scholarly journals Multilingualism in the Linguistic Landscape of the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

MANUSYA ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 12-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aroonrung Siricharoen

This paper is an examination of multilingual signage in the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, where a number of language courses are offered not only to the university community but also to outsiders who are interested in learning foreign languages. Special attention is given to the distinction between signs made by the university and those by students and outsiders. By focusing on the multilingual signs in public space, the aim of the study is to investigate the extent to which multilingualism is promoted through the linguistic landscape in the common areas of the Faculty of Arts. The study reveals that Thai-English bilingualism is promoted within the Faculty of Arts. A few language departments have made attempts to establish their language in the public space while some languages appeared only on outsiders’ signs. The paper contributes to our understanding of linguistic landscape research by investigating the degree to which multilingualism is promoted via the linguistic landscape within the Faculty of Arts.

Author(s):  
Kapitolina Fedorova ◽  

Multilingualism in urban spaces is mainly studied as an oral practice. Nevertheless, linguistic landscape studies can serve as a good explorative method for studying multilingualism in written practices. Moreover, resent research on linguistic landscapes (Blommaert 2013; Shohamy et. al. 2010; Backhaus 2006) have shed some light on the power relations between different ethnic groups in urban public space. Multilingual practices exist in a certain ideological context, and not only official language policy but speaker linguistic stereotypes and attitudes can influence and modify those practices. Historically, South Korea tended to be oriented towards monolingualism; one nation-one people-one language ideology was domineering public discourse. However, globalization and recent increase in migration resulted in gradual changes in attitudes towards multilingualism (Lo and Kim 2012). The linguistic landscapes of Seoul, on the one hand, reflect these changes, and However, they demonstrates pragmatic inequality of languages other than South Korean in public use. This inequality, though, is represented differently in certain spatial urban contexts. The proposed paper aims at analyzing data on linguistic landscapes of Seoul, South Korea ,with the focus on different contexts of language use and different sets of norms and ideological constructs underlying particular linguistic choices. In my presentation I will examine data from three urban contexts: ‘general’ (typical for most public spaces); ‘foreign-oriented’ (seen in tourist oriented locations such as airport, expensive hotels, or popular historical sites, which dominates the Itaewon district); and ‘ethnic-oriented’ (specific for spaces created by and for ethnic minority groups, such as Mongolian / Central Asian / Russian districts near the Dongdaemun History and Culture Park station). I will show that foreign languages used in public written communication are embedded into different frameworks in these three urban contexts, and that the patterns of their use vary from pragmatically oriented ones to predominately symbolic ones, with English functioning as a substitution for other foreign languages, as an emblem of ‘foreignness.’


Author(s):  
Eman Elmahjoubi ◽  
Mufida Yamane

Background. The safe use of medicines largely relies on consumers reading the labeling and packaging carefully and accurately, and being able to comprehend and act on the information presented. We aimed to conduct local study on consumers’ perceptions, attitudes and use of written drug information. Methods. A survey included 200 adults of the public in 13 community pharmacies and one main hospital (the University Hospital) in Tripoli city of Libya, using a structured interview technique. Results. The results showed that 73% of participants read drug labels with variation from always (39.72 %) to rarely (10.95%). About 42.46% of pharmacy customers read the Patients Package Inserts (PPIs) routinely, however; 53.42% of them faced difficulties in understanding the labelling. Foreign languages and small font sizes of written information were the most barriers to participants` comprehensibility (44.69 %, 34%) respectively. The findings indicated that 59 % of the respondents were used to obtain information from pharmacists. Despite the relatively high rate of reading to drug labels among pharmacy customers; more than half of them were unable to interpret information correctly. Conclusion. The study demonstrated the need for the implementation of educational and awareness programs for patients by pharmacists to improve the health literacy of medication labels. Steps must be taken to ensure that medicines in Libyan market are supplied with bilingual and non-technical language labels.


Author(s):  
Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong

Faith in public life can be associated with Christianity in Ghana from the days of the early Western missionaries. Christian faith perspectives on matters of public concerns however, assumed a wider scope with the practice of regular issuance of communiques to governments and the people of Ghana by the churches. Christian ministry is expected to be holistic. A holistic approach in Christian ministry is considered to lead to the holistic development of the nation for the common good and the glory of God. Church leaders subsequently, bring their faith perspectives to matters of public concerns as a ministerial mandate to be in pilgrimage with the people. The study is a reflection on how the churches’ communiques are done and the factors that make the communiques theological in the public space. It further seeks to identify the contribution of the construction of communiques to public theology in Christianity in Ghana. The study as qualitative, examines both available primary and secondary sources. Copies of communiques of some selected churches, ecumenical bodies and joint communiques by ecumenical bodies are examined to appreciate insights of communiques by the churches. The study seeks to make a contribution to the theological construction of public theologies in Ghana and African Christianity. KEYWORDS: Public Theology, African Christianity, Communique, Common Good


