Language Contestation of Tourism Spots at Braga Street, Bandung (A Linguistic Landscape Study)

The border between Indonesia and Timor Leste presents a rich and complex sociolinguistic landscape, shaped by centuries of historical, cultural, and economic interactions between communities on both sides. This study investigates the vitality of local languages in the border regions using a linguistic landscape approach, with a particular focus on the presence and function of public signage in urban centers and along cross-border routes. The research aims to explore three core aspects: (1) the presence and status of local languages in public spaces, (2) the influence of cross-border mobility and interaction on language use, and (3) the broader implications for language policy and efforts at cultural preservation. Fieldwork was conducted in the Indonesian towns of Kefamenanu and Atambua, as well as at the cross-border posts, where both government and privately installed signs were analyzed. The findings reveal that Indonesian overwhelmingly dominates public signage, while local languages such as Tetum, Dawan, and Kupang Malay are notably underrepresented despite their continued use in daily conversation and cultural expression. Factors such as urbanization, internal migration, national language policy, and educational priorities have contributed to the reduced public visibility of these regional languages. The study argues that public signage is a powerful tool that reflects broader linguistic hierarchies and power relations. To revitalize and sustain local languages, it recommends the integration of bilingual or multilingual signage, the incorporation of local languages in educational curricula and tourism programs, and collaborative cross-border initiatives aimed at promoting shared linguistic and cultural heritage.

Diachronic and synchronic studies of linguistic landscapes of central streets and markets were conducted in five cities in Ukraine with different language use preferences in 2015 and 2017–19. The relationship between a monolingual state language policy and the reality of language use in public spaces was investigated. This study focuses on the dynamics of the linguistic landscape of Odesa, a Russian-speaking city with a weak historical connection to the state of Ukraine, and compares them with the linguistic landscapes of central Kyiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Lviv. Linguistic landscape data are complemented with semi-structured interviews investigating de jure policies, de facto practices, and beliefs of individuals who make their language choices in public signage, often contesting the official language policy regulations. Linguistic data can deliver messages about power, values, and the salience of languages used in public places. This mixed-methods research is grounded in a critical ethnographic approach to the study of language policy, politics, and planning. The linguistic landscape in Odesa, a polyethnic city, is exceptionally dynamic in reflecting the de facto language policy in the city. The effects of globalization and language commodification were marked by compliance with the official policy on the central street, but proof of inhabitants’ identity with the Russian language as the lingua franca was evident as the data collection site moved away from the city centre. This synchronic and diachronic studies of languages in Odesa is compared with the languages spoken in four Ukrainian regions and marks a proportional increase in the presence of two main languages—Ukrainian and Russian—independent of the Ukrainization efforts of the state at the time of war. It also suggests that an increase in the use of English, as observed in Odesa, is a way to avoid using the state language.

This study investigates the linguistic landscape of Tbilisi’s city centre, with a particular focus on the visibility and spatial distribution of Georgian, English, and Russian across public signage. As a rapidly globalizing urban space with a complex sociolinguistic history, Tbilisi offers a compelling case for examining how language is used in public settings and what this reveals about identity, power relations, and sociopolitical dynamics in contemporary Georgia. The research aims to explore the symbolic and communicative roles of these three languages in the city’s central and touristically attractive areas, where commercial and cultural activity is dense and language use is often strategic. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative analysis with qualitative interpretation. The dataset comprises 45 photographs of business signs, restaurant menus, and graffiti collected through purposive sampling in Tbilisi's urban core. The images were selected based on their diversity of language use, visibility, and relevance to both local and tourist audiences. Each image was analysed using a set of linguistic landscape analytical criteria, including language prominence, script type, placement, and intended audience. Special attention was paid to whether languages appeared monolingually or multilingually, and how language choice might reflect broader economic or political motivations. Findings indicate that English has become the most prominent language in Tbilisi’s city centre signage, often appearing independently or as the primary language in multilingual signs. This dominance reflects English’s global status and the growing emphasis on tourism, international business, and modernity. Georgian, despite being the official state language and a central component of national identity, more often appears alongside English rather than as a standalone medium, particularly in commercial contexts. This pattern raises important questions about the symbolic status of the Georgian language in spaces of high visibility and economic activity. Russian, once a dominant language in public and private domains during the Soviet era, now appears less frequently, reflecting both shifts in language policy and demographic changes, including decreased Russian-speaking populations and evolving political relationships. This research contributes to the growing field of linguistic landscape studies by offering empirical evidence from a post-Soviet, multilingual context. It highlights how language in public spaces is not only a matter of communication but also a reflection of broader sociocultural hierarchies, economic forces, and political ideologies. The study’s findings have implications for language policy, urban planning, and debates surrounding cultural identity in Georgia and comparable transitional societies.

