Indonesian Tesol Journal, 3(1), 46-67 (2021)

e-ISSN: 2622-5441(Online) Journal homepage: https://ejournal.iainpalopo.ac.id/index.php/ITJ/index

Linguistic Landscape: A Language Learning Media in An

Underdeveloped Region

Agus Riadi1, Fransiska Way Warti1

1
Politeknik Tonggak Equator, Indonesia

Abstract: As the result of the implementation of the latest curriculum in Indonesia,

namely curriculum 2013, some problematic issues have arisen in its
application. The apparent facts of this are the reduced number of hours
dedicated to the subject of English, and the hampered distribution of the
curriculum properties in rural areas, such as textbooks and teacher training
for the curriculum. To resolve this dilemma, there is a need to find another
means for teachers in rural areas to teach English, for example by using the
authentic and contextual English text that is dispersed in their surroundings
(Linguistic Landscape). Therefore, the aims of this research are to
investigate the LL as a form of English exposure that students may encounter
around their school neighbourhood, and the English language teachers’
perception of LL if it is to be applied as an additional learning resource,
taking as an example a school in one underdeveloped region such as in
Pulau Maya, Kayong Utara-West Borneo. This research employed a
qualitative method by using an educational case study to investigate the
teachers and the environment of this sample school. The data were obtained
in the form of photographs and interviews. From the analysis, it was found
that there are abundant LL signs that could promote students’ learning of
English in improving their vocabulary, pragmatic competence, multimodal
literacy, grammatical features, and their understanding of social aspects.
Despite some sceptical perceptions, most of the teachers also seemed to
acknowledge the apparent advantages of using LL in their future teaching.
Keywords: Linguistic landscape, ELT, Underdeveloped region

INTRODUCTION
Under the Ministry of Education and Cultures, Indonesia has implemented
a new curriculum, called Curriculum 2013 (hence, K-13). Within this curriculum,
the Indonesian government has established English as a compulsory subject in
both junior and senior secondary schools across the nation (Kemendikbud, 2013).
However, despite its obvious benefits, the implementation of such a policy might
also be problematic. One of the obstacles that may arise is the unequal distribution
of curriculum properties (i.e. curriculum training, learning materials, etc.) across
every part of the country, considering the vast area involved, and other technical
problems.

Pulau Maya, Kayong Utara – one of Indonesia’s underdeveloped regions –

is located in West Borneo (Setkab, 2015). With around a hundred thousand
inhabitants, Kayong Utara has twenty-one secondary high schools with only four

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in the Pulau Maya area (BPS, 2018). It does not receive many tourists as it is not a
tourist city, and the majority of people in Kayong Utara speak three different
kinds of Malay and Dayak as their home language (L1) (Sari et al., 2019) with
around 50,000 inhabitants speaking Malay in Kayong Utara. They also speak
Bahasa as their national language (L2) (Bamba, 2016), while English, in this case,
is considered as having a higher prestige within the community compared to four
languages mentioned above. Sugono et al., (2011) suggest that people's attitude
toward English is influenced by its function in helping the user find employment,
even if the people themselves hardly ever speak English.

Although English is a required subject in schools, few students have more

than the rudimentary skills required to use the language properly. One of the
contributing factors to this is that in a rural area such as Pulau Maya, students do
not have an adequate opportunity to be exposed to English outside the classroom
in the context of their daily life. In this sense, Pulau Maya could be categorised as
a typical rural area in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) country. Even
though some researchers have suggested that learners who can speak more than
one language have a higher metalinguistic awareness and that they might be able
to learn a third language (L3) faster, they may not learn it efficiently due to
interference from their L1 and L2 (Lu, 2013). Additionally, another emerging
challenge is that English is barely used at all in students’ daily life, and has little
presence in rural areas (Gil, 2006).

In order to address this lack of exposure to English, many researchers have

suggested solving this issue by raising students’ awareness of the elements in their
surroundings as a possible way to support their English language learning. The
Linguistic Landscape (henceforth LL) can serve as a means to develop students’
English proficiency by providing a context, so they can relate the materials they
have learnt in class with the actual English use occurring around them. Gorter
(2017) suggests the introduction of LL as a new approach to learning English,
describing LL as the language that exists around us in textual form (signage), such
as place names, billboards, official notices, etc. This method (as Sayer, 2010
concluded in his study), can be used as a pedagogical resource in the EFL
classroom to provide students with exposure to English, and to activities which
connect the English language they encounter in class to that found in their
community environment.

