TY - JOUR
AU - Al-Sofi, Bakr Bagash Mansour Ahmed
AB - This study aims to examine the language choices of outdoor signs and menus in addition to the functions of outdoor signs in restaurants in a Saudi tourist city, Abha. The primary focus is on identifying the extent to which outdoor signs accurately represent the language choices of restaurant menus.Design/methodology/approachThe study developed a conceptual framework for the linguistic landscape (LL) of restaurants. It employed a quantitative approach to collect outdoor signs and menus of 75 sampled restaurants in Abha using online photos and a smartphone camera. Then it analyzed the frequency and percentage of language choices on outdoor signs and menus as well as the extent to which language choices of outdoor signs represent menus.FindingsThe findings indicate that more than half (58.66%) of the restaurants employ bilingual signage in both Arabic and English. Other languages like Spanish, French, Chinese and Turkish are sporadically used, with multilingualism observed only in isolated instances. The study also reveals that bi/multilingualism on outdoor signs primarily serves informational purposes, where more than one-third (36%) of the outdoor signs use languages other than Arabic to serve a symbolic function. Regarding menus, Arabic and English dominate, while Turkish appears on one menu. Spanish, French, and Chinese are absent from restaurant menus, indicating linguistic mismatch in terms of language choices.Originality/valueThis study contributes to LL studies of restaurants in tourist cities by showing language choices and functions of outdoor signs and their alignment with menus.
TI - Linguistic landscape of restaurants in a tourist city: do outdoor signs represent menus?
JF - International Journal of Tourism Cities
DO - 10.1108/ijtc-01-2024-0012
DA - 2024-11-29
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/emerald-publishing/linguistic-landscape-of-restaurants-in-a-tourist-city-do-outdoor-signs-oydSMG7Awa
SP - 1568
EP - 1587
VL - 10
IS - 4
DP - DeepDyve
ER -