who suggests ways to use the landscape in creating a language learning linguistic landscape as a pedagogical environment. These and other studies resource for EFL teachers. In his study, illustrate how linguistic landscape can be English language on signs was analyzed used as a pedagogical tool to provide a for its social meaning. It can be said that learning opportunity to language learners linguistic landscape provides an any time they see languages on public opportunity for both language teachers and signs. In this paper, Chulalongkorn learners to study language in a different University (hereafter CU) is the subject of way outside classroom. this study, with the focus on the Faculty of Arts, where one can study a number of Dagenais et al.(2009) also claims that foreign languages including English, linguistic landscape serves as “a heuristic” French, German, Russian, Italian, Chinese, for language learning. In other words, one Japanese, and Malay. It can therefore be can learn language as one moves through hypothesized that multilingual signs will the linguistic landscape of one’s be abundant in the linguistic landscape of environment. They focus on young the Faculty of Arts, since it is viewed as children’s perception of multilingual and the main nexus for language instruction at multimodal signs in their communities. To the university. sum up, the study of linguistic landscape takes a variety of forms (Cenoz and In this paper, special attention is given to Gorter, 2008; Dagenais et al., 2009), the distinction between signs made by highlighting the potential use of linguistic various official University, Faculty and landscape as a pedagogical tool. Department authorities on the one hand and by students, and outsiders on the The place where children encounter other. The study aims to investigate to linguistic landscapes most frequently is the what extent the various institutional school. Therefore, some researchers pay authorities of the Faculty of Arts, attention to the linguistic landscape found especially the language departments, in the school. Dressler (2015) examines promote multilingualism in the common the promotion of bilingualism of the areas of the faculty. German bilingual program in one elementary school through the linguistic Research Questions landscape, using a nexus analysis. In the 1) What languages can be found in the Thai context, Draper (2010) investigates linguistic landscape of the Faculty of student attitudes towards multilingual Arts? signs at Khon Kaen University located in 2) How is information presented in the Northeast of Thailand. The production multilingual signs? of these multilingual signs was motivated 3) To what extent is multilingualism by a goal of recognizing, preserving and promoted via the linguistic landscape developing the minority language, Isan, within the Faculty of Arts and by which is the vernacular spoken language whom? of local people in the Northeast. This study hopes to draw attention to the linguistic landscape in the Faculty of Arts, 13 Downloaded from Brill.com10/08/2021 06:30:54AM 2 via free access MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities, Special Issue No.22, 2016 where one expects to find a variety of available and highest number of students languages on display. Its contribution to enrolled in the course. the current trends in the field of applied linguistic is to provide insight into the In terms of number of courses available in kinds of input students are exposed to in a the first semester of academic year 2015, typical university language faculty. Japanese language was offered with the highest number, 29 courses, followed by 2. Preliminary Analysis English offering 26 courses, Chinese offering 20 courses, French and Spanish Before analyzing the data, I conducted a each offering 15 courses, and German preliminary analysis to examine the offering 13 courses. However, the number language courses offered to the of available courses was not an indicator undergraduate students in CU. The Faculty of the number of enrolled students of Arts provides courses in 21 languages, studying each language. English language which can be classified into three types: courses unsurprisingly turned out to have majors, minors, and elective language the highest number of enrolled students as courses. There are 11 languages offered as 1,358 students registered at that time. majors for students at the Faculty of Arts. Japanese ranked second with 1,161 It is noted that Thai language courses were students enrolled. The third rank was excluded from this study, resulting in ten Chinese (786 students), followed by languages offered for major language Spanish (383 students) and Korean (258 study. Five languages are offered as students). All of these languages are minors and the other five as elective offered as majors except Korean, which is language courses. English language is also offered only as minor language to the provided throughout the university by students at the Faculty of Arts. Chulalongkorn University Language Institute (CULI). Therefore, English 3. Methodology courses are offered by two separate entities - the