| Virtual linguistic landscape(VLL for short)is a new direction in the study of linguistic landscape(LL for short),referring to the linguistic landscape in cyberspace,which is an extension of the physical linguistic landscape and carries information and symbolic functions(Dejan Ivkovi(?),2009),but due to the special nature of cyberspace itself,there are many differences between the virtual linguistic landscape and the traditional physical linguistic landscape,and they also differ in terms of research methodology and corpus collection.On the one hand,the study of virtual linguistic landscapes broadens the research field of linguistic landscapes and enriches the research from multiple perspectives,on the other hand,the study of language use in cyberspace in combination with other topics such as language policy and planning,identity,and language service etc.,can help to facilitate an in-depth understanding of the regional language ecology and promote the development of urban processes and globalization.This paper takes the Chinese and English versions of the travel websites of two cities,Beijing and Washington,D.C.,as the research subjects,and takes the SPEAKING model theory and the four structuration principles of linguistic landscape as the theoretical basis to study the language phenomena in the websites from two levels: the linguistic landscape in the surface space and the linguistic landscape in the deep space.On the one hand,the characteristics of the virtual linguistic landscapes in the two websites are analyzed and compared from the surface perspective with a synchronic research method,comparing them horizontally to build up the linguistic images of the two cities;on the other hand,the changes in the virtual linguistic landscapes in the deep space of the two websites from a diachronic perspective are analyzed with the help of the Internet archive Wayback Machine to explore the deeper causes behind the changes.This paper aims to answer the following three research questions:1)What are the characteristics of English and Chinese VLL in the two cities in 2022?What are the similarities and differences between the VLL in the two cities in 2022?2)What changes and developments have the English and Chinese VLL experienced in two cities from 2011-2022? What are the similarities and differences from the diachronic perspective between the two cities?3)What factors lead to the changes in VLL in the two cities?1)The presentation pattern of the English and Chinese virtual language landscapes in the travel websites of the two cities of Beijing and Washington in 2022 are basically in line with the diachronic angle from 2011-2022.But it can be seen that,in terms of similarities,firstly,the style design and content layout of both websites have been developed for more than ten years and are stable and mature in 2022,with updated content related to seasons,city events,festivals and other aspects.In addition,the attention to foreign language versions has increased on both sites,and both the number of translation errors and language switch across hyperlinks has decreased.In terms of differences,the design styles of the two websites are very different,with the Washington travel website mainly presented in the form of large images + large text,and the information density of the home page is much less than that of the Beijing travel website.2)From the diachronic angle,in terms of the characteristics of English and Chinese VLL in the two websites,it is found that both cities focus more on their native language versions in the surface space,and their native language occupies a strong position in the multilingual versions,although the contents of different versions are different,they all serve to build the image of their own language and culture and aim to attract readers’ attention.In terms of differences,firstly,the Washington website tends to achieve uniformity in style,design and content across language versions in recent years,while the Beijing website has always maintained a diversity of language versions.Secondly,compared with the Beijing website,the Washington website has more types of code-mixing in complementation and language switch across hyperlinks,and it can be seen that Chinese as a language version in the website hasn’t been paid enough attention to yet;Lastly,as for language power changes,English is always the secondary language after the native language on the Beijing website,while the Chinese language was at the bottom of the Washington website at first,but in the recent two years,was the traditional Chinese version added,but it also rose to the first place besides English,proving the elevated status of Chinese language and also the competitiveness.3)In the deep space,this paper analyzes the characteristics exhibited by the virtual linguistic landscape and the factors leading to the changes,which are positively correlated with the participants,i.e.,the sign establishers and readers,mainly reflected in the changes in the number and proportion of foreign tourists and immigrant groups in the city.Secondly,there is a positive correlation with the relevant language policies of the cities,where the relevant language policies enacted and attitudes displayed by the local government promote the development of the linguistic landscape of that language.In addition,the virtual language landscape of both websites by either the way of competing or cooperation to demonstrate themselves.At the intra-city comparison level,different language versions of the two websites attract different groups of readers by presenting their characteristics;in terms of the comparison of the virtual linguistic landscape between the two websites,each language version serves the common purpose of building the city’s image by presenting its cultural characteristics to stand out from the competition,reflecting the ethnicity of the linguistic landscape;but no matter how it changes,the linguistic landscape needs to contain the basic information and content of the travel website,catering to readers’ preferences and tastes,and respecting current trends and rules,and the common ground that exists between the two cities reflects the trend of cooperation and globality of the linguistic landscape.It can be seen that the virtual linguistic landscapes of the two cities seek identity while showing their uniqueness,and seek common ground while competing for differences,echoing the principles of self-presentation,good reasons and collective identity of the four principles of linguistic landscapes.The different attention to and ranking of different languages reflect the power status and changes among multilingual linguistic landscapes,corresponding to the power-relations principle.The study of virtual linguistic landscapes in two cities takes travel websites as the subject,which helps study the changing relationship between Chinese and English languages in depth,analyzing the factors of their changes from the perspective of language policies,etc.It points out the importance of language planning and services for virtual linguistic landscapes,which can provide some reference and implications for related future studies. |
PDF Full Text Request