Abstract
English is the most used lingua franca and its permeation is mainly through education sector. This expansion is reflected through the display of English coexisting with other languages in education sites. Linguistic landscape study in school sites helps to explain the functions of language choices in school signs. In Indonesia, the use of English captured in school signs have been frequently investigated focusing in their relation with urban communities, yet, the co-existence of languages in signages in sub-urban schools are still rarely investigated. To fill this gap, we scrutinized the languages present on Indonesian sub-urban schools focusing on their patterns and associations. 101 school signs were collected from three senior high schools in sub-urban areas in Jember, Magetan and Situbondo. The display patterns were analyzed based on the number of languages present in the signs and interpreted socio-culturally. This study found three patterns of the suburban school signs: monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual signs consisting of five different languages: Indonesian, English, Arabic, Sanskrit, and Latin. Indonesian becomes the dominant language used, and is followed by English. English is mostly used in schools that have history as international schools. In addition, Arabic is mostly used in school located in Islamic environment as a form of self-identification, and Sanskrit is used as a cultural symbol in the school located in dominant Javanese community. In conclusion, location and socio-cultural context influence the language used in school.
Highlights
Nelson and Aarts (1999) confirm that English has spread to all five continents and has become a global language, and the most used language than others
There were 50 signs that were found as the data; 27 signs wre written in Bahasa Indonesia, and the rest 23 are written in English
The obligatory to use the Indonesian language as a language of instruction in education (Departemen Pendidikan Nasional Republik Indonesia, 2003; Kementerian Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia Republik Indonesia, 2009) and have it as a compulsory subject taught at all school levels (Departemen Pendidikan Nasional Republik Indonesia, 2003) have developed perception in the community that it is mandatory for students to use Bahasa Indonesia at school both in speaking or writing
Summary
Nelson and Aarts (1999) confirm that English has spread to all five continents and has become a global language, and the most used language than others. The outer circle includes British and American post-colonial countries where English is chosen as a second language and extensively used in social life and the government sector. In these countries, English are used as a lingua franca in inter-ethnic interactions. The last is expanding circle which includes countries that use English as an important foreign language to facilitate them for international trade and communication exchanges. In these countries, English takes an important role in education. Countries fall into this circle are for instance China, Germany, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Japan
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