Faculty of Arts, where the Drawing on Backhaus’s (2007) description students within the faculty are required to of multilingualism in Tokyo, the paper study English and others can select will cover three issues that were English as their minor or elective courses, considered important in assuring the and CULI, where non-Faculty of Arts validity of data collection: (1) the students are required to study English. geographic limits of the target area; (2) the unit of analysis; and (3) the definition of The study collected data on the number of multilingual signs. students enrolled in each Faculty of Arts language course via the university’s register The linguistic landscape in this paper is website (http://www.reg.chula.ac.th) on 20th the Faculty of Arts at CU in Thailand. October, 2015. The data revealed the There are two main buildings located in number of courses available in each the territory of the faculty. As language and the number of students geographical location marker for the enrolled in each course. The study focused determination of study areas, the paper on the top five ranked languages based on focused on the common areas in and the rank of highest number of courses outside the buildings which students are presumed to move through
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Linguistic Landscapes
    Chapter 21 Linguistic Landscapes Luk Van Mensel, Mieke Vandenbroucke, and Robert Blackwood Introduction The study of the linguistic landscape (LL) focuses on the representations of language(s) in public space. Its object of research can be any visible display of written language (a “sign”) as well as people’s interactions with these signs. As a consequence, it is a highly interdisciplinary research domain, grounded in a wide range of theories and disciplines, such as language policy, sociology, semiotics, literacy studies, anthropology, social and human geography, politics, and urban studies. As such, the LL emerges as a promising terrain for the study of language and society. Landry and Bourhis (1997) were the first to provide a clear definition of “linguistic landscape,” which is often built on in LL studies: The language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings combines to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory, region, or urban agglomeration. (Landry and Bourhis, 1997: 25) Since then, however, the notion of what constitutes LL research has clearly expanded. The field has both integrated and embraced various theoretical and epistemological viewpoints, has developed new methodologies, and now covers a range of linguistic artifacts that go far beyond those originally listed by Landry and Bourhis. As a result, present- day LL research can be described as kaleidoscopic in nature. LLs are mainly studied in urban settings (hence the “multilingual cityscape”; Gorter, 2006b), unsur- prising given the stimulating visual and linguistic environment that the present-day glo- balized city has to offer, but scholars have also looked at more peripheral and rural areas (e.g., Kotze and du Plessis, 2010; Pietikäinen, Lane, Salo, and Laihiala-Kankainen, 2011).
    [Show full text]
  • Language Attitudes and Linguistic Landscapes of Malawi Mark Visonà
    Language Attitudes and Linguistic Landscapes of Malawi Mark Visonà Georgetown University 1. Introduction Previous studies in perceptual dialectology, or the study of non-linguists’ understandings of linguistic variation, have largely focused on identifying the social meanings that people assign to language depending on where and by whom it is used. Developed by Preston (1981), perceptual dialectology seeks to identify the specific linguistic features that play roles in triggering attitudes towards language, further aiming to discover the underlying beliefs or ideologies that motivate these attitudes (Preston, 2013, p. 160). In this paper, I identify attitudes regarding linguistic diversity in the multilingual African country of Malawi, additionally proposing that one factor shaping a speaker’s attitudes toward language use is the representation of language in their environment, or their linguistic landscape. This new approach investigates language attitudes at both the individual and societal level, ultimately contributing to our understanding of how non-linguists notice and understand language variation. The study of linguistic landscapes, or the entirety of ways that language appears in a public space, has recently emerged as a way for sociolinguists to investigate the interplay between language and its social value in a community (Landry & Bourhis, 1999; Shohamy et al., 2010). Analysis of language tokens on a variety of objects like billboards, advertisements, or road signs may reveal whether certain languages are privileged or disfavored by different social groups. In this paper, I argue that people’s attitudes towards linguistic variation are reflected by their linguistic landscapes, and crucially, are shaped by them as well. I present research that identifies attitudes towards language use in Southern Malawi, a region with multiple minority languages at risk of disappearing (Moyo, 2003).
