BIK 1173- ASSIGNMENT 2 (RESEARCH REPORT)

GROUP MEMBER’S NAME :

1) RASWIN A/L ANDREW STEPHEN (E20171018566)

2) MIRUNAWAISSNAVI A/P THAMOTHARAN (E20171017307)

3) SHARMITHASHINI A/P MAIL WAGANAM (E20171017314)

COURSE CODE : BIK 1173 – ACADEMIC WRITING

LECTURER’S NAME : DR.NORAINI BINTI ZULKEPLI

Section 1 Introduction

Malaysia is well-known as a multiracial country where people use many languages. In

Malaysia there are many linguistic landscapes along the roads and on buildings. According
to Landry and Bourhis (1997), linguistic landscape is said as the language used in public
road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs as
well as in public signs on government building to form the linguistic landscape of a given
area, scope or urban place. In simple words, we can state that linguistic landscape is the
signage that we come across often to label a place, directory or building. The linguistic
landscapes in Malaysia has been affected by a few languages, images or symbols which
does not follow the language policy. Due to this, we decided to carry out a study on the
languages used for the linguistic landscape around Kuala Lumpur, Seremban, Ipoh, Johor
Bahru. This report will include five sections which are the introduction, literature review,
research methodology, results and discussion and also the conclusion for our presentation
towards the findings of this research.

Section 2 Research Objectives and Research Questions

This section provides the purposes of the research and the questions that are concerning the
subject of the research.

2.1 Research Objectives

The three main objective of this study are :

I. To find out the languages used on the signage around Malaysia.

II. To find out whether the signages are complying the language policy.
III. To investigate the least used languages used on the signage around Malaysia.
2.2 Research Questions

This research answers three questions of our research.

I. What are the languages mostly used on the signage around Malaysia?
II. Does the signages comply with the language policy?
III. What are the languages that are used least on the signage around Malaysia?

Section 3 Literature Review

3.0 This section offers review for two articles chosen as the research references.

3.1 Main Article

As we know, Malaysia is a multiracial country and we ourselves could witness that most
of the signs or even instructions would be stated in multilingual languages. Thus, it would
be easier for the residents to understand. The Malay Language is recognized as the national
language in Malaysia as a symbol of unity. According to Cenoz and Gorter (2009), the use
of different languages in signboards and public places is a manifestation of the power,
status or economic value languages have. This same applies to display of the English
language. Mr Syed Abdul Manan who is an assistant professor at the Balochistan
University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences had
conducted a study on the linguistic landscape of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The title of the
article is “Politics, economics and identity: mapping the linguistic landscape of Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia”. The main purpose of the article is to show the power dynamics.
Despite all this, the research questions are 1) What are the languages mostly used on the
signage around Malaysia? 2) Does the signages comply with the language policy? 3) What
are the languages that are used least on the signage around Malaysia? The data for this
study was collected using photographs. There were about 858 pictures taken at the main
roads where most of the buildings, schools, offices and shops are located. Main roads are
the broad two-, three or four-lane roadways while side streets are the small adjacent streets.
There were three main findings that were done to collect information. The first one is the
advertisement signage. The second one was the road signs. The third one is the interview
that was conducted with fifteen private proprietors to seek their opinions regarding the
linguistic landscape. This research was done locally.

3.2 Supportive Article

The first study was done locally while this second study was conducted in Belgium. The
title of this second article is "Ethnographic linguistic landscape analysis and social change:
A case study by Jan Blommaert and Ico Maly" by Jan Blommaert and Ico Maly. The main
purpose of conducting this study is to investigate the presence of publicly visible bits of
written language: billboards, road and safety signs, shop signs, graffiti and all sorts of other
inscriptions in the public space, both professionally produced and grassroots. According to
Scollon and Scollon (2003) and Kress& Van Leeuwen, they had stated that public space is
also an instrument of power, discipline and regulation: it organizes the social dynamics
deployed in that space and public spaces are normative spaces. Other than that, they also
said communication in the public space, consequently, is communication in a field of
power. Apart from that, the research questions are 1) Where can we find signage? 2) How
do languages differ according to the places? 3) Who is the targeted audience for the
signage? The data for this study was collected using photographs.There were three main
findings in this research. The first finding is the road sign while the second one is the banner
signage. The third one is the advertisement signage.
Section 4 Research Methodology

This study was done by taking photographs of signage that we had collected around Seremban,
Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Johor.

4.1 Data Collection

Data were collected using photographs.

- There are roughly around 150 pictures were taken during the data collection.
- The chosen pictures were from Seremban, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Johor.
- 48 pics were taken from Seremban, 13 pictures were taken from Ipoh, 25 pictures from
Kuala Lumpur, 27 pictures from Selangor, 37 pictures from Johor.

4.2 Data Analysis

Data in this study were analyzed at two levels.

4.2.1 Level 1
At level 1, the data were categorized according to the different types of signage. Below
are the definitions of the different types of signage.

a. Advertisement
According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, advertisements defines that a
picture, short film, song, etc. that tries to persuade people to buy a product or service.
According to the Collins English Dictionary, an advertisement is an announcement
online, or in a newspaper, on television, or on a poster about something such as a
product, event, or job.
In this study, advertisements are signage that contain multiple languages and visuals.

b. Road sign
According to the Collins English Dictionary, road signs are defined as a sign on a
road. According to the Merriam-Webster, road sign is a sign near a road that has
information for drivers.