However, it will take considerable effort to make students aware of the

English around them and how it can be used as a source of learning. In order to do
so, it is a necessity to firstly analyse and describe what LL actually exists and
might be useful for students’ learning. Therefore, this research aims to investigate
the LL as a form of English exposure that students may encounter around the
school neighbourhood in Pulau Maya, and the English language teachers'
perception of LL if it is to be applied as additional learning resources.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
Previous studies on linguistic landscape
In most studies, LL was used to analyse the many aspects of English that
exist in certain countries. They can be used to inform the reasons behind the use of
English, language change, and the advantages of using LL in future learning.
Sayer (2010), for instance, conducted a study on the social meaning of English
encountered in Oxaca, Mexico (see example in figure 1 below), and categorised
six reasons why people tend to use English to convey messages in public places
(namely, because English is advanced and sophisticated, and indicates fashion, to
appear cool, sexy, and as it is preferable for expressions of love or subversive
identities). Additionally, Backhaus (2006) examined the purpose of using English
in official and non-official signs found in Tokyo, Japan. The first function is that
of expressing power, while the second is for communicating solidarity and
strengthening relations amongst the Japanese. Research in Bangkok, meanwhile,
reports growing shifts from Thai and Chinese to English, as well as as an increase
in the influences that English is exerting on local languages in public signage
(Huebner, 2006). Again focusing on an Asian country, two recent studies in Japan
into the use of LL amongst university students suggested that these approaches can
be harnessed to analyse student interpretation of the multilingual signage around
them (Rowland, 2013; Rowland, 2016).

Figure 1. Example of Linguistic Landscape

(cited from Sayer, 2010)
However, research on LL can also demonstrate some bias. For instance,
Gorter (2006) identifies two major considerations that might negatively affect
research in this area if not carefully addressed. The first is in selecting the sample.
He suggests that the quantity and location of the sample must be representative of
the local town, community or specific area. The second consideration is the
definition of LL itself. Each researcher may have their own definition of what
constitutes LL. Some may include moving English text (such as that found on
buses or a passer-by t-shirt) as a form of LL, others not.
Linguistic landscape
Landscape, in a broader sense, can be perceived as how people view and
interpret meaning from spaces/spheres around them in relation to the social and
cultural practice (Jaworski and Thurlow 2010). After initial introduction by
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Voegelin (1933), Gorter (2017) later adapted the term into the field of linguistics
which will be known as Linguistic Landscape. The term itself has been widely
used as the basis to interpret the holistic situation of linguistics in a certain
community.

However, this narrow definition of LL itself can vary depending on the

places or spheres in which the linguistic element communicates its meaning.
Gorter (2006) explained that in cases where written English is shown in certain
public places (such as shopping areas in cities), the term ‘Linguistic Cityscape’
can be employed. From another point of view, Cenoz and Gorter (2008) prefer to
use the term ‘Multilingual Cityscape’ in the case of the huge number of signs that
exist in a commercial, urban area. There may have been a gradual change,
nevertheless, on the focus of LL; where it once referred to languages’ presence
across all regions of a country, now many experts seem concerned primarily with
urban areas (Ben-Rafael et al., 2010; Cenoz and Gorter, 2008; Weyers, 2016).
One reason for this may well be that – as Kallen and Dhonnacha (2010) argue – in
relation to its language and linguistic value, the existence of LL in urban areas has
engendered immense problems which need further investigation.

In spite of the many definitions and focuses of LL, the objective of this
research is to use the specific understanding of LL and relate it to ELT in rural
areas. Therefore, in this study, Linguistic Landscape can be referred to as
linguistic objects that mark the public space in any written form of English (Ben-
Rafael et al., 2010), and which can be useful for learning English, including road
signs, street names, stores, offices, billboards, and so on.
Linguistic Landscape for ELT
In the debate surrounding input for learning, Krashen’s (1982) pioneering
‘Input Hypothesis’ theory describes input as merely ‘structures that we have not
yet acquired’ (p. 21). In his hypothesis, Krashen asserts that the process of
acquiring a language can be achieved through exposure to structures beyond one’s
current competence. Regarding the use of LL as input or learning materials in
ELT classes, one of the most significant theories proposed was that of Cenoz and
Gorter (2008). They explore the potential of LL through the ‘Incidental Learning’
theory, defined as the process of acquiring knowledge without any previous
intention, or learning one thing while paying attention to something else (Hulstijn,
2003). For example, the learner may acquire some new vocabularies while the
main activity was listening to a song. In this matter, Cenoz and Gorter believe that
language learning through LL is likely to be incidental. Learners tend to have little
or no awareness of the learning process which may be provoked by the English
text they encounter in everyday activities. It is important to recognise that,
according to Hulstijn (2003), retentional gains in incidental learning may not be
overly evident, but by continual exposure to the learning target the result can be
tangible.