One intriguing aspect in linguistic studies is linguistic landscape, which encompasses the use of language in public spaces. This research aims to delineate the syntactic characteristics of information boards within self-cleaning temples (Malukat) situated in Gianyar, Bali. Furthermore, it investigates the function of the bilingual information boards' (Indonesian and English). The study employs a qualitative method to elucidate the syntactic scopes and semantic functions found in the informational boards. The analysis draws from landscape linguistics theory by Yendra and Artawa (2020) and incorporates micro-linguistics theories, including Noortyani's (2017) syntactic scope theory, Landry and Bourhis (1997) linguistic landscape theory, and Nida's (2000) translation equivalence theory. Findings reveal that temple information boards exhibit diverse syntactic scopes, predominantly in the form of sentences, as they convey detailed and comprehensible information to visitors. The semiotic function employed in public space signboards predominantly features informational and symbolic functions, contributing to the overall linguistic landscape of the temple environment. The research concludes the fact that the dynamic relationship between language, culture, and public spaces, emphasizing the need for a nuanced approach to linguistic analysis in diverse environments.

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.’

ABSTRACTAlthough Singapore, a linguistically and ethnically diverse city–state, uses four official languages, namely Malay, Mandarin, Tamil, and English, which are supposed to enjoy equal status, there appears to be a pecking order to these languages. English seems to be the dominant language when taking into consideration the bilingual education policy, numerous campaigns promoting its use in terms of spoken language, and language use by the media. Another mechanism that also contributes to the predominance of English over the other three official languages is linguistic landscape, i.e. language use in public space. Adopting the ecology of language as its conceptual framework and linguistic landscape as its methodological tool, this article, by analyzing public signs in and around 30 MRT (Mass Rapid Transport) stations of the Circle Line (CCL), discloses not only English imperialism but also the complexity of this language in Singapore with its dual identity as a global language as well as a local one. Consequentially, it is postulated that Singapore is monolingual- rather than bilingual- or multilingual-oriented.

The aim of the paper is to show and describe the current situation in the Latvian scientific language based on a case study of the problem about the place of a national language and its existence in science in modern globalised time, when the dominance of English as the lingua franca of science grows. More specifically, the paper analyses the November 2019 conceptual plans of the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science about a new concept of doctoral study programmes that would lean towards using English as the doctoral dissertation language in hopes for scientific excellence, and the public reaction and opinion on this concept. The descriptive method is used within the paper, including the contemporary literature review focused on the language of science globally, issues of multilingualism and glocalization, and the problems caused by these issues. Via empirical discourse content analysis, the authors looked at various documents, including Latvian law that governs the rights and rules of the Latvian language use in various contexts. They examined a wide array of mainly online content and diverse online community discourse related to the question of what language should be used (Latvian or English) within the doctoral dissertation process. For a comparison of the situation, the paper also provides a brief insight into the regulation of the language used in the development of dissertations in Lithuania. During the study, 21 different sources, that is, articles posted on various Latvian news media sites and 304 online user comments, predominantly anonymous, under these articles relating to the issue of language choice in doctoral dissertations were analysed. All the mentioned sources, to a greater or lesser extent, discussed the issue of what place Latvian has as a language of science and whether English should be the dominant language in doctoral studies, what implications the choice and usage of a language could have, and what far-reaching impact this might have on science, education, and society. The material revealed a breadth of opinions, depending on what group a person is more likely to represent, ranging from the Ministry stance to organisations and the general public. Some had a very pro-English stance, and some showed significant concern for the Latvian language. The main trend in online community user opinions could be condensed as such: there is a variety of language choices for a doctoral dissertation – a dissertation written in Latvian; a dissertation written in English; or leaving the language choice up to the doctoral student. This would ensure that the language choice fits the doctoral students’ goals and field of research. Making English mandatory would not likely lead to guarantee scientific excellence as what matters is the research content itself, not the language used. The national language in science is a current and important issue in Latvia, as there is a need for state language use in a scientific register, and this usage should be developed further. The Ministry document discussed is still a draft report, and it is not yet known what final decisions on the PhD process and dissertation language will be taken by policymakers in the future. This paper shows that language choice and use in science is not just a matter for scholars and PhD candidates, but an issue that can and does gain interest from various groups of society and gets discussed online in multiple ways, allowing people to express their opinion on policy and societal issues. Latvian is a scientific language, and it has a place within the international scientific discourse, and it should not be made to step aside for the dominant lingua franca.

