Sociolinguistics Symposium 19
Freie Universität Berlin | August 21-24, 2012
Programme: accepted abstracts
Abstract ID: 937
Part of Session 132: Re-writing and Engaging with Urban Spaces via Linguistic Landscape (Other abstracts in this session)
A Travel Diary in Jaffa: The Effect of the Development of Linguistic Landscape Awareness on Attitudes and Perceptions among Jewish and Arab Teenagers
Authors: Havazki, Ricki; Shohamy, Elana
Submitted by: Shohamy, Elana (Tel Aviv University, Israel)
While Linguistic Landscape (LL) exists in urban spaces all around, there is little awareness of it by the "walkers". Thus, there is currently growing attention in the research on LL to ways of increasing the awareness of 'walkers' as well as reports on their experiences and engagements with the languages of their surroundings. Questions are asked as to the extent to which these experiences and engagements influence attitudes and perceptions (Garvin, 2010; Trumper-Hecht, 2010).
This paper reports on an experiment in which fifteen Jewish and Arab teenagers, all residents of the mixed town of Jaffa, were exposed to a semi-independent task in which they were given a number of activities aimed at increasing their awareness of the LL of their surroundings in Jaffa. The tasks included walking in the streets, photographing signs and then analyzing them; drawing maps of Jaffa, and interviewing stores-owners about their LL preferences relating to the signs on their stores. The goal was to examine whether these activities would increase the teenagers' awareness of LL. Thus, three research questions were posed: 1) What were the teenagers' attitudes toward Jaffa and its LL after performing the tasks? 2) How is LL reflected in the participants' drawings? 3) What did they learn from the documentation of the LL as reflected in narratives they produced regarding their attitudes and perception of the city within the context of minority-majority relations?
Results showed that both groups claimed they paid more attention to signs after the research and their drawings showed they viewed the LL signs not only from informative perspectives but also in symbolically. Yet, there were major differences between the groups. The Arab participants were more specific than the Jews in terms of noticing the LL, as each group generated different narratives. While the Arabs exhibited richness of narratives including great details regarding their thoughts and emotions concerning LL, especially in relation of the low representation of Arabic, the Jewish participants were unable to see it in the same detailed manner.
The study calls for further research on how walkers experience LL as part of language policies, especially in situations of majority-minority in conflict ridden areas. It is also recommended that the majority group learns more about the minority group, especially when they perceive their language as a symbol of their identity.