Language ideology and the linguistic landscape
A study in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v11i1.20228Keywords:
Accommodation, code mixing, language policy, linguistic landscape, Malaysia, multilingualism, Petaling Jaya, sociolinguisticsAbstract
Sociolinguistics as an interdisciplinary science joins language and society to provide knowledge on their relationship and interaction. Language planners and policy makers can use this science to make accurate decisions. This study examined language policy and the strategies used by the public to shape the linguistic landscape of Petaling Jaya, in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The study focused on the patterns of language use on private and government signage to examine whether the top-down language policy, was being complied with. The samplings included 400 photographs of signboards of shops, restaurants, internet cafes, and offices. Results suggested that majority of signboards are bilingual or multilingual. Sign users apparently comply with the official policy particularly with regard to the national language Bahasa Melayu (BM) in terms of font size and language sequencing. However, some shopkeepers tend to use strategies to circumvent the policy. Simultaneous accommodation and resistance to the official policy characterizes these strategies, some of which are driven by commercial motives. A common approach is to create names in the English language. A recurrent strategy is that of using multiple codes or languages on a single signboard. We conclude that power apparently sets the tone for language ideology on signboards, and that language ideology in Malaysia ‘serves to rationalize existing social structures and dominant linguistic practices, particularly through their institutionalization in official language policy’ (Lanza and Woldemariam, 2009: 189). However, we suggest that it is important that policies with regard to linguistic landscape be based on sociolinguistic science including cultural, racial and political demands.
References
Asmah, H. O. (1987). Malay in its Sociocultural Context. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Blommaert, J. (2005). Discourse: A Critical Introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511610295
Blommaert, J. (2016). The conservative turn in linguistic landscape studies (Academic). Retrieved 9 January, from Alternative Democracy Research Organization (Online) http://alternative-democracy-research.org/2016/01/05/the-conservative-turn-in-linguistic-landscape-studies/
Bolton, K. (2012). World Englishes and linguistic landscapes. World Englishes, 31 (1), 30–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2011.01748.x
David, M. K., and Govindasamy, S. (2005). Negotiating a language policy for Malaysia: Local demand for affirmative action versus challenges from globalization. In S. Canagarajah (Ed.), Reclaiming the Local in Language Policy and Practice, 140–155. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
David, M. K., and Govindasamy, S. (2007). The construction of national identity and globalization in multilingual Malaysia. In A. Tsui and J. W. Tollefson (Eds), Language Policy, Culture, and Identity in Asian Contexts, 55–72. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Ethnologue. (2015). Languages of the World. Retrieved 15 June, from https://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/country
Gill, S. K. (2005). Language policy in Malaysia: Reversing direction. Language Policy, 4 (3): 241–260. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10993-005-7859-9
Gill, S. K. (2007). Shift in language policy in Malaysia: Unravelling reasons for change, conflict and compromise in mother-tongue education. AILA Review 20, 106–122. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/aila.20.09gil
GOM. (1972–2007). Ruling on Language of Advertisement (Signage). Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur: MPPJ (Petaling Jaya).
GOM. (2015). Census (2010). Government of Malaysia Retrieved from www.Statistics.Gov.My/.
Gorter, D. (2006). Linguistic Landscape: A New Approach to Multilingualism. Clevedon and Toronto: Multilingual Matters.
Gorter, D., and Cenoz, J. (2008). Knowledge about language and linguistic landscape. In N. H. Hornberger (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 2090–2102. New York: Springer US. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_160
Irvine, J. (1989). When talk isn’t cheap: Language and political economy. American Ethnologist 16: 248–267. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/ae.1989.16.2.02a00040
Kaplan, R. B., and Baldauf, R. B. (1997). Language Planning: From Practice to Theory. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
Kontra, M., Phillipson, R., Skutnabb-Kangas, T., and Várady, T. (2000). Introduction: Conceptualising and implementing linguistic human rights. In M. Kontra, R. Phillipson, T. Skutnabb-Kangas and T. Várady (Eds), Language, a Right and a Resource: Approaching Linguistic Human Rights, 1–24. Budapest: Central European University Press.
Lai, M. L. (2012). The linguistic landscape of Hong Kong after the change of sovereignty. International Journal of Multilingualism, 10 (3): 251–272. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2012.708036
Landry, R., and Bourhis, R. Y. (1997). Linguistic landscape and ethnolinguistic vitality: An empirical study. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 16 (1): 23–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0261927X970161002
Lanza, E., and Woldemariam, H. (2009). Language ideology and linguistic landscape: Language policy and globalization in a regional capital of Ethiopia. In E. G. Shohamy and D. Gorter (Eds), Linguistic Landscape: Expanding the Scenery, 189–205. New York: Routledge.
Leclerc, J. (1989). La guerre des langues dans l'affichage: essai. Montréal: VLB.
Manan, S. A., David, M. K., Dumanig, F. P., and Naqeebullah, K. (2014). Politics, economics and identity: Mapping the linguistic landscape of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. International Journal of Multilingualism, 12 (1): 31–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2014.905581
Martin, P. W. (2005). ‘Safe’ language practices in two rural schools in Malaysia: Tensions between policy and practice. In A. Lin and P. W. Martin (Eds), Decolonisation, Globalisation: Language-in-Education Policy and Practice, 74–97. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
May, S. (2005). Language rights: Moving the debate forward. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 9 (3): 319–347. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-6441.2005.00295.x
MBPJ. (2014). Petaling Jaya. Petaling Jaya (Kuala Lumpur): Retrieved from http://www.mbpj.gov.my/web/guest/mbpj.
Shohamy, E. G. (2006). Language Policy: Hidden Agendas and New Approaches: Abingdon: Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203387962
Shohamy, E. G., and Gorter, D. (2009). Linguistic Landscape Expanding the Scenery. New York: Routledge.
Spolsky, B. (2009). Language Management. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511626470
Tsui, A., and Tollefson, J. W. (2004). The centrality of medium-of-instruction policy in sociopolitical processes. In A. B. M. Tsui and J. W. Tollefson (Eds), Medium of Instruction Policies: Which Agenda? Whose Agenda? 1–20. London and Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Woolard, K. A. (1998). Introduction: Language ideology as a field of inquiry. In B. B. Schieffelin, K. A. Woolard and P. V. Kroskrity (Eds), Language Ideologies: Practice and Theory, 3–47. New York: Oxford University Press.