However, there are some limitations to the correlation of LL as learning

input. The first is that of retentional gains. Even though these can be augmented
by continuous exposure, this theory depends on some basic factors, such as the
frequency with which the learner is exposed to the signage around them (Ellis,
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2008) and whether these signs are relevant to them. Considering the amount of LL
present in a certain area, rural (when compared with urban) areas seem to have an
insufficient number of signs that learners can see. Moreover, learners as passers-
by in public spaces could view English signs as something ‘given’ which they
may take for granted (Ben-Rafaelet al., 2010), and no learning process will occur
in this case.

The second criticism attached to the approach of using LL as input is that

of isolating the effect of LL from other types of input that the learner receives in
the process of learning a language. Through conducting controlled laboratory
experiments (Gorter and Cenoz 2004), it is possible to identify the role of LL in
SLA, but nonetheless difficult to do so (Cenoz and Gorter 2008). Cenoz and
Gorter (2008) further emphasise the limitation of using LL in learning a language
by saying,

‘Even if only those items of language the learner has paid attention
to are processed and stored, it would be difficult to know which
elements of the linguistic landscape draw the learner’s attention
and how aware the learner is of paying attention to them’ (p. 273).

Nevertheless, the use of LL as additional learning resources has been

suggested by some experts to have significant effects on learners’ language
learning, which can be summarised as follows:
Learners’ pragmatic competence
Exposure to the LL can particularly provide better input at different
linguistic levels or competencies. In this regard, pragmatic competence (Kasper &
Rose, 2001) – which refers to the ability to communicate one’s intended message,
or in this case to interpret the message conveyed by others in a commonly nuanced
socio-cultural context – can be further developed through LL analysis. Any written
English placed in a public place will tend to include indirect language and
metaphors which are sometimes written in full text, but in many cases, will only
consist of one word or phrase, and whose meaning is attached to the context in
which they are placed (Cenoz and Gorter 2008). Thus, in relation to the relevancy
of LL as learning resources, it is the duty of the English language teacher to bring
them into the classroom and, together with students, decipher and interpret
(Dagenais et al., 2008) their meaning. This is the situation in which (Ellis, 2005)
emphasises that explicit knowledge can become implicit knowledge through
interaction with environments and negotiation for meaning in the classroom.
Enhance learners’ sensitivity to social aspects of language
Sayer (2010) contends that the study of LL can not only be carried out by
the linguists or language researchers, but also by the language learners themselves.
This method can be beneficial in terms of providing an exciting way for students
to connect their theoretical knowledge with what actually exists beyond their
classroom. Calvert and Sheen (2015) suggest that giving students an appropriately
challenging and meaningful task can increase their learning engagement.
Therefore, such learning methods will help learners develop their sensitivity to

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connotational aspects of language by developing their analytical understanding of

how language is used in wider society.
Developing multimodal literacy
As previously mentioned, LLs can have a positive impact on learners’
pragmatic competence and their sensitivity to the social aspects of language.
However, as LL appears in the form of written texts, they also relate to literacy
skills. Goddard (2002) remarks that literacy cannot be achieved solely through the
means of written language. Readers tend to combine texts with various additional
media that help them better comprehend their meaning (i.e. sounds, visuals,
semiotic symbols). For example, text messages include different types of font,
with colour variation and accompanying icons; such combination was later coined
multimodal literacy (Cenoz and Gorter 2008). Likewise, LL is considered as
multimodal literacy because it combines both visual and written texts. This
characteristic blending coupled with the specific location where LLs are placed
provide different contexts for the readers (passers-by) to conceptualise the
meaning.
By and large, and based on the research findings presented above, it seems
reasonable to conclude that LLs can be highly useful in promoting English
language learning in the classroom when used under the right circumstances.
Sayer (2010) further recommends that this approach be adapted and used by
teachers to focus English learning instruction on vocabulary, grammatical features
and idioms. The use of LL could even solve learning problems such as insufficient
learning resources, and the claim that some learners have low exposure to English.
In the case of low student engagement, LL can also be advantageous, since it is
authentic and comes from local social contexts that the students can access
anytime. As Cenoz and Gorter (2008) explain, ‘[i]t is authentic in the sense that it
is not especially designed for teaching languages but for other purposes’ (p. 274).

