A Study of Linguistic Landscapes in Nanning City, China

Abstract

Transnational and transcultural integration due to globalization may impact language use. One way to view these impacts is from the lens of linguistic landscape. This study examines the languages used on the linguistic landscape (LL) in the four main areas of Nanning City to (1) identify what features characterize the LL in Nanning City, (2) identify what language dominates the LL of Nanning City and (3) analyze how the LL of Nanning City are constructed under the current language policy of China. The findings indicate that the LL in the four main areas of Nanning City (Huo Ju Road, Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center, Walking Street and Wu Xiang Square) are characterized by multilingual signs using several foreign languages with English as the most dominant among those foreign languages, appearing in about 88.90% of the total data gathered. Moreover, the predominance of non-official LL on Walking Street (Tourism Center) and Wu Xiang Square (Business and Economic Center) suggests that the initiative to use English on LL is spearheaded by the private sector. The increased number of mutually translated LL construes the careful planning of multilingual LL prior to displaying regardless of whether they are from the government agencies or private establishments. This is in accordance with China’s liberal policy on foreign languages that includes “(1) the standardization of Chinese, (2) the propagation of English, and (3) the development of minority languages” (Jingjing, 2013, p. 45), with English language education recognized to have paramount importance in the national modernization and development of China.