| Linguistic landscape research focuses on language use of various signs in public spaces and the symbolic meaning behind them.Since its inception in 1997,it has rapidly grown into a hot field of sociolinguistics and applied linguistics where enormous achievements have been made.However,there have been relatively few empirical studies in this field in China.Therefore,there is still a lot of room for development.With “triadic model of space” and “code preference” as its theoretical guidance,this research investigated the linguistic landscape of the “Exotic Street”,one of the most concentrated area of immigrants in Yiwu city.In addition,it has explored the sign writers’ intentions of using different languages on signs as well as readers’ attitude towards the linguistic landscape.It was found that:(1)The linguistic landscape of the “Exotic Street” was significantly multilingual with more than ten languages appearing in the public space,and the dominant languages that stood out in the multilingual competition were Chinese,English and Arabic in order;(2)Language policy and language planning of the authority was inconsistent with the language attitude of the civilians.Language use on official signs strictly followed the current language policy with relatively single language choice.Languages eligible to appear on official signs were Chinese and English.The authority tended to express and strengthen the power relations by highlighting the dominant position of Chinese;Language choice and code preference for nonofficial signs were more diverse.Chinese remained dominant,but its dominant position has been weakened,and highlighting of foreign languages on signs was not a rare sight;(3)Sign writers’ intention of using different languages was not only regulated by the official language policy,but also closely related to different individuals’ language proficiency,the understanding of the symbolic value of languages,the recognition of self andothers’ identities.In addition,both Chinese readers and foreign readers had a high identity of English on signs,and foreign readers had an urgent need for the establishment and improvement of multilingual signs. |