RESEARCH METHOD
This study employed a qualitative method. The aims of using a qualitative
method are to provide rich and complex description to achieve an in-depth
understanding of research participants or an issue of social/educational importance
that are being investigated (Denscombe, 2010). To support the methodology, I
also employed a case-study approach. The fundamental concept of a case-study is
to investigate and report real-life phenomena, including complex and dynamic
circumstances (Cohen et al., 2011).
As this research focuses on some areas around one school, including the
English language teachers from the school, the results will not be easily
generalised to other schools in this region, or to any schools in rural areas, due to
this school’s specific environment and staff. Nevertheless, Wellington (2000)
asserts that the important aspect of a case study is not in making a generalisation
of results, but rather on how one relates the case and learns from.
Sample and informants
This research employed a non-probability sample – namely, purposive
sampling. Cohen et al., (2018) describes that purposive sampling also seeks those
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who have in-depth knowledge of something. First, the focus of this research was
to investigate the Linguistic Landscape that appears around some specific schools
in Pulau Maya. Following the definition provided in the literature review, the
investigation focused on signage in the form of written English text that could be
categorised as language exposure for students, such as the pictures of store names,
street names, T-shirts, advertisements, posters, billboards, etc. Second, this
research also aimed to discover how English language teachers perceive the LL as
teaching material, and therefore, I conducted an interview with four English
language teachers from the selected schools in Pulau Maya.

Instruments
According to Creswell (2014), in relation to the qualitative method, data
can be gathered in many forms (i.e. qualitative observation, qualitative interviews,
qualitative documents, and qualitative audio and visual materials). In this
research, as the focus is on analysing the linguistic landscape around schools and
the perception of English language teachers toward the use of LL for language
learning, the data were collected in two forms: (1) by observing the qualitative
visual materials; and (2) by conducting semi-structured interviews.

Procedures
As previously elaborated, the first data that were collected is the
photographs of LL, followed by showing the pictures to the English language
teachers and asking about their perception of the sample pictures. Harper (2002)
describes the use of photographs in interviews as photo-elicitation, in which the
researcher uses them as stimulus or reference for questioning. He also argues that
the use of this method can stimulate the interviewee to refer back to events or
situations that could have been forgotten. In this sense, I used LL photographs to
elicit spoken data from the teachers regarding their perceptions of LL for language
learning.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
LL as a form of English exposure
This section explicates the categorisation derived from the primary source
of data which is the LL photographs. Along with this research, 202 English
signage photographs have been collected. Using qualitative content analysis
(Silverman, 2006) – the process of ‘counting the frequency of certain visual
elements in a clearly defined population of images, and then analysing those
frequencies' (Rose, 2016, p. 88) – I have developed several divisions by adapting
themes from existing research (Reh, 2004; Cenoz and Gorter, 2008; Vaish, 2008;
Sayer, 2010; Rose, 2016). In short, figure 2 below will summarise the LL
categories that I have developed specifically for this study.

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Figure 2. Categorisation of LL

This Learning resources category was adapted from Cenoz and Gorter
(2008) and Sayer (2010). The division of this category into vocabulary, pragmatic
meaning, multimodal, and grammatical features supports the assumption that it is
the most applicable process of categorising for students or of teacher analysis of
LL signs in Pulau Maya. Moreover, these sub-skills generally receive more
attention from experts in relation to LL as learning materials.
Table 1. LL Categorisation as Learning Resources

