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Linguistic landscape and exclusion : an examination of language representation in disaster signage in Japan
Author
Tan, Mei Shan
Supervisor
Selim Ben Said
Abstract
Using the framework proposed by Scollon and Scollon (2003) on geosemiotics, i.e. “the meanings of all signs and symbols in the material world are anchored by their location and the way they are placed” (p. 2), this study will examine the trends of emergency information dissemination in Japan and how these currently exclude the non-Japanese speaking audience with potentially disastrous consequences. Specifically, this study will be focused on trends present in what Landry and Bourhis (1997) define as the linguistic landscape (LL), which is “the language of public road signs, advertising, billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings…” (p. 25). Although the Japanese government has promoted a policy of multiculturalism in recent years in order to welcome more tourists and professional skilled labour to her shores, this analysis of Japan’s emergency LL in two coastal areas in Japan, Matsushima Kaigan Station area in Miyagi Prefecture and Kamakura Station area in Kanagawa Prefecture, has revealed that information regarding evacuation routes in the event of emergencies are still predominantly monolingual. In addition, the lack of governance with regards to the creation of such LL by any central entity of the Japanese government has also given rise to problems such as the lack of uniformity in the creation of evacuation LL and the shortage of directional signs to lead potential evacuees to the nearest and most suitable evacuation locations in the vicinity. As such, when emergencies like earthquakes and tsunamis strike, non-Japanese speaking persons might find them in the unenviable position of being unable to obtain information necessary to their survival.
Date Issued
2014
Call Number
P40.5.L56 Tan
Date Submitted
2014