This study examines how socioeconomic status (SES) and linguistic diversity shape the multilingualism in the linguistic landscape (LL) of Columbus, Ohio, a Midwestern U.S. city. Using a social-spatial framework (Lefebvre, 1991) of LL in lived, perceived, and conceived spaces, a systematic survey of the LL was conducted across nine city areas. The photographic data were used to design a survey probing residents’ language ideologies related to their everyday LL encounters. Findings reveal that while the overall percentage of multilingual signs aligned with the city's foreign-born population, the languages represented in the LL did not reflect the significant populations of Somali and Arabic speakers in Columbus. Neither SES nor linguistic diversity straightforwardly predicted the prevalence of multilingual signs; however, they shaped language ideologies in specific survey items, with middle-class participants showing more aligned views than low and high SES groups. The data also suggested that while multilingualism was widely visible and accepted in Columbus, it remained contested in certain domains. English dominance and linguistic prestige continued to influence how linguistic diversity was perceived and manifested in public spaces. The absence of formal policies supporting multilingualism leaves signage largely in the hands of private establishments, where resistance to such policies persists.

The study of linguistic landscape (LL) has developed in the last ten years following the publication of Landry and Bourhis (1997) and has continued up to more recent works such as Gorter (2006) and Shohamy and Gorter (2009). LL studies regarding the use of languages in Spain have focused on the Basque country, and more specifically on the use of Spanish, Basque, and English in the city of Donostia-San Sebastian (Cenoz and Gorter, 2006). Regarding Catalan, several previous studies have described the use of Spanish and Catalan in public signs, but they were carried out mainly for practical reasons related to the implementation of language policy. This chapter builds on previous research on signage in public spaces in Barcelona by examining the LL of three streets. The results are discussed in relation to current studies that adopt a theoretical and descriptive perspective (e.g. Shohamy and Gorter, 2009).

The study of linguistic landscapes (LL) examines the use of signage in public spaces, often with a focus on the use of non-majority languages. The main goals of this project are to map, quantify, and analyze signage in Spanish within Tuscaloosa County, AL, an emerging site of Spanish language use which differs from the large urban places often studied in the LL literature. Photographs of public signage in Spanish were taken and uploaded to an ArcGIS Field Maps app to allow for both geolocation of the image and tagging of the image for specific linguistic and visual characteristics, which are subsumed under multimodality. Multimodality refers to the interaction of the linguistic code with other modes of communication such as images, colors, flags, and other cultural objects to make meaning in a given LL text. Within the multimodality framework, we examine the use of Spanish by itself or with English, location of the signage, communicative functions (symbolic, informative), and the combination of multimodal resources to index the actors originating the text and their intended audience.

