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Article
Publication date: 6 August 2024

Bakr Bagash Mansour Ahmed Al-Sofi

This site-based study employed a sociolinguistic approach to investigate the linguistic landscape and multilingualism displayed on signs in Marib, a historical and tourist city in…

Abstract

Purpose

This site-based study employed a sociolinguistic approach to investigate the linguistic landscape and multilingualism displayed on signs in Marib, a historical and tourist city in Yemen. The study focused on the types and functions of these signs, as well as people's perceptions of the status quo of the linguistic landscape.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed-methods approach was used to collect data. Signs in tourist areas were photographed, and subsequent semi-structured interviews were conducted with relevant individuals to achieve the study's objectives.

Findings

The results revealed that both multilingual and monolingual signs coexist, with multilingual signs being more prevalent. Multilingual signs, which were official (top-down), served informational and symbolic functions, while monolingual signs, which were informal (bottom-up), served purely informational purposes. Bilingual signs were not present at the research sites. Interviewees generally expressed their satisfaction with multilingualism, as both national (Arabic and Musnad) and international (English) languages coexisted. However, they highlighted a deficiency in the number of signs at the research sites.

Practical implications

This study suggested intensifying efforts to include more signs, augmented with QR codes, to convey an appealing image of the linguistic landscape and provide visitors with information about these sites. Exposing students to the linguistic landscape can significantly enhance their English learning.

Originality/value

This study contributes to existing literature by providing further insights into the linguistic landscape in tourist destinations in Marib city. It offers the local and global community a better understanding of why and how the linguistic landscape should be improved and presented more appropriately.

Details

Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-1266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2024

Abduljalil Nasr Hazaea, Abdullah Alfaifi and Bakr Bagash Mansour Ahmed Al-Sofi

This study aims to examine the language choices of outdoor signs and menus in addition to the functions of outdoor signs in restaurants in a Saudi tourist city, Abha. The primary…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the language choices of outdoor signs and menus in addition to the functions of outdoor signs in restaurants in a Saudi tourist city, Abha. The primary focus is on identifying the extent to which outdoor signs accurately represent the language choices of restaurant menus.

Design/methodology/approach

The study developed a conceptual framework for the linguistic landscape (LL) of restaurants. It employed a quantitative approach to collect outdoor signs and menus of 75 sampled restaurants in Abha using online photos and a smartphone camera. Then it analyzed the frequency and percentage of language choices on outdoor signs and menus as well as the extent to which language choices of outdoor signs represent menus.

Findings

The findings indicate that more than half (58.66%) of the restaurants employ bilingual signage in both Arabic and English. Other languages like Spanish, French, Chinese and Turkish are sporadically used, with multilingualism observed only in isolated instances. The study also reveals that bi/multilingualism on outdoor signs primarily serves informational purposes, where more than one-third (36%) of the outdoor signs use languages other than Arabic to serve a symbolic function. Regarding menus, Arabic and English dominate, while Turkish appears on one menu. Spanish, French, and Chinese are absent from restaurant menus, indicating linguistic mismatch in terms of language choices.

Originality/value

This study contributes to LL studies of restaurants in tourist cities by showing language choices and functions of outdoor signs and their alignment with menus.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 May 2024

Shuaib Ahmed Soomro

Understanding linguistic profiling and its substantial consequences on employee career development is essential in diverse workplaces. This study utilizes Levinson’s eras and…

Abstract

Purpose

Understanding linguistic profiling and its substantial consequences on employee career development is essential in diverse workplaces. This study utilizes Levinson’s eras and career development theories to analyze the complicated relationship between linguistic profiling and biases, which hamper employee career development.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used an interpretive methodology and conducted thematic data analysis. It documented lessons learned from diverse viewpoints through semi-structured interviews with 19 participants conducted in November and December 2022.

Findings

The study demonstrates that linguistic discrimination occurs in diverse workplaces. After data exploration, four intriguing themes appeared. The first theme was related to employees who were discriminated against because of various languages. This shows how often language choice affects employees. The second theme examined how linguistic profiling intersected with marginalized groups, increasing discrimination. The third theme, linguistic profiling and career development showed that bias had a huge influence on career progression. The fourth theme emphasizes organizational policies for preventing language discrimination, promoting career growth and inclusive organizations.