Tier Type Description Amount

Correct typing No english words are mistyped 149
Incorrect typing
- Adopted Contain words that are adopted from English with
Vocabulary 62
little or no modification
- Adapted Contain english words that are re-written which
53
suits local pronunciation or just simply mistyped
Pragmatic Contain hidden message(s) that what actually
48
meaning written
Multimodal Using more than 3 elements/modals in one sign 145
Multimodal Less-multimodal Using only 3 elements/modals 43
literacy Using only 3 elements/modals but well-known by
Less-branded 14
people
Standard Using correct grammatical forms 104
Non-standard Using incorrect grammatical forms, in:
- Plural
Grammatical 13
- Spelling
features 53
- Reversed
6
clause
26
- Possessions

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Vocabulary
In terms of the English vocabulary that I found in LL signs in Pulau Maya,
I placed them under two types of writing, which are correct and incorrect typing.
Correct typing simply means that the sign contains English words that have no
mistakes. I also applied this specification to all signs, whether in full English, or
only containing two or three English words. There are 149 out of 202 signs which
meet this criterion, i.e. more than 70% have correct English vocabulary. For
example, the use of the word Fashion in Cinta Fashion (figure 13), with the
English word Fashion and the rest of the text in Bahasa.

Figure 3. Correct typing sign

The second type is incorrect typing, which I divided into two more sub-
themes: adopted and adapted. Both of these themes could share the same signs, as
LL signs in Pulau Maya were typically descriptive, containing a lot of informative
text. Therefore, one sign could be categorised as adapted and adopted at the same
time. The first theme, adopted, is much the same as loanwords, or words that are
borrowed from English with little or no modification. 62 signs were found that
have similarities to this criterion. Offered as an example is the sign from a local
electronics store (figure 14) that tried to use English words combined with
Bahasa, but actually the word in Bahasa is derived from English (KREDIT =
CREDIT, or a method of deferred payment). The second theme is adapted,
meaning the use of English words that are rewritten to suit local pronunciation, or
simply mistyped. There are 53 signs can be categorised as having adapted
language. For example, the sign from a mobile top-up outlet that included English
within the sign, but mistypes the words (figure 15). The sign states PULSA ALL
OPRATOR-ACCECORRIS (PULSA means credit or balance), where it should
read PULSA ALL OPERATORS-ACCESSORIES. Such a mistake indicates that
the owner might consider the form OPRATOR as the most convenient to type,
based on its phonetic translation rather than the correct spelling.

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Figure 4. Incorrect-adopted sign

Figure 5. Incorrect-adapted sign

Pragmatic meaning
The second tier is pragmatic meaning. In this study, pragmatic refers to
any LL signs that contain a hint or hidden message that needs other modalities or
background knowledge to interpret its meaning. Cenoz and Gorter (2008, p. 274)
mention that ‘[t]exts written in the public space tend to include different speech
acts and often use indirect language and metaphors’. In this regard, like other
scholars, I believe that the pragmatic meaning contained in signs could provide
input for English language learners. As Dagenais et al., (2008) mention, pragmatic
LL could become learning resources when teachers bring the signs into the
classroom and, together with the students, decipher and interpret the meaning.
There are 48 signs that contain this pragmatic meaning, such as my HOMEBASE
(figure 16). This sign is very simple in design and did not include other extra
information of what messages this sign wanted to convey. However, the inclusion
of the signal reception symbol could imply to the reader that this sign is trying to
inform them that the location where it is placed provides wi-fi access, as often
found in a café.

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Figure 6. Pragmatic sign

Multimodal literacy
Additionally, interpreting LL signs cannot be separated from the way in
which passers-by read the sign (i.e. literacy). In this study, I define multimodal as
the integration of visual elements, i.e. texts, fonts, colours, images, logos, shape,
materials, and space of the sign. Based on these elements, I separated this tier into
multimodal, less-multimodal and less-branded types.

The first type is multimodal, which (as elaborated above) incorporated more
than three basic elements (texts, fonts, and colours) in one sign, while the
elements of shape, material and space are already considered to be possessed by
every sign. This type receives the highest proportion compared to other types,
totalling 145 signs. For example, the sign of a local laundrette (figure 7) combines
five elements, including a picture of clothes that have been washed along with
fabric softeners, and an icon of a washing machine giving a thumbs-up. The
second type is less-multimodal, which I define as signs that only use the basic
elements of modalities. There are 43 signs in the area of investigation that could
be categorised as less-multimodal. For example, the sign of a small retailer that
sells credit for mobile phone providers (figure 8). This sign consisted of text with
the same font choice, coloured in black and red.