Summary: The present contribution studies the written presence of different languages in the public space of the municipality of Llívia (Cerdanya / Pyrenees), an enclave of the Spanish state on French territory. Applying the sociolinguistic methodology known as Linguistic Landscape Studies, it analyzes the use of Catalan, Castilian, French and English in bottom-up commercial signage in Llívia. It turns out that Catalan predominates in the old town center, while along the main thoroughfare, written language use shows more variation. French, despite being less frequent in absolute terms, shows up prominently and with high visibility in certain commercial branches such as gastronomy and health / beauty / wellness services. [Keywords: Linguistic Landscape Studies; bottomup signs; border towns; multilingualism; Llívia; Cerdanya; Catalonian Pyrenees]

The linguistic situation in most African countries has been described as trifocal as it often involves three linguistic levels, namely an ex-colonial language, a major indigenous language and a certain number of minority languages. Each of these languages is a custodian of long established societal norms, social practices and cultural expressions. However, the growing tendency of the expanded use of the major languages, as languages of wider communication, has given rise to the development of marked bilingualism among the minority language speakers with the progressive use of the major languages as primary languages. This article explores the conflicts in cultural norms and values that have been brought about by the use of one code in a cultural and social context of the other and the effects of this development on the cultural future of the minority language speakers or their mastery of the cultural norms of the major languages. One of the main arguments is that the erosion of cultural values in minority languages in favour of those of the major languages is one of the major indicators of the process of language shift. Case studies are used from situations in eastern and southern Africa, namely Tanzania and Botswana.

Kuta in Bali, is an over developed urban city, observed through the emergence of outdoor signs along the main streets. However, there were no local laws to regulate the use of local language in public spaces, which led to the marginalisation of the Balinese language. In 2018, Bali’s Governor Regulation no. 80/2018 was issued to regulate the use of languages in Bali, exclusively to maintain local language in public spaces. This study is aimed at investigating the effect of the regulation on the use of local language in Kuta’s public spaces. The data were collected from six main streets in Kuta in January 2020. The result showed that the Balinese language had gained a prestigious position in public space with its addition on many outdoor signages. Conversely, this regulation is alleged to violate national law that obliges all public signs be in the Indonesian language and placed above local and or foreign languages on the same sign board.

This paper projects the phenomenon of outbursts, insults, inflammatory and foul-language use in the public space and its implications on the moral fabric of the Ghanaian society. The objective is to sensitize the public of this negative development in the hope to encourage the use of decent language in the public space. It gives a background to the use of language in society as a normative practice in all societies and the legal implications of language use in public space in modern society. Furthermore, it throws light on the theory of ethical language, focusing on four approaches that facilitate understanding and meaning of ethical sentences. The use of language in the public space has been reviewed referencing existing literature and various case studies in different locations in contemporary times as a background to the paper. Methodological issues factored purposefully sampled views of two-hundred and nineteen respondents drawn from university campuses and the general public, in Kumasi and Accra. Research design essentialized mixed methods, integrating the explorative, qualitative and interpretive tools. Views were elicited through the tool of a survey questionnaire supported by field and library data. Data display, reduction, mapping and verified conclusion served as indices of analysis. Findings include the general awareness of worsening foul language use with incendiary and vituperative undertones in the Ghanaian public space and unanimity in the call for multisectoral and synergistic effort to salvage the situation as a matter of urgency. Keywords: Vituperative, Incendiary, Incivility.

Linguistic landscape research is an emerging field of applied linguistics. In recent years increasing numbers of researchers have analyzed the texts on signs in public spaces in different sociolinguistic contexts around the world. These contexts are predominantly urban and multilingual. Current research covers a series of innovative empirical and theoretical studies that deal with important themes such as language policy, the spread of English, minority languages, multimodality, and other issues such as language ecology, tourism, graffiti, or economic analysis. Collecting data about the linguistic landscape has become a significant research tool, as well as an important data source for studies of multilingualism. Overall, the various emerging perspectives in linguistic landscape studies are an additional source of information about multilingual and multimodal processes and can deepen our understanding of multilingualism, urban spaces, and language users. Linguistic landscape studies will certainly get more attention in the coming years as the results of several ongoing projects become available. Many questions are still open and there is a need for further data, refinement of methodologies, foundation of theories, and useful applications.