ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK by ...

156 Pages·2015·3.9 MB·English

!
!
!
!
!
ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE OF BUFFALO, NEW
YORK
!
!
by
!
Amanda E. Dixson
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
A Master’s Thesis/Capstone Project
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Science in Education
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
Department of Language, Learning, & Leadership
State University of New York at Fredonia
Fredonia, New York
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
May, 2015
!
!
!
!
!
!

!
!
ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE OF BUFFALO, NEW
YORK
!
!
!
ABSTRACT
In recent years, Buffalo, New York has become home to thousands of immigrants and refugees
from across the globe. These people have brought with them diverse cultures, desires for the
future, and their home languages. As a designated refugee resettlement city, Buffalo is an
incredibly diverse city that welcomes thousands of refugees from all over the world each year;
Buffalo also has an established Latino/a community. This study examines how these linguistic
communities are represented in the linguistic landscape, and what deeper symbolic meanings
signs in the linguistic landscape hold for them. All signs on six streets within a two mile radius
of Buffalo’s most diverse neighborhoods were photographed and categorized. Signs entirely or
partially in non-English languages were plotted on an electronic map and examined for potential
symbolic meanings. The linguistic landscape of Buffalo, although vastly English dominant,
reflects some of the diversity of the area. However, the signs in Buffalo’s linguistic landscape
reveal language ideologies are present and sometimes promote one language over another. Since
languages are tied to identity, relegating languages can promote ideologies against ethnic groups
tied to those languages. Overall, the linguistic landscape reflects the need to learn English to
function in American society, but inconsistencies are found throughout the city that reflect the
presence of non-English speakers in the area, and occasionally the promotion of their culture and
language.
!
ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE
Table of Contents
Page
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………….ii
List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………….vii
List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………….ix
Introduction………………….………………………………………………….…………………1
Problem……………………………………………………………………………………1
Purpose……………………………………………………………………………….……2
Significance………………………………………………………………………….….…3
Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………….4
Linguistic Landscaping……………………………………………………………………5
Informational functions. ….….……………………………………………………6
Symbolic functions. ….….………………………………………………………..7
Linguistic Landscaping Today…………………………………………………………….8
Categorizing and documenting signs. …………………………………….…..…10
Examining Symbolic Functions………………………………………………………….13
Ideologies and power. …………..….……………………………………………14
Language policy. ………………………………………………………….…..…15
English as a global language in the linguistic landscape. ……………………….17
Presence of minority languages. ………………………………….…..…………20
Language, Literacy, and Second Language Acquisition…………………………………22
Language Populations in Buffalo, New York……………………………………………24
!i
ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE
Spanish. ………………………………………………………………………….25
Karen. ……………………………………………………………………………26
Somali. ……………………………………………………………………..……27
Arabic. ………………………………………………………….……..…………27
Burmese. …………………………………………………………….……..……28
Nepali. ………………………………………………………………….……..…28
Kerundi. …………………………………………………………………………29
Swahili. ………………………………………………………………………….29
Vietnamese. ……………………………………………………….…….…….…30
Methodology………………………………………………………………………………….….30
Setting……………………………………………………………………………………31
The West Side and Lower West Side. …………………………………….…..…32
Black Rock and Riverside. ………………………………………………………32
North Buffalo. …………………………………………………….…….…….…34
The Elmwood Village, Allentown, and Delaware. ………………………………34
Sample……………………………………………………………………………………35
Elmwood Avenue. ……………………………………………………………….36
Grant Street. ……………………………………………………………………..36
Hertel Avenue. ……………………………………………………………….…..37
Niagara Street. ……………………………………………………………….…..37
Tonawanda Street. ………………………………………………….………..…..37
West Ferry Street. ………………………………………………………………..38
!ii
ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE
Procedure……………………………………………………………………….……..…38
Instruments. ……………………………………………….….…….……………40
Limitations……………………………………………………………………………….41
Results……………………………………………………………………………………………42
Elmwood Avenue………………………………………………………………….…..…42
Spanish. ………………………………………………………………………….44
Italian. ………………………………………………………………….……..…47
Chinese. ………………………………………………………………………….48
Greek. ……………………………………………………………………………48
French. ………………………………………………………………………..…48
Polish. …………………………………………………..….……………………49
Japanese. ………………………………………………………………….…..…49
Hindi. ……………………………………………………………………………49
Hebrew. ………………………………………………………………………….49
Arabic. ………………………………………………………………….……..…50
German. ………………………………………………………………………….50
Grant Street………………………………………………………………………………51
Burmese languages. ………………………………………………….….………52
Spanish. ……………………………………………………………………….…56
Arabic. …………………………………………………….…..…………………59
Ethiopian. ……………………………………………………….….……………61
Chinese. ………………………………………………………………….………62
!iii
ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE
Italian. …………………………………………………………………….…..…62
Polish. ………………………………………………………………….……..…62
Signs containing multiple non-English languages. ………………………….…..63
Hertel Avenue………………………………………………………………………….…65
Arabic. ………………………………………………………………………..….67
Italian. ………………………………………………………………………..….69
Spanish. ………………………………………………………………………….71
Hebrew. ………………………………………………………………………….71
French. ………………………………………………………………………..…72
Chinese. ………………………………………………………………………….72
German. ………………………………………………………………………….73
Polish. ……………………………………………………….…..………………73
Latin. …………………………………………………………………………….73
Niagara Street…………………………………………………………………………….74
Spanish………………………………………………………………….……..…75
Burmese languages. …………………………………………………………..…81
Vietnamese. ……………………………………………………………….…..…84
French. ………………………………………………………………………..…85
Nepali. ……………………………………………………………….………..…86
Chinese. ………………………………………………………………………….86
Tonawanda Street……………………………………………………………….……..…87
Spanish. ………………………………………………………………………….88
!iv
ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE
Burmese languages. …………………………………………………………..…90
Arabic. …………………………………………………………………….…..…90
Ethiopian. …………………………………………………………………..……91
Chinese. ………………………………………………………………………….91
West Ferry Street…………………………………………………………………………92
Spanish. ………………………………………………………………………….93
Arabic. …………………………………………………………….……..………95
Ethiopian. …………………………………………………………………..……96
Burmese languages. …………………………………………………………..…96
Vietnamese. ………………………………………………………….……..……97
Chinese. ………………………………………………………………………….98
Discussion……………………………………………………………………………..…98
Elmwood Avenue………………………………………………………………….……..99
Varied symbolic meanings of Spanish signs. ……………………………………99
Prestige languages. …………………………………………….………….……102
Other non-English signs. ……………………………………………………….104
Grant Street…………………………………………………………………………..…105
Embracing the global community in the midst of English dominance. ……..…106
Non-English prestige and historical languages. ……………………………..…110
Hertel Avenue…………………………………………………………………….…..…111
North Buffalo’s Arabic community. ……………………………………………112
Italian as a heritage language. ………………………………………………….113
!v
ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE
Prestige languages on Hertel. ………………………………………………..…114
Historical languages on Hertel. …………………………………….………..…115
Niagara Street………………………………………………………………….……..…116
Avenida San Juan. ……………………………………………………….…..…116
Refugees in and near the West Side. …………………………………….…..…119
Tonawanda Street……………………………………………………………………….121
Spanish advertisements. ……………………………………………………..…122
Houses of worship. ……………………………………………………………..123
International markets. ………………………………………………………….124
West Ferry Street……………………………………………………………………..…125
Reaching the international refugee community. ……………………………….125
Spanish on West Ferry Street. ………………………………………………….127
Prestige languages on West Ferry Street. ………………………………………128
Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………..…128
Suggestions for future research. ………………………………………………..130
References………………………………………………………………………………………130
Appendix A: Approval Letter From SUNY Fredonia’s Human Subjects Research Board…….139
Appendix B: Racial Dot Map of Buffalo, New York………………………….……..…………140
Appendix C: Observation Protocol……………………………………………..………………141
Appendix D: Letter to Participants………………………………………………………..……142
Appendix E: Sample Interview Questions………………………………………..…….………143
!
!vi
ANALYZING THE MULTILINGUAL LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE
List of Tables
Table Page
1 Categorization Chart………………………………………………………………….39

!vii