The last type is what I call as less-branded, in which the signs only use the
basic elements but are still easily recognised by people due to the iconic meaning
that they show. There are 14 signs that match this criterion, for example, the sign
of VIVO product (figure 9) that only consists of text, fonts, and colours. However,
the typical choice of fonts and colours could transfer the meaning easily to the
passers-by, as most will understand that the sign belongs to a worldwide mobile
phone brand.

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Figure 7. Multimodal sign

Figure 8. Less-multimodal sign

Figure 9. Less-branded sign

Grammatical features
The last tier that could be useful for learning materials is that of
grammatical features. Sayer (2010) suggests that this tier could be adapted to a
classroom learning situation where the students are asked to undertake an analysis
of the English around them in the form of signs. He further explores their
potential use in analysing the grammatical features (both standard and non-
standard), which include the spelling, possessions, and compound words. This tier
is divided into standard and non-standard grammatical forms, where the latter
could be specified as examples of incorrect plurals, spelling, reversed clauses, and
possessions.

The first type is standard grammatical features, where the signs used correct
grammatical forms. 104 signs were considered to be standard. In most signs, the
use of correct grammar predominantly stemmed from national/multinational
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companies, presumably as they may have more carefully considered and chosen
which English words they were going to include in their advertisements. In some
others, the standard grammar came from local businesses which only used one or
two simple English words and thus did not require too much grammatical
attention. One of the standard grammatical forms is the sign from the ISUZU car
distributor (figure 10) that is being used by a local motor workshop with the
English text, GENUINE PARTS.

Figure 10. Standard grammatical sign

The second type is non-standard grammatical features. The ubiquity of

incorrect English grammar is evident throughout the analysis, as nearly 50% of
the LL signs are non-standard. The first classification is the incorrect use of
plurals. There are 13 signs that suit this criterion, with all of the signs missing the
suffix -s in indicating the plural form. The most salient examples are in the
phrases ALL OPERATOR and SPARE PART. Take, for instance, the sign from a
top-up retailer encouraging passers-by to join their business and become an agent
in selling mobile credit for its users (figure 11). The second non-standard
grammatical feature is spelling. Although this feature – proposed by Sayer (2010)
– has the biggest number compared with other non-standard features, it is quite
similar to the tier Vocabulary – adapted (discussed earlier), which contains
mistyped English words.

The third classification is the reversed clause, for example, an adjective-

noun phrase that is not in the correct order (figure 22). This mistake can also
happen when the signs’ producer uses typically Indonesian grammar, in which the
word order is commonly noun-adjective. The last classification is possessions,
mistakenly used in 26 signs. These mostly failed to show the belonging of one’s
property, especially when the signs incorporated the owner’s name in the name of
the place, for example, Mirra salon (figure 23) where s/he did not use ’s to
indicate possession, i.e. that the salon that belongs to Mirra. This mistake can be
referred to as failure in using plurals or possessions, depending on the perspective
and the intention of the owner.

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Figure 11. Non-standard plural sign

Figure 12. Non-standard reversed clause sign

Figure 13. Non-standard possessions sign

Teachers’ perceptions
This second analysis explores the teachers’ perspectives toward the use of
LL in the classroom to facilitate English language learning. The data presented in
this section were derived from teachers’ interviews which have been fully
transcribed (Cohen et al., 2018). In total, there were four participants, with each
participant speaking for about twenty minutes, which was recorded.

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The analysis begins with exploration around the themes that have been
developed, followed by direct quotations from participants, where relevant. Four
themes regarding the teachers’ perspectives will be discussed: teaching strategies;
challenges for teaching in Pulau Maya; insights regarding LL; and LL in
connection with K-13. The classification of the number of the teachers involved
when expressing certain opinions can be regarded as, 1 teacher = One; 2 teachers
= some; 3 teachers = most; and 4 teachers = all.