Originality/value

This study advances the understanding of linguistic profiling and career development in a multilingual society. In addition, it furthers discourse and provides ways to minimize biases, creating a more inclusive workplace environment.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 July 2024

Mei-fen Kuo

This article explores the overlooked experiences of Chinese students in Australia from the White Australia Policy era to the post-war period. It argues that the emerging post-war…

Abstract

Purpose

This article explores the overlooked experiences of Chinese students in Australia from the White Australia Policy era to the post-war period. It argues that the emerging post-war transitional generation faced racial discrimination and geopolitical challenges, leading to the establishment of student societies and collaborations with religious groups and NGOs. Through writing and publishing in the 1950s and 1960s, they challenged rigid ethnic identities, shaping their ethnic identities, national belonging, language practices, and community involvement amidst historical contexts. Their narratives vividly depict a generational awakening, highlighting complex processes of integration and acculturation into a new societal landscape.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper employs historical discourse analysis using Chinese student magazines and bilingual archives to explore language and identity evolution among Chinese students in 1950s’ and 1960s’ Australia. It contextualizes ethnic, cultural, and linguistic identity transformations and examines how language politics and diaspora writings shaped integration strategies. The study highlights education and language politics' transformative roles in redefining cultural belonging and fostering community cohesion within the diaspora amid shifting socio-political contexts.

Findings

The findings of this study reveal that the concept of the “transitional generation” highlights integration as a dynamic process involving ongoing dialogue, identity negotiation through language, and the redefinition of cultural boundaries. Through analysis of three student-centered magazines – Murhun, Asiana and East Wind – it becomes evident how Chinese students in Australia navigated ethnic, cultural and linguistic identities. Murhun used bilingual content to strengthen solidarity and political engagement among Chinese readers, while Asiana employed English to connect Asian students with Australian society and globally. East Wind facilitated a diverse expression of identity, challenging singular notions of “Chineseness” and promoting cultural integration. These insights reflect a transformative period where Chinese students reshaped their historical position, fostering autonomy and challenging stereotypes like “Yellow Perils”.

Originality/value

This paper examines the often-overlooked experiences of post-war Chinese students in Australia, emphasizing their profound influence on immigration history and shifting public perceptions of Asian immigrants. It introduces the concept of the “transitional generation” to address research gaps and highlight the nuanced complexities of integration, respecting the diverse experiences and identities within this dynamic student community. Emphasizing dynamic negotiation and shared experiences, the study underscores how Australia’s diverse Asian communities have transformative potential. Integration extends beyond adaptation, fostering inclusive spaces for identity negotiation, thriving NGOs and enriching Australia’s social fabric with resilience, diversity and cultural vibrancy.

Details

History of Education Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0819-8691

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 March 2024

Angela Danielle Carter and Stephanie Sisco

This case study, within the context of boundaryless and protean career development frameworks, investigates linguistic profiling and how code-switching is used to mitigate its…

Abstract

Purpose

This case study, within the context of boundaryless and protean career development frameworks, investigates linguistic profiling and how code-switching is used to mitigate its impact on Black leaders during their careers. The experiences of Black women coaches and the coaching support they offered Black women clients in code-switching, leadership and career advancement are described. The value of leadership coaching when used to navigate these career progression challenges is emphasized.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed a multiple-case study approach of two Black women leadership coaches.

Findings

The findings of this study illustrate the understanding of code-switching and the coaching techniques employed by two Black women leadership coaches. Sage focused on educational strategies, offering historical contexts and resources, while Khadijah leaned on empathy-driven methods, using storytelling to evoke reflection. Both coaches emphasized creating safe spaces for open dialog, encouraged clients to reconsider their actions and values regarding code-switching challenges and sought to prompt clients towards authenticity while navigating career spaces effectively.

Practical implications

Additional strategies for coach practitioners include cultivating trust and a safe environment; active listening; challenging biases and assumptions; contextual understanding; empowering authentic self-expression; fostering skill development; challenging stereotypes; promoting autonomy and flexibility and adopting cross-cultural sensitivity, humility and competence. These practical coaching strategies bridge the gap in career development research by demonstrating how race-conscious strategies can promote workplace inclusivity and promulgate career development.

Originality/value

The study underscores the problem of linguistic profiling, the complexity of code-switching and implications for Black women navigating their career journey within professional spaces. It highlights the significance and value of tailored leadership coaching strategies to promote career advancement. This study addresses the gap in career development research related to linguistic profiling avoidance strategies for workplace inclusivity.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 January 2024

Shakiba Razmeh

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of computer-assisted language learning on cultural adaptation and language learning in non-traditional classroom settings.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of computer-assisted language learning on cultural adaptation and language learning in non-traditional classroom settings.

