Linguistic Landscape: What can we learn by studying public signs?
神奈川大学外国語学部英語英文学科です。今回の「Professors' Showcase」はバイリンガル教育が専門の中村ジェニス先生による "Lingustic Landscape: What can we learn by studying public signs?"です！
Linguistic landscape （言語景観）is the visual language we see in public spaces such as train stations, shopping malls, and museums. In Janice Nakamura’s ‘Multilingual Individuals and Multilingual Societies’ seminar, students study linguistic landscape to understand how languages are changing in society. We travel to Yokohama Chinatown and Kamakura to understand how globalization, migration and tourism affect its linguistic landscape. By working in teams to collect and analyze signs, we gain a deeper understanding of the diversification of a specific territory.
Signs and symbols often carry unique messages tailored to specific audiences. We need to observe carefully to notice the meanings they convey. In a small, hidden alley in Chinatown, we discovered numerous Taiwanese flags. What do these flags represent? On the surface, they may indicate that the restaurants in this alley specialize in Taiwanese cuisine, as opposed to other regional varieties of Chinese food (e.g., Cantonese or Szechuan). However, on a deeper level, these flags mark a small Taiwanese space within a Chinese territory. The existence of a Taiwanese enclave within Yokohama Chinatown subtly reflects the broader political situation in East Asia.
Tourism is rapidly transforming Japan’s linguistic landscape. While most public signs are still in Japanese, English is becoming increasingly prevalent. At times, we even encounter English-only signs, despite English being a foreign language in Japan. Looking at the pictures below, one might assume they were taken in an English-speaking country. However, the image on the left was taken at a suburban park in Kawasaki, and the image on the right at a popular shrine in Kamakura. These two examples raise the question: has English, in some cases, displaced Japanese as the preferred language for written communication in certain spaces? Why was English used in these contexts? Specifically, why was it chosen to explain rules in the park or shrine? Perhaps the park management found English simpler and more universally understood by both Japanese and non-Japanese visitors. Alternatively, clear and explicit English messages may be deemed necessary to ensure non-Japanese visitors comply with the rules.
Bilingual Japanese-English signs are becoming increasingly common in Japan. However, not every foreigner in Japan reads Japanese or English, so this puts them at a disadvantage. The lack of multilingual signs in other foreign languages (such as Mandarin Chinese or Spanish) can pose a serious problem during a natural disaster such as an earthquake. In the absence of multilingual signs, clear pictograms are essential for conveying important messages to foreigners who cannot read Japanese or English.
The use of Japanese and English in signs reveals a lot about the language ideology (言語信念) and language policy (言語政策) of the people who created the signs. English is assumed to be a global language that everyone understands. However, many non-Japanese residents in Japan are from countries in Asia and South America, so more public signs should display their languages. In this context, the study of linguistic landscapes offers new perspectives on harmonious co-existence (多文化共生) between Japanese and non-Japanese individuals in Japan. Through this lens, Japanese students can adopt the perspective of foreign residents, gaining insight into how public signage and language services (言語サービス) can help them live more comfortably in this country.
In studying the linguistic landscape, we also examine the content of the signs. What messages do they convey? Signs in different languages sometimes carry distinct meanings. The example below, taken from a shrine in Kamakura, is particularly interesting. The Japanese sign on the right indicates a waiting room and invites people who have registered for a religious ceremony to enter. However, the bilingual English-Chinese sign conveys a completely different message: it prohibits entry into the waiting room.
Why is there such a significant difference between the signs? Why are Japanese people allowed to enter the room, but non-Japanese people are not? Students contemplated and discussed these questions in my seminar. They concluded that the shrine management likely assumes Japanese people visit the shrine to participate in religious ceremonies, whereas non-Japanese visitors are regarded as tourists who do not practice the Shinto religion. Therefore, non-Japanese visitors are not provided with information about religious ceremonies. While this assumption is correct in most cases, it can sometimes be inaccurate. For instance, a non-Japanese person attending a traditional wedding ceremony at the shrine might hesitate to enter the waiting room if a ‘Do not enter’ sign is displayed.
Linguistic landscape is a fascinating way to understand how society is changing. By paying attention to the written language around us, we might make new discoveries about the society we live in. If you are interested in learning more about linguistic landscapes, check out the paper below which was written with the help of seminar students.
Nakamura, J. (2022). COVID-19 Signs in Tokyo and Kanagawa: Linguistic landscaping for whom? Asia-Pacific Social Science Review, 22(3), 80–94.
記：中村ジェニス
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