    [Show full text]
  • Linguistic Landscapes in a Multilingual World
    Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (2013), 33, 190–212. © Cambridge University Press, 2013, 0267-1905/13 $16.00 doi: 10.1017/S0267190513000020 Linguistic Landscapes in a Multilingual World Durk Gorter This article offers an overview of the main developments in the field of linguis- tic landscape studies. A large number of research projects and publications indicate an increasing interest in applied linguistics in the use of written texts in urban spaces, especially in bilingual and multilingual settings. The article looks into some of the pioneer studies that helped open up this line of research and summarizes some of the studies that created the springboard for its rapid expansion in recent years. The focus is on current research (from 2007 onward), including studies that illustrate main theoretical approaches and methodologi- cal development as key issues of the expanding field, in particular when applied in settings of societal multilingualism. Publications on the linguistic landscape cover a wide range of innovative theoretical and empirical studies that deal with issues related to multilingual- ism, literacy, multimodality, language policy, linguistic diversity, and minority languages, among others. The article shows some examples of the use of the linguistic landscape as a research tool and a data source to address a num- ber of issues in multilingualism. The article also explores some possible future directions. Overall, the various emerging perspectives in linguistic landscape research can deepen our understanding of languages in urban spaces, language users, and societal multilingualism in general. PANORAMA OF THE FIELD Language learning is the main product of the Rosetta Stone company. Its kiosks can be found in shopping malls and at airports across the United States, and its offices are all over the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Linguistic Diversity and Inclusion in Abu Dhabi
    Multilingua 2021; aop Sarah Hopkyns* and Melanie van den Hoven Linguistic diversity and inclusion in Abu Dhabi’s linguistic landscape during the COVID-19 period https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2020-0187 Received December 11, 2020; accepted March 18, 2021; published online April 5, 2021 Abstract: In Abu Dhabi, multilingualism amongst its highly diverse population is typical. However, with Arabic as the official language and English as the lingua franca, the population’s other languages are subordinate on public signage. Those proficient in English or Arabic have more access to information than those who are not. While effective communication is important in ordinary times, it is especially vital during a crisis. This study looks at COVID-19 signage in two Abu Dhabi live- work contexts: A beachside community and an industrial site. The study takes an ethnographic approach to linguistic landscaping in which a corpus of 326 top- down and bottom-up signs are investigated in terms of languages used, spacing, prominence and location, as well as intended audience and sociolinguistic im- plications. Key findings revealed that bottom-up handmade COVID-19 signage was mainly monolingual (English only) and municipality-produced warnings were predominately bilingual (Arabic and English). Despite the multilingual composi- tion of both contexts, only one third language (Korean) appeared on COVID-19 signage. The findings shed light on existing inequalities in linguistically diverse contexts, and the need to ensure access to information for all at a street level. The article concludes with practical suggestions for greater linguistic inclusion in the COVID-19 period and beyond. Keywords: COVID-19 signage; crisis communication; diversity and inclusion; lin- guistic landscaping; multilingualism; United Arab Emirates *Corresponding author: Sarah Hopkyns, College of Education, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, E-mail: [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • Linguistic Landscape, Greenlandic, Danish, Nuuk, Greenland, Signs, Multilingual, Urban, Minority, Indigenous
    The linguistic landscape of Nuuk, Greenland Abstract The purpose of this article is to present and analyse public and private signs in the linguistic landscape of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. Nuuk is a trilingual environment including the indigenous language (West Greenlandic), the former colonial language (Danish), and the global language (English). West Greenlandic is a somewhat unusual case among indigenous languages in colonial and postcolonial settings because it is a statutory national language with a vigorous use. Our analysis examines the use of West Greenlandic, Danish, and English from the theoretical perspective of centre vs. periphery, devoting attention to the primary audiences (local vs. international) and chief functions (informational vs. symbolic) of the signs. As the first investigation into the Greenlandic linguistic landscape, our analysis can contribute to research on signs in urban multilingual indigenous language settings. Keywords: linguistic landscape, Greenlandic, Danish, Nuuk, Greenland, signs, multilingual, urban, minority, indigenous 1. Introduction The purpose of our study is to analyse public and private signs in the linguistic landscape of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. Scholarly enquiry into the linguistic landscape seeks to ascertain the practices and ideologies relating to the language appearing in public spaces. The public spaces included in this type of analysis consist of official signs (e.g. traffic signs, street names, government notices), private signs (e.g. shop names, private business signs, personal ads), graffiti, food packaging, notes, discarded items, and moving signs on buses or t-shirts (see e.g. see Gorter, 2006; Shohamy & Gorter, 2009; Jaworski & Thurlow, 2010). The dynamic, constantly mediated multimodal linguistic landscape gives space its meaning and interacts with the built environment (Moriarty, 2014a).