Design/methodology/approach

The data of this study came from extended periods of observation, multiple rounds of semi-structured interviews and home visits. Using narrative inquiry, it analyzes an immigrant's journey of language learning and cultural adaptation within a virtual knowledge community.

Findings

The findings of this study reveal the profound impact of virtual knowledge communities on enhancing second language learning and facilitating cultural adaptation.

Originality/value

This study offers original insights by demonstrating the transformative power of virtual knowledge communities for the purpose of second language acquisition and cultural adaptation.

Details

Journal for Multicultural Education, vol. 18 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-535X

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Refugees in Higher Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-975-2

Abstract

Details

Journal of Global Responsibility, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2041-2568

Article
Publication date: 26 December 2023

Baburhan Uzum, Bedrettin Yazan, Sedat Akayoglu and Ufuk Keles

This study aims to examine how teacher candidates (TCs) in Türkiye and the USA navigate their intercultural communication skills in a telecollaboration project.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how teacher candidates (TCs) in Türkiye and the USA navigate their intercultural communication skills in a telecollaboration project.

Design/methodology/approach

Forty-eight TCs participated (26 in Türkiye and 22 in the USA) in the study. TCs discussed critical issues in multicultural education on an online learning platform for six weeks. Their discussions were analyzed using content and discourse analysis.

Findings

The findings indicated that TCs approached the telecollaborative space as a translingual contact zone and positioned themselves and their interlocutors in the discourse by using the personal pronouns; I, we, you and they. When they positioned themselves using we (people in Türkiye/USA), they spoke on behalf of everyone included in the scope of we. Their interlocutors responded to these positionings either by accepting this positioning and responding with a parallel positioning or by engaging in translingual negotiation strategies to revise the scope of we and sharing some differences/nuances in beliefs and practices in their community.

Research limitations/implications

When TCs talk about their culture and community in a singular manner using we, they frame them as the same across every member in that community. When they ask questions to each other using you, the framing of the questions prime the respondents to sometimes relay their own specific experiences as the norm or consider experiences from different points of view through translingual negotiation strategies. A singular approach to culture(s) may affect the marginalized communities the most because they are lost in this representation, and their experiences and voices are not integrated in the narratives or integrated with stereotypical representation.

Practical implications

Teachers and teacher educators should first pay attention to their language choices, especially use of pronouns, which may communicate inclusion or exclusion in intercultural conversations. Next, they should prepare their students to adopt and practice language choices that communicate respect for cultural diversity and are inclusive of marginalized populations.

Social implications

Speakers’ pronoun use includes identity construction in discourse by drawing borders around and between communities and cultures with generalization and particularity, and by patrolling those borders to decide who is included and excluded. As a response, interlocutors use pronouns either to acknowledge those borders and respond with corresponding ones from their own context or negotiate alternative representations or further investigate for particularity or complexity. In short, pronouns could lead the direction of intercultural conversations toward criticality and complexity or otherwise, and might be reasons where there are breakdowns in communication or to fix those breakdowns.

Originality/value

This study shows that translingual negotiation strategies have explanatory power to examine how speakers from different language backgrounds negotiate second and third order positionings in the telecollaborative space.

Details

Journal for Multicultural Education, vol. 18 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-535X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 January 2024

Ziyuan Xu, Yuanyuan Cao and Hirotaka Matsuoka

The impact of various factors on how TV sports audiences perceive sport event sponsors’ billboards around sports facilities has been the subject of extensive research. Despite…

Abstract

Purpose

The impact of various factors on how TV sports audiences perceive sport event sponsors’ billboards around sports facilities has been the subject of extensive research. Despite numerous factors that impact the effectiveness of sponsor signage at sporting events, there has been a lack of research regarding the language used for such signage around sports facilities’ billboards. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of billboard advertisement language on TV sports audiences’ recognition, recall and search intention to sponsor signage.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed an online experimental design. Participants (n = 925) were recruited from two linguistically different regions: Chinese and English. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: watching tennis video matches with billboard advertisements presented in either the Roman alphabet exclusively or in a combination of the Roman alphabet and Chinese characters.

Findings

This study revealed that although language cannot significantly impact audiences’ unaided recall of a brand, it does have a discernible effect on brand recognition and search intention among audiences. Additionally, people are more likely to search for brands in their native language. Participants from various regions tend to have different recognition rates and search intentions for sport sponsors.

Originality/value

This is the first manuscript examining the use of different languages in relation to audiences’ recognition and recall of sports sponsorship. It provides empirical evidence of the importance of carefully considering the language used in sponsor signage around stadium billboards to optimize the efficacy of sponsorships at sports events.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 36 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

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