Teaching strategies
To begin the analysis on teachers’ perception of LL, the exploration of how
they choose teaching strategies in the classroom is considered to be the first topic
to discuss. Most of the teachers believed that before they apply any methods or
strategies to teach English, they need to establish a good psychological
relationship with the students. They mentioned that gaining the students' interest
and trust is their paramount priority.
P2: I tried to take their hearts, I tried to build an emotional
foundation with the students, [which] I believe, if I give them
some space or a little freedom, and then they trust me, it will be
okay for me to push them further in their learning.
The typical strategy they use is to do brainstorming before the lesson begins,
which attempts to stimulate the students' prior knowledge and coax them into
engaging with the related materials of the day. For the main learning activity,
most of the teachers prefer to use what they believe are engaging and fun
activities, such as guessing some English expressions by a gesture, roleplaying to
express love, or trying to connect the materials with other subjects. One teacher
remarked:

P3: Well, when the material is about expressing love, they feel that it’s
a fun activity, because I wasn’t asking them to simply read and
pronounce the expression, but to actually act how to express love.
Then, when they do the expression, the rest of the class will feel
embarrassed and then they will laugh together.

This choice is probably caused by the classroom situation, where the

teachers assert that the students’ motivation to learn English is very low.
However, the same teacher also reported that when using this type of activity,
there is an imminent drawback, which is that of time constraints, adding:

P3: No, there’s not enough time for that. In a week, the time
allocation for the English subject is two hours of lessons. The
one-hour lesson consists of 45 minutes. So, the total is only 90
minutes for me to teach English.

As I further investigated, I found an appalling fact regarding the teaching

situation in these schools. The reality is, the newest government-designed
curriculum is not evenly applied across all grades in the school. During the time of
interview, only the first grade was using the K-13 curriculum, while the second
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and the third grades were still using the KTSP curriculum. This is quite
interesting, considering that the government regulation to use K-13 has been in
place since 2013, and it has still not been fully applied by this school. Hence, the
time allocation for teaching English is different between the K-13 class and the
KTSP class, with the former only receiving 2 hour-long lessons per week, and the
latter 4 hour-long lessons in a week.
Challenges for teaching in Pulau Maya
Most of the teachers agreed that there are at least four major factors that
contribute to the low engagement of the students, namely: the society or
environment, family, the students themselves, and the resources to support their
learning. There was a feeling, however, that the salient factor is the students’
attitude toward English in Pulau Maya particularly, which regards English as
something that is almost outlandish to learn, or even as something absurd if they
try to imitate spoken English. Lightbown and Spada (1999) describe this problem
as a ‘social dynamic or power relationship between the languages' (p. 57), where a
member of a minority group could have a unique attitude when learning the
language of a majority group such as English.
P1: And in the society here, they just think that ‘English is a
foreign language and if you can speak it, that is good, but if
you don’t, well, it’s okay’.
There was also a mixture of responses when the teachers were asked how
they overcome those problems. One recommended giving the students a direct
talk to motivate them to learn English, while another teacher asked them to join an
English club organised by the school, or even used a 40:60 ratio of English and
Bahasa in the classroom, but none of these seems to have had a meaningful
impact.
Insights regarding LL
When the teachers were shown some sample pictures of LL around the
school, their opinions were varied. Some of them were even quite surprised that
there were actually English signs around them which they had never actually paid
attention to before. One teacher commented that it is common that people
incorporated English into signs, however, the sign-makers do not fully understand
how to use English. This situation showed that even teachers are not fully aware
of the existence of English in other forms (signs) around them, which could also
imply the students’ lack of awareness of the same issue.

At first, when they were asked their opinions about whether or not LL could
be used as additional learning resources, they responded differently. Some of them
were pretty sure that such a potential source of learning could help them in the
teaching process, while others were quite sceptical.

P2: Well, it depends on the students. If they are quite good at

English, I will give it to them. If they are not so good at it, it will
distract them a lot. For example, I already told you about some
loan words from English to Bahasa. For some students, they
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62 | Agus Riadi & Fransiska Way Warti

cannot differentiate which one is the right one. It's easier for
them to remember the wrong one.

These perspectives are probably driven by the fact that there are mistakes in
the use of English within the sample pictures, a matter which concerns the
teachers if the students see it as the correct form of English. However, some other
teachers believe that constant exposure to such English (LL) will benefit them in
many ways.

P3: I can make use of it. I can teach them how to make it correct, for
example, which will also increase their curiosity toward
English. They can also become more aware, for example, of the
wrongly written words.
LL in connection with K-13

As previously discussed, not all teachers in these schools teach under the
guidance of the K-13 curriculum. Therefore, questions regarding this topic were
not asked to every teacher. The first question for analysis is whether or not this LL
method can be useful to support the aim of K-13. Some teachers seemed to agree
with this notion and commented that this approach could provide students with
analytical skills that connect the materials they have studied in the classroom with
the English that actually exists in the environment around them.