    [Show full text]
  • Linguistic Landscape on Campus in Japan— a Case Study of Signs in Kyushu University
    Intercultural Communication Studies XXIV(1) 2015 WANG Linguistic Landscape on Campus in Japan— A Case Study of Signs in Kyushu University Jing-Jing WANG Northwest A&F University, China; Kyushu University, Japan Abstract: This study examines multilingual university campus signs in Japan, a new attempt to expand the scope of linguistic landscape study. Based on the three dimensions put forward by Trumper-Hecht (2010) who sees linguistic landscape as a sociolinguistic- spatial phenomenon, this study brings linguistic landscape research into the context of multilingual campuses stimulated by internationalization, and intends to explore: how languages used in signs are regulated or planned in Japan, how the campus linguistic landscape is constructed and how the sign readers view the multilingual campus they are living in. The exploration of language policy concerning signs substantiates our understanding of the formation of campus linguistic landscape. The case study on the languages used in signs on Ito campus presents the features of the construction of campus linguistic landscape. On Ito campus of Kyushu University, bilingual Japanese-English signs compose the majority of campus signs, with Japanese language used as the dominant language. The questionnaire surveys students’ attitudes towards a multilingual campus. The results indicate that for their academic life, students value bilingual ability a lot; in their daily life, students maintain multilingual contact to a certain degree. The important languages chosen by the students are in conformity with the language usage in reality despite a difference in order. This study is a synchronic record of the construction of the campus linguistic landscape, thus it can be used as a basis for comparative and diachronic studies in the future.
    [Show full text]
  • Vital Signs: a Photovoice Assessment of the Linguistic Landscape in Spanish in Healthcare Facilities Along the U.S.-Mexico Border
    THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH 2013 / No. 1 Vital Signs: A photovoice assessment of the linguistic landscape in Spanish in healthcare facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border Glenn A. Martínez Professor of Hispanic Linguistics Department of Spanish and Portuguese and The James Comprehensive Cancer Center The Ohio State University [email protected] Abstract The intersection of health literacy and limited English proficiency is a concern of increasing importance. While there is considerable overlap between populations with limited English proficient and low health literacy, there may also be interaction effects in which low health literacy is exacerbated by unequal access to and differential presentation of information. In this study, interaction effects are explored by examining the linguistic landscape of healthcare facilities using a photovoice approach. A sample of 32 young Spanish-speakers residing in the U.S.- Mexico border region participated in the study. Youngsters went to healthcare facilities normally visited by family members and took pictures of publicly displayed signs and written materials. They wrote captions for each photograph and presented their photographs in a critical dialogue session. The results of the study indicated that participants perceive significant differences in the presence of English and Spanish on the linguistic landscape in healthcare facilities. Signs in English were more numerous than signs in Spanish. Spanish signs, furthermore, were plagued with spelling errors, grammatical errors, and unintelligible translations and were less likely than English signs to convey information about salient health concerns. Participants interpreted these patterns as indexical of the inequities faced by Spanish speakers in the health delivery system.
    [Show full text]
  • Analyzing the Multilingual Linguistic Landscape Of
    ! ! ! ! ! ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK! ! by! Amanda E.! Dixson ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! A Master’s Thesis/Capstone Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Education Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Department of Language, Learning, & Leadership State University of New York at Fredonia Fredonia, New! York ! ! ! ! ! ! ! May, 2015 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK! ! ! ABSTRACT In recent years, Buffalo, New York has become home to thousands of immigrants and refugees from across the globe. These people have brought with them diverse cultures, desires for the future, and their home languages. As a designated refugee resettlement city, Buffalo is an incredibly diverse city that welcomes thousands of refugees from all over the world each year; Buffalo also has an established Latino/a community. This study examines how these linguistic communities are represented in the linguistic landscape, and what deeper symbolic meanings signs in the linguistic landscape hold for them. All signs on six streets within a two mile radius of Buffalo’s most diverse neighborhoods were photographed and categorized. Signs entirely or partially in non-English languages were plotted on an electronic map and examined for potential symbolic meanings. The linguistic landscape of Buffalo, although vastly English dominant, reflects some of the diversity of the area. However, the signs in Buffalo’s linguistic landscape reveal language ideologies are present and sometimes promote one language over another. Since languages are tied to identity, relegating languages can promote ideologies against ethnic groups tied to those languages. Overall, the linguistic landscape reflects the need to learn English to function in American society, but inconsistencies are found throughout the city that reflect the presence of non-English speakers in the area, and occasionally the promotion of their culture and language.
