An Investigation of the Language used on Signage in Japanese Town on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok through the Lens of Linguistic Landscape

Abstract

This study investigates the language diversities and Japanese language usage reflected on the signage found in Japanese town on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok. A qualitative research method was used, with which samples were collected by taking fifty photos of signage along five alleys on Sukhumvit Road with Japanese script appearing on them. The framework of Landry & Bourhis (1997) was employed in this study. The results show that Japanese has an important role in the multilingual area of Sukhumvit Road whereas English was used as the international language. Moreover, Thai language appeared on the signage as the national language but English was still the main language used to communicate with the target customers of various nationalities. It is inferred that most people in the area understand everyday English well. Additionally, the signage of Japanese restaurants was the most prominent and most of them represent Japanese culture. In addition, horizontal text was evident in the system of writing. This may be influenced by the Thai writing system as well as the Western languages. Furthermore, Kanji scripts were the most used on the signage compared to Hiragana and Katakana scripts. Overall, Kanji, as the picture scripts of Japanese language, may convey the meaning of lexical words to readers effectively.