Linguistic Landscape Of Shanghai From A Translanguaging Perspective

The field of linguistic landscape can not only interpret the multilingual distribution but also reveal the social and cultural relationship between language practices and people’s perceptions.When there is a rapid development of multilingualism along with the acceleration of globalization,linguistic landscape has captured more multimodal features,which have yet been paid little attention to.In recent years,translanguaging theory has sprung up as one of the new research perspectives on multilingualism,which claims that translanguaging is a practice and a process in which the boundaries of different named languages,language varieties,and other linguistic resources are broken to form a translanguaging space,to reconstruct the meaning and to promote the creativity and criticality of multilingual users.However,the existing research about translanguaging in naturally occurring contexts seldom considers the written form.Therefore,the author believes that applying translanguaging theory to studying the multilingual and multimodal features of linguistic landscape can generate some innovative implications in this field.This thesis sets out to explore linguistic landscape from the perspective of translanguaging theory by taking the mixed methods approach.First,the author starts with a field research study by taking photos of 1602 linguistic landscapes in a collection of 10 symbolic and diversified multilingual sites in Shanghai.Second,32 residents and passers-by from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds have been interviewed on their understanding of the translanguaging practices in the linguistic landscapes.Drawing on the “three-dimensional space theory” proposed by Trumper-Hecht(2010)and translanguaging theory brought up by Li(2018),the author has developed a modified triad model of “three-dimensional space theory”.Then the data is both quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed to reveal the multilingual and multimodal features of the linguistic landscape of Shanghai and people’s perceptions of the multi-layered features of these linguistic landscapes.Results illuminate that in the spatial practice dimension,language diversity combines both the international vision of interacting with named foreign language(s)and the cultural inheritance from the local dialects,revealing people’s international and local identity.In the lived space dimension,linguistic landscape is a creative and critical multimodal practice,reflecting the universality and specificity of language vitality in different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.In the conceived space,both national and municipal language laws and regulations play an important role in the practice and development of linguistic landscapes.Nowadays,the translanguaging practice shows both conflicts and integration with the existing language policies.The linguistic landscape of multilingual cities is gradually contributing to the diversified use and harmonious development of multilingual and multimodal resources.By revealing the translanguaging features of linguistic landscape,this study provides a better way for us to understand people’s glocal identity.Meanwhile,the data and conclusions of this case study can provide references for language policymakers and for companies or individuals who intend to engage in the designing and shaping of linguistic landscapes.