    [Show full text]
  • Indigenous Languages in Canada
    ᐁᑯᓯ ᒫᑲ ᐁᑎᑵ ᐊᓂᒪ ᑳᐃᑘᐟ ᐊᐘ ᐅᐢᑭᓃᑭᐤ , ᒥᔼᓯᐣ, ᑮᐢᐱᐣ ᑕᑲᑵᓂᓯᑐᐦᑕᒣᐠ ᐁᑿ ᒦᓇ ᑕᑲᑵᒥᑐᓂᐑᒋᐦᐃᓱᔦᐠ ᐊᓂᒪ, ᐆᒪ ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ ᑭᐢᐱᐣ ᑭᓅᐦᑌᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑌᓈᐚᐤ᙮ ᐆᒪ ᐆᑌ INDIGENOUSᑳᐃᑕᐱᔮᕽ ᓵᐢᑿᑑᐣ, ᐁᑯᓯ ᐃᓯ ᐆᒪ ᓂᑲᑵᒋᒥᑲᐏᓈᐣ ᑮᑿᕀ ᐁᓅᐦᑌᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑕᐦᑭᐠ ᐁᑯᓯ ᐃᓯLANGUAGESᐆᒪ ᐹᐦᐯᔭᐠ ᐆᒥᓯ ᐃᓯ , ᓂᑮᑭᑐᑎᑯᓈᓇᐠ IN CANADA, “ᑮᒁᕀ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐁᐘᑯ᙮ ᑖᓂᓯ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐁᐘᑯ ᐁᐃᑘᒪᑲᕽ ᐲᑭᐢᑵᐏᐣ᙮” ᐁᑯᓯ ᐃᑘᐘᐠ, ᐁᐘᑯ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐁᑲᑵᒋᒥᑯᔮᐦᑯᐠ, ᐁᑯᓯ ᐏᔭ ᐁᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑕᒫᕽ ᐊᓂᒪ, ᑮᒁᕀ ᑳᓅᐦᑌ ᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑕᐦᑭᐠ, ᐁᑯᓯ ᓂᑕᑎ ᐑᐦᑕᒪᐚᓈᓇᐠ, ᐁᑯᓯ ᐁᐃᓰᐦᒋᑫᔮᕽ ᐆᑌ ᓵᐢᑿᑑᐣ, ᐁᑿ ᐯᔭᑿᔭᐠ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐁᑯᓯ ᐃᓯ ᐆᒪ ᐁᐊᐱᔮᕽ, ᐁᑿ ᐯᔭᑿᔭᐠ ᒦᓇ ᐃᐦᑕᑯᐣ = ᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑕᒼ ᐊᐘ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐃᑕ CANADIAN LANGUAGE MUSEUM ᒦᓇ ᐁᐊᐱᔮᕽMUSÉE CANADIEN= ᐁᑯᑕ DESᐱᓯᓯᐠ LANGUES ᑫᐦᑌ ᐊᔭᐠ᙮ ᐁᑯᑕ ᐁᑿ ᐁᑯᓂᐠ ᑳᓂᑕᐍᔨᐦᑕᐦᑭᐠ , ᒣᒁᐨ ᐆᒪ ᐁᐘᑯ ᐆᒪ ᐁᑿ ᑳᓅᒋᐦᑖᒋᐠ, ᐁᑯᑕ ᐊᓂᒪ ᓂᐑᒋᐦᐃᐚᐣ᙮ CANADIAN LANGUAGE MUSEUM Canadian Language Museum Glendon Gallery, Glendon College 2275 Bayview Avenue Toronto ON M4N 3M6 Printed with assistance from the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada Copyright © 2019, Canadian Language Museum Author: Will Oxford Editor: Elaine Gold The Cree syllabic text on the cover, typeset by Chris Harvey, is an excerpt from a speech titled “Speaking Cree and Speaking English” by Sarah Whitecalf, published in kinêhiyâwiwininaw nêhiyawêwin / The Cree Language is Our Identity: The La Ronge Lec- tures of Sarah Whitecalf (University of Manitoba Press, 1993, ed. by H.C. Wolfart and Freda Ahenakew). Preface ................................................................................................................................... iii 1 Approaching the study of Indigenous languages ................................................ 1 1.1 Terms for Indigenous peoples and languages .............................................
