Multilingualism in Sunan Ampel Tomb Complex: A Linguistic Landscape Study

Abstract

The present study focuses on the languages operating on the written signage that contribute directly to theformation of the linguistic landscape. The study chose Sunan Ampel Tomb in Surabaya, Indonesia, as one ofthe sites that has become a heritage conservation due to the history hidden in the site. This site is a part of the other sites in a series leading to the history of nine saints (Wali Songo) who brought Islam to Indonesia through one of the islands, Java. The study aimed at describing the linguistic landscape of the site to help learn about the languages operating on the signage found in Sunan Ampel Tomb complex and the hidden history leading to multilingual multilingualism in the area. By using a direct observation and interview to gather the data,the study informs that the sites are typically dominated with Indonesian language operating in monolingualsignage. Despite a few in number, the multilingual signage can still be found to depict several languages including English, Arabic, and Indonesian language. The domination of Bahasa Indonesian demonstrates the implementation of policy for using the language as the national language. While English and Arabic are used for the business purpose. The study also discovers the characteristics of the language displaying on the signage from the size of the fonts. In conclusion, linguistic landscape in Sunan Ampel Tomb describes the history of how the saint brought Islam to the society. Arabic artifacts stereotyping Islam existence can hardly be found here, and it becomes a proof the saint taught Islam without trying to change the already existing customs, cultures, and languages as well.

Exploring Linguistic Landscape inside a Faculty of Cultural Studies in Malang

“…Korean and German languages were only observed in one signage in the Faculty of Cultural Studies. The use of multilingual patterns in signage has also been identified in previous studies, which found that multilingual signs in a particular area tend to be limited in number [10,8]. Even in a limited number, multilingual signage includes languages that are studied in the Faculty of Cultural Studies.…”

“…However, the presence of linguistic landscape in the context of the Indonesian educational field has been contradictory. The presence of signage in the educational field arguably can help students with language or cultural awareness, but not all the texts are relevant to language learning [7], [1], [3], [8], and [5]. Several articles stated that the multimodality of a linguistic landscape helps communicative skills such as pragmatics, vocabulary, and grammar.…”

Muslim majority yet without preference for Arabic: Mapping linguistic landscape studies in Indonesia

“…Figure 4 displays commercial signs dominating the data, and only 13 % of the analyzed signs was public signs. The domination of bottom-up LL studies in Indonesia seems to relate to the language policy in Indonesia requiring Indonesian to be used on building names and other inscriptions in public area which is more probably applied by the government institutions (Andriyanti, 2019;da Silva et al, 2021;Fakhiroh & Rohmah, 2018;Harbon & Halimi, 2019a;Nuswantara et al, 2021;Riani et al, 2021;Wafa & Wijayanti, 2018) The huge number of the bottom-up signs were used as data sources in LL research on various places. First, restaurant names in Gresik Kota Baru (GKB), Purwokerto, and Pontianak; food/nutrition signs/texts in school-spaces in Jakarta and Depok; Batak Toba restaurants in Jakarta; as well as names of halal food stalls and restaurants in Malang and Taliwang.…”

“…Figure4displays commercial signs dominating the data, and only 13 % of the analyzed signs was public signs. The domination of bottom-up LL studies in Indonesia seems to relate to the language policy in Indonesia requiring Indonesian to be used on building names and other inscriptions in public area which is more probably applied by the government institutions(Andriyanti, 2019;da Silva et al, 2021;Fakhiroh & Rohmah, 2018; Harbon & Halimi, 2019a;Nuswantara et al, 2021;Riani et al, 2021;Wafa & Wijayanti, 2018). This policy is mentioned in the National Constitution 1945, Decree of the People's Consultative Assembly Number 11/MPR/1983, Language Law number 24 Year 2009 and the most current regulation, President Regulation No.…”

Culinary in Public Space

“…Meanwhile in Indonesia, research on multilingualism in the study of the linguistic landscape at the Sunan Ampel Cemetery Complex in Surabaya was conducted by Nuswantara, Firdausiyah, Rohmah, and Sholihah (2021). In addition, the linguistic landscape in the Indonesian context has also been conducted which focused more on the hotels and restaurants in Bali by Artawa, Paramarta, Mulyanah, and Atmawati (2023).…”