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 676-703
Author(s):  
Luke M. Cianciotto

This study concerns the struggle for Philadelphia's LOVE Park, which involved the general public and its functionaries on one side and skateboarders on the other. This paper argues LOVE Park was one place composed of two distinct spaces: the public space the public engendered and the common space the skateboarders produced. This case demonstrates that public and common space must be understood as distinct, for they entail different understandings of publicly accessible space. Additionally, public and common spaces often exist simultaneously as “public–common spaces,” which emphasizes how they reciprocally shape one another. This sheds light on the emergence of “anti–common public space,” which is evident in LOVE Park's 2016 redesign. This concept considers how common spaces are increasingly negated in public spaces. The introduction of common space to the study of public spaces is significant as it allows for more nuanced understandings of transformations in the urban landscape.


Author(s):  
Irina Rutsinskaya

In 1939 and 1949 the museums and exhibit halls of the large and small Soviet cities held dozens of art exhibitions dedicated to the anniversaries of Stalin. Strictly aligned to the text of his canonized biography, they became an important element of jubilee celebrations, and simultaneously, a distinct culmination of visual representations of the chieftain, overcrowding the public space of every city of the country. The exhibitions resumed the results and outlined the future paths of development of the pictorial art of Staliniana. The article makes an attempt to review the common grounds the united the anniversary expositions, regardless their scale, presentability and venue. Special attention is given to correlation between verbal and visual texts, logics of structuring of a biographical narrative, methods of organization of dialogue with the audience, as well as forms of “dictate” over the creative process of Soviet artists. The source for this research became an extensive body of documents: brochures, catalogues, guides that accompanied such exhibitions and reflected their concept, logics, structure and communication objectives.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-92
Author(s):  
Wahyu Oktavia

Indoglish is a unique and unique form of language and is a blend of English and Indonesian. The purpose of this study is to describe the phenomenon of indoglish language escalation in the public space of social media. The form of this study is descriptive qualitative which as a whole utilizes the methods of interpretation by presenting it in the form of descriptions of words. Research data comes from various written languages ​​obtained from facebook, whatsapp and instagram.. Data collection is used the method of note and note. Data analysis techniques are carried out through data reduction, data presentation and verification. The results of the study show that there are a) form of indoglish language, b) classification of indoglish languages ​​based on Indonesian elements in foreign languages ​​and foreign elements in Indonesian, c) factors that cause indoglish language namely age, linguistic, historical, foreign language influences, word needs new, equivalent Foreign or non-standard words, and social and cultural.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1146
Author(s):  
Blessing T. Inya

This paper focuses on the linguistic landscape (LL) of religious signboards in select areas of Ado Ekiti, Nigeria with a view of establishing the relationship between the languages used on these signboards and the implication for identity, globalisation and culture. Fifty-three LL items were photographed for the study. The areas selected were based on activity level and the number of religious signboards they featured. The data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings revealed the dominance and the pervasiveness of the English language over and across the other languages in the public space. The use of Yoruba texts across the items revealed religio-cultural and loyalist reasons while the use of Arabic confirmed the inherent attachment of the language to Islamic religion, and fostered a religion-based collective identity between the sign writer and the sign reader.


1970 ◽  
pp. 145-156
Author(s):  
MAGDALENA STECIĄG ◽  
ANNA KARMOWSKA

The aim of the article is to analyse the linguistic landscape of the Polish-Czech borderland with particular emphasis placed on the number and hierarchy of languages existing in the public space. A static study will be carried out i.e. a study of the language(s) of public road signs, names of streets and squares, public-access buildings, signs on businesses and shops, hoardings etc. The research material comes from two small towns: Duszniki Zdrój in Poland and Hronov in the Czech Republic, both aspiring to become local tourist centres. The global vs. local opposition is of importance to the assumptions made in the study because the language will be regarded as a local practice (Pennycock, 2010). In conclusion, the study will examine the thesis that the local linguistic landscape is a testimony to a transition from a monolingual paradigm towards a “post-monolingual condition” (Yildiz, 2012). It will also be very interesting to find out which configuration of the languages can be considered sustainable in terms of the area’s multilingual nature.


2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent-Fidèle Sossouvi ◽  
Mei-Chih Lin

Multilingualism and multiculturalism have been and are constitutive aspects of African soci-eties. This pioneer study analyzes the linguistic landscapes of Cotonou and Abomey-Calavi (Benin), two contiguous cities; in order to verify the status and the vitality of the languages used and spoken in the country as well as seeing if it is possible to exploit didactically this written modality. For this purpose, a quantitative analysis of written language productions in public space was carried out. The results reveal the languages used in the urban scene of both cities as well as the linguistic contact in their diverse aspects. They also indicate that the linguistic landscape doesn’t take into account the local multilingual practices in all their complexity. It appears as a context of learning which can be used as a didactic resource in the teaching of foreign languages.


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