| The linguistic landscape is a sociolinguistic construct that captures the visibility and salience of linguistic codes (languages, dialects or script choices) in public space in a given territory. These linguistic and semiotic renderings of streetscapes and public venues function as information portals in multiple languages and as symbolic markers of power relations representing the ethnolinguistic communities that inhabit the territory. With the increasing linguistic and semiotic options and scope of multilingual capabilities afforded by communication in cyberspace, these virtual voices shape a unique linguistic landscape in cyberspace. It is argued here that the virtual linguistic landscape, although grounded in the multilingual interaction and communication in physical geography, displays unique features enabled by modes of digital communication in new media. The virtual linguistic landscape concept and its functions are exemplified in a variety of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 applications and environments. The suggested perspective on multilingualism complements existing research on linguistic diversity in cyberspace, particularly on the Internet. Explicit in the dissertation, however, is an invitation to consider the nature of linguistic diversity using the 'cyberspace-as-the-public-sphere' paradigm. |