    [Show full text]
  • Linguistic Landscapes of Santiago, Chile Sue Edwards Waikato Inst
    Documenting the presence of English in the expanding circle: Linguistic landscapes of Santiago, Chile Sue Edwards Waikato Institute of Technology Hamilton, New Zealand Abstract Chile is considered to be within ‘the expanding circle’ – countries where English has no official status, and is used for limited purposes. However, the learning of English has been promoted in Chilean public schools since 2004, and English words and phrases are now seen in the linguistic landscape of Chile – the language of public signage. The research reported in this paper focussed on the linguistic landscapes of major streets in three municipalities within greater Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The research aimed to photograph all public signs within the defined locations, to document the use of English, and to analyse how and where English is used, and by whom. As there have been no previous linguistic landscape studies carried out in Chile, the research is a contribution to the literature surrounding the spread and use of English, as well as language contact and language change. Keywords: linguistic landscape, expanding circle, English, Chile, Santiago, anglicisms, loanwords, hybrid forms 1. Introduction - Aims As a visitor to Santiago, Chile, in January 2013, I surmised that the use of English in the city was limited, after receiving only one positive response to requests for assistance in English. However, I noticed that most of the signs in the city’s extensive rail system were written in both Spanish and English, including large ‘entrance’ and ‘exit’ signs, and small safety notices. I speculated that this might be to cater for English-speaking tourists.
    [Show full text]
  • A Linguistic Landscape Approach Shayla Ann Johnson Brigham Young University
    Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive All Theses and Dissertations 2017-12-01 Multilingual Trends in Five London Boroughs: A Linguistic Landscape Approach Shayla Ann Johnson Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Linguistics Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Johnson, Shayla Ann, "Multilingual Trends in Five London Boroughs: A Linguistic Landscape Approach" (2017). All Theses and Dissertations. 6669. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6669 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Multilingual Trends in Five London Boroughs: A Linguistic Landscape Approach Shayla Ann Johnson A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts William Eggington, Chair Matthew Wickman Dallin D. Oaks Department of Linguistics and English Language Brigham Young University Copyright 2017 Shayla Ann Johnson All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Multilingual Trends in Five London Boroughs: A Linguistic Landscape Approach Shayla Ann Johnson Department of Linguistics and English Language, BYU Master of Arts Although multilingualism has been investigated in London, no studies have addressed the multilingual linguistic landscape of this linguistically diverse globalized mega-city. In addition, no previous research has addressed the linguistic impacts of colonialism on the colonizer with respect to signage in the linguistic landscape. With increasing rates of immigration and globalization in London, it is advantageous to fully document and research the nature of the linguistic landscape in order to create a baseline for future comparison.
    [Show full text]
  • Mysanfrancisco: Social Media and the Conceptual Linguistic Landscape
    #mysanfrancisco: Social Media and the Conceptual Linguistic Landscape Kate Lyons University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Abstract Recent attempts to advance the field of Linguistic Landscapes (LL) have emphasized the importance of contending with the ‘actors’ of the LL and their role in interpreting or interacting with language in place (Waksman and Shohamy 2016; Barni and Bagna 2015; Malinowski 2009). This paper addresses this interest in what I refer to as the LL’s interpretant (`ala Peirce 1955) or conceptual aspect by analyzing representations of physical space posted on Instagram, a popular photo sharing platform. Using a corpus of Instagram posts geotagged within the Mission District in San Francisco, Cal- ifornia, I employ methods such as topic modeling and sentiment analysis to investigate the ways individuals are seen to engage with the semiotic land- scape of the neighborhood and explore how the Mission itself is discursively constructed through these subjective recontextualizations. In doing so I aim to highlight aspects of the relationship between social media and physical place and the ways language is seen to mediate this dynamic. I argue geo- graphically tagged social media is not representative of an LL but productive, viewing the selective and subjective displays found online to be as much a part of the LL context as a potential key to understanding it. Keywords: Linguistic Landscapes, Social Media, Text Mining, Topic Preprint submitted to Journal Name December 11, 2016 Modeling, Ethnographic Methods, Gentrification 1 1. Introduction 2 The field of Linguistic Landscapes (LL) encompasses study of any type of 3 displayed language in the public space.
    [Show full text]