Proceedings of the 7th World Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Examination Of Linguistic, Socio-Cultural and Functional Features of The Language on Signs in The Context of Oman’s Academia
Victoria Tuzlukova
ABSTRACT:
This paper reports on a study launched at Oman’s Sultan Qaboos University with an aim to explicitly examine tertiary education spaces’ linguistic landscape as a pedagogical tool for English language acquisition and socio-linguistic issues’ exploration in bilingual English/ Arabic educational contexts. Recognizing the fact that traditional exploration scenery of English language education has been dramatically changed by recent moves towards cross-disciplinary approaches, the study addressed the need acknowledged in Oman to optimize English language teaching to enhance students’ language awareness through real world examples and data. Around 300 textual signs on the university’ premises were photographed, categorized and analyzed as elements of Oman’s academia linguistic landscape. The analysis was informed by Halliday’s (1985) socio functional approach, Gorter’s (2006) suggestions about linguistic landscape research and systemic observations by Buhler (1990) to uncover linguistic, socio-cultural and functional features of the language on signs. The signs were studied to consider whether they can provide awareness of the languages used in public signs, improve students’ English language skills, convey pedagogical messages about values, and increase intercultural awareness among students. Findings demonstrate the university’s orientation towards linguistically diverse campus with both English and Arabic almost equally present, and its commitment to shape the linguistic landscape that is distinctive, informative, enriching, and promotes bilingualism with high importance attached to research and cultivation of socially responsible individuals. While contributing to deeper understanding of linguistic landscape, the study also offers new insights on how classroom activities can be extended to the educational spaces of Oman’s academia and beyond.
keywords: bilingualism, English language teaching and learning, linguistic landscape, pedagogical tool, Sultan Qaboos University