Another teacher similarly admitted:

P2: I think it will support the curriculum itself, because it will make
the students try to analyse what happens around them and then
try to decide by themselves. So, they will not only depend on the
teacher. I think it will make them quite critical as well.

Interestingly, although they agreed that LL could help support the K-13, this
teacher also does not wholeheartedly approve of the implementation of this
current curriculum. P2 showed their strong remarking:

P2: I believe that actually our curriculum totally sucks. To be

honest, it really sucks, because when I tried to compare it with
the curriculum during my time in secondary school in 2007, I
began to wonder, how can they survive?

Another commentary from a different teacher disputes the notion that LL

can support the K-13 curriculum.

P1: I don't think so, because English is not their second language,
and they still regard it as a foreign language. The curriculum
needs English to be academic and formal, where the goal is to
teach them so they can speak English correctly and fluently, but
in here [pointing at LL pictures] there is some incorrectly
written English.

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Despite the negative views on the use of LL (or even on the curriculum
itself), the potential benefits of using the surrounding signs to promote English
language learning have largely been acknowledged by the teachers. Such
perceptions could also be affected by the minimal comprehension of most of the
teachers as to the purpose of the K-13 curriculum – which Ahmad (2014) refers as
a discrepancy in perceiving curriculum goals among teachers – since only one
teacher out of those interviewed has been trained by the government to implement
the curriculum. There are, however, some limitations of LL if it is to be applied to
the current situation in Pulau Maya. One teacher said that LL could only be used
as a brainstorming activity to begin the class, or as a hook for the core materials.
However, another teacher admitted that the limitations came from the teacher
themselves:

P3: Even though I teach English, I'm not very sensitive to this sort of
thing, and that would be my homework to figure this out. Even me as
a teacher, I don't have the sensitivity of this, let alone my students.

It is interesting to note that among the debates surrounding the

implementation of the K-13 curriculum, the teacher could see the benefit of LL.
They only have differing interpretations and methods of how best to use it within
their own teaching practice. In summary, although the LL signs are pervasive
around this specific area in Pulau Maya, the analysis shows that English teachers
in this school are not aware of it and have never used such methods to teach
English in the classroom, or adapted it as additional learning resources.
CONCLUSION
This study sought to explore the existence of signs that incorporated
English into their basic elements in one of the rural areas in West Borneo,
Indonesia, which can be considered as an EFL country. These signs make up what
I call the Linguistic Landscape (LL). The final focus of this research is to relate
the findings of LL signs that exist in a particular area in Pulau Maya with the
teaching activity in the selected schools. Therefore, this research tries to connect
the LL signs with classroom teaching activities by interviewing some English
language teachers. Some teachers seemed to agree with the notion of using LL
signs as additional learning materials. They believe that learning resources could
come from many origins, even those outside of the classroom. On the other hand,
another teacher commented that these signs are not appropriate to be used as
learning materials in the classroom. This teacher further added that the signs
contain incorrect English, which will affect the students’ understanding of English
itself. Such a fact would probably cause the students to easily accept that what is
written on the signs is the correct form of English, even though it is actually
wrong. However, as discussed above, even containing the incorrect form of
English, this method could still be applicable to the teaching-learning process in
the classroom. It is worth noting that in all cases, the teacher should always guide
their students to critically analyse those signs and make corrections if necessary. I
believe that this method is also in line with the K-13 curriculum that requires the
students to understand multiple types of text that suit the local context.

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64 | Agus Riadi & Fransiska Way Warti

These research findings show that in a rural area such as Pulau Maya –
although a sample area – there were numerous signs that incorporated English.
These signs were then analysed and categorised into several classifications which
I believe could be useful for English language learning. Even though the signs
were evident, there were some sceptical perceptions from the teachers as to how
this LL method could be applied as additional learning material in the classroom.
Despite this negative view, all of the teachers seemed to acknowledge that LL
could benefit the language learners. Finally, I believe that this method would be in
line with the current curriculum in Indonesia (K-13) Finally, further research that
incorporates students as participants is also suggested, alongside the expansion of
research to other rural areas.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was ostensibly supported by Indonesian Ministry of
Research, Technology and Higher Education through the Penelitian Dosen
Pemula (PDP) scheme 2020.

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