Language Choice and Preference in The Linguistic Landscape of Teluk Batik, Malaysia

Abstract

The study of linguistic landscape (LL) is an interdisciplinary field that examines the visible presence and use of languages in public space. However, studies on LL in Malaysia are still scarce and have yet to be conducted extensively, especially in the tourism context. To address the lack of LL research in Malaysia, the present study seeks to explore the representation of language use in the public space of Malaysian tourism context. Based on a quantitative approach, pictorial data (64 pieces of signage) along the coastline of Teluk Batik beach were photographed and analysed as data samples. The frequency of language use was collected using the frameworks described by (Huebner, 2009; Cenoz and Gorter, 2010). This study also looked into the language choice and preferences, as well as the type of sign employed in Teluk Batik. The research identifies Teluk Batik as a tourism destination with multilingual inequality. The LL of Teluk Batik is still dominated by Bahasa Melayu (BM), even though it is known to be one of the most famous tourist sites in Perak. English, occupying a secondary position in monolingual signs is still lacking in its presence as the number is limited, whereas bilingual signs incorporating Mandarin and Arabic are comparatively less numerous. The findings of this study may contribute to a better understanding of the LL and tourism readiness in Teluk Batik, which are vital for a successful and sustainable tourism industry.