! ! ! ! ! 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. ! ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE Table of Contents Page Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………….ii List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………….vii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………….ix Introduction………………….………………………………………………….…………………1 Problem……………………………………………………………………………………1 Purpose……………………………………………………………………………….……2 Significance………………………………………………………………………….….…3 Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………….4 Linguistic Landscaping……………………………………………………………………5 Informational functions. ….….……………………………………………………6 Symbolic functions. ….….………………………………………………………..7 Linguistic Landscaping Today…………………………………………………………….8 Categorizing and documenting signs. …………………………………….…..…10 Examining Symbolic Functions………………………………………………………….13 Ideologies and power. …………..….……………………………………………14 Language policy. ………………………………………………………….…..…15 English as a global language in the linguistic landscape. ……………………….17 Presence of minority languages. ………………………………….…..…………20 Language, Literacy, and Second Language Acquisition…………………………………22 Language Populations in Buffalo, New York……………………………………………24 !i ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE Spanish. ………………………………………………………………………….25 Karen. ……………………………………………………………………………26 Somali. ……………………………………………………………………..……27 Arabic. ………………………………………………………….……..…………27 Burmese. …………………………………………………………….……..……28 Nepali. ………………………………………………………………….……..…28 Kerundi. …………………………………………………………………………29 Swahili. ………………………………………………………………………….29 Vietnamese. ……………………………………………………….…….…….…30 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………….….30 Setting……………………………………………………………………………………31 The West Side and Lower West Side. …………………………………….…..…32 Black Rock and Riverside. ………………………………………………………32 North Buffalo. …………………………………………………….…….…….…34 The Elmwood Village, Allentown, and Delaware. ………………………………34 Sample……………………………………………………………………………………35 Elmwood Avenue. ……………………………………………………………….36 Grant Street. ……………………………………………………………………..36 Hertel Avenue. ……………………………………………………………….…..37 Niagara Street. ……………………………………………………………….…..37 Tonawanda Street. ………………………………………………….………..…..37 West Ferry Street. ………………………………………………………………..38 !ii ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE Procedure……………………………………………………………………….……..…38 Instruments. ……………………………………………….….…….……………40 Limitations……………………………………………………………………………….41 Results……………………………………………………………………………………………42 Elmwood Avenue………………………………………………………………….…..…42 Spanish. ………………………………………………………………………….44 Italian. ………………………………………………………………….……..…47 Chinese. ………………………………………………………………………….48 Greek. ……………………………………………………………………………48 French. ………………………………………………………………………..…48 Polish. …………………………………………………..….……………………49 Japanese. ………………………………………………………………….…..…49 Hindi. ……………………………………………………………………………49 Hebrew. ………………………………………………………………………….49 Arabic. ………………………………………………………………….……..…50 German. ………………………………………………………………………….50 Grant Street………………………………………………………………………………51 Burmese languages. ………………………………………………….….………52 Spanish. ……………………………………………………………………….…56 Arabic. …………………………………………………….…..…………………59 Ethiopian. ……………………………………………………….….……………61 Chinese. ………………………………………………………………….………62 !iii ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE Italian. …………………………………………………………………….…..…62 Polish. ………………………………………………………………….……..…62 Signs containing multiple non-English languages. ………………………….…..63 Hertel Avenue………………………………………………………………………….…65 Arabic. ………………………………………………………………………..….67 Italian. ………………………………………………………………………..….69 Spanish. ………………………………………………………………………….71 Hebrew. ………………………………………………………………………….71 French. ………………………………………………………………………..…72 Chinese. ………………………………………………………………………….72 German. ………………………………………………………………………….73 Polish. ……………………………………………………….…..………………73 Latin. …………………………………………………………………………….73 Niagara Street…………………………………………………………………………….74 Spanish………………………………………………………………….……..…75 Burmese languages. …………………………………………………………..…81 Vietnamese. ……………………………………………………………….…..…84 French. ………………………………………………………………………..…85 Nepali. ……………………………………………………………….………..…86 Chinese. ………………………………………………………………………….86 Tonawanda Street……………………………………………………………….……..…87 Spanish. ………………………………………………………………………….88 !iv ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE Burmese languages. …………………………………………………………..…90 Arabic. …………………………………………………………………….…..…90 Ethiopian. …………………………………………………………………..……91 Chinese. ………………………………………………………………………….91 West Ferry Street…………………………………………………………………………92 Spanish. ………………………………………………………………………….93 Arabic. …………………………………………………………….……..………95 Ethiopian. …………………………………………………………………..……96 Burmese languages. …………………………………………………………..…96 Vietnamese. ………………………………………………………….……..……97 Chinese. ………………………………………………………………………….98 Discussion……………………………………………………………………………..…98 Elmwood Avenue………………………………………………………………….……..99 Varied symbolic meanings of Spanish signs. ……………………………………99 Prestige languages. …………………………………………….………….……102 Other non-English signs. ……………………………………………………….104 Grant Street…………………………………………………………………………..…105 Embracing the global community in the midst of English dominance. ……..…106 Non-English prestige and historical languages. ……………………………..…110 Hertel Avenue…………………………………………………………………….…..…111 North Buffalo’s Arabic community. ……………………………………………112 Italian as a heritage language. ………………………………………………….113 !v ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE Prestige languages on Hertel. ………………………………………………..…114 Historical languages on Hertel. …………………………………….………..…115 Niagara Street………………………………………………………………….……..…116 Avenida San Juan. ……………………………………………………….…..…116 Refugees in and near the West Side. …………………………………….…..…119 Tonawanda Street……………………………………………………………………….121 Spanish advertisements. ……………………………………………………..…122 Houses of worship. ……………………………………………………………..123 International markets. ………………………………………………………….124 West Ferry Street……………………………………………………………………..…125 Reaching the international refugee community. ……………………………….125 Spanish on West Ferry Street. ………………………………………………….127 Prestige languages on West Ferry Street. ………………………………………128 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………..…128 Suggestions for future research. ………………………………………………..130 References………………………………………………………………………………………130 Appendix A: Approval Letter From SUNY Fredonia’s Human Subjects Research Board…….139 Appendix B: Racial Dot Map of Buffalo, New York………………………….……..…………140 Appendix C: Observation Protocol……………………………………………..………………141 Appendix D: Letter to Participants………………………………………………………..……142 Appendix E: Sample Interview Questions………………………………………..…….………143 ! !vi ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE List of Tables Table Page 1 Categorization Chart………………………………………………………………….39 !vii ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE List of Figures Figure Page 1 Buffalo Neighborhoods Map……………………………………………………………31 2 Non English Signs on Elmwood…………………………………………………….…..43 3 ¡Toro!……………………………………………………………………………………44 4 El Buen Amigo………………………………………………………………………….44 5 Advertisement at Double Sixes…………………………………………………………47 6 Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy……………………………………………………47 7 WSYDC Billboard………………………………………………………………….…..47 8 German Sticker…………………………………………………………………………50 9 Non-English Signs on Grant……………………………………………………………52 10 Burmese Flyers at West Side Bazaar……………………………………………….…..53 11 Golden Burma…………………………………………………………………………..54 12 Burmese Advertisements at Golden Burma…………………………………………….54 13 Window Advertisements at Lin Asian Market………………………………………….55 14 iT Garden………………………………………………………………………………..56 15 Spanish Church Event Flyers……………………………………………………………59