In this study, road signs are signage that contain multiple languages and distance
which provides the direction to all the road users.

c. Business Signage
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, business signage defines that signs that are
intended to promote their products. According to the Merriam-Webster, business
signage means that a sign that is used for commercial purpose.

In this study, business signage are signage that contain multiple languages that tries to
promote their business to the multiracial community around the area.
4.2.2 Level 2
At the second level, the signage were sorted out according to the locations. In this study,
the locations where the photos were taken are as follow:
a. Town
o Tanjong Malim
o Seremban

b. City
o Kuala Lumpur
o Ipoh
o Selangor
o Johor Bahru
Section 5 Findings and Discussion

This section provides the findings and discussion of the study. The findings were organised based
on the research questions.

5.1 Research Question 1

What is the mostly used language on the signboards in Malaysia?

5.1.1 Findings

Photo 1 Photo 2

Photo 3 Photo 4
Photo 5 Photo 6

Photo 7 Photo 8

Photo 9 Photo 10
5.1.2 Discussion

Findings show that the most used language in advertisement is English Language. From the 150
pictures, 58 of the signage were in English Language. We chose 10 best pictures as the reference.
As we could see, nine out of ten pictures above are all stated in English Language. This is because
it would be easier for the customers especially the tourists to understand. By this way, it can be
seen as a strategy to attract the customers as well. English is also known as the international
language and also most commonly used all around the world. As we know, English is known as
the second language in Malaysia. So, it clearly shows that English is seen as the prominent one.
English is seen as the most vital language in the aspect of commercial in Malaysia. According to
Manan et al. (2015), it is proven in their study that English Language is commonly used in the
signages. Based on the 858 samples that they have collected, it shows that about 28% of English
language is used in signages while about 19 % of Malay language is used. So, it is shown that
English Language is used more compared to the Malay Language.

5.2 Research Question 2

Does the signages comply with the language policy?

5.2.1 Findings

Photo 1 Photo 2
Photo 3 Photo 4

Photo 5 Photo 6

Photo 7 Photo 8
 Photo 9 Photo 10

5.2.2 Discussion

Findings show that the most used language in road signs is Malay Language. From the 150
pictures, 56 of the signage were in Malay Language. We chose 10 best pictures as the reference.
As we can see, ten out of ten pictures above are all stated in Malay Language. According to the
subordinate of the Local Council by-laws (Undang-undang kecil Majlis Perbandaran) and the
National Language Act (Akta Bahasa Kebangsaan),it is stated that Bahasa Malaysia (BM) must
be used for the public sign boards and road names. This is because Malay Language is known as
the first language in Malaysia. Thus, it is a must to have the language in all the signages. All the
pictures of signages above has Malay Language in it. Some of the sign board prioritizes the Malay
Language but it is also can be seen the English Language is used in the sign board. As for an
example, in photo 1 and 2, it can be seen that the English word ‘EXIT’ in the sign board while in
photo 10, the English word ‘EXPRESSWAY’ is used in the sign board. So, this shows that all the
pictures of the signages follow the language policies that are set by the government.
5.3 Research Question 3
What are the languages that are used least on the signage around Malaysia?

5.3.1 Findings

Photo 1 Photo 2

Photo 3 Photo 4

Photo 5 Photo 6
 Photo 7 Photo 8

Photo 9 Photo 10

5.3.2 Discussion

Findings show that the most used language in business signage is English. From the 150
pictures,36 of the signage were in English. We chose 10 best pictures as the reference. This could
be because the intended target audience would find it easier to understand and this could be a
business strategy to the business owners to attract the tourists and locals as well. As we can see,
nine out of the ten pictures above are mostly in English. Most of the pictures taken from Table 3
such as Photo 1, Photo 4, Photo 7, Photo 8, Photo 9, Photo 10, it was taken from the town. Town
is a place where most of the people would go. It is an advantage of having both English and Malay
language as their business strategy to attract customers and develop their business. English is the
mostly used language in signages as it would be easier for the customers to understand especially
the tourists. This is because English is an international language and it is also used all around the
world. Thus, it would be easier for the tourists to refer to a place. Even though, English is known
as the second language in Malaysia but it is most commonly used in Malaysia. It also shows on
how well developed our country is.

Section 6 Conclusion and Recommendation

In conclusion, according to Landry and Bourhis (1997), the linguistic landscape has both
an information and a symbolic function. In every signage, more than one language is being used.
As we try to get the result of our study on the languages, most commonly used on signages were
English and Malay Language. Although Malay Language is known as the national language of
Malaysia, thus equal importance is given towards the English Language. This is because English
Language is well known as the universal language. Thus, it would be an easier way of
communication with everyone.

There is more efficient way on collecting data. One of the most efficient way would be
survey among the communities of the area we would like to carry out our research. This is the
most efficient way because the data would be filled with sufficient information that is needed.
Another way to collect data would be having meet up session with experts such as researchers.
This is because many studies would have been carried out by them and they would have more
knowledge about it.