Linguistic Landscape of Muang Ake Area, Rangsit, Pathum Thani Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to classify the languages on business and service signs and to analyze the linguistic landscape on business and service signs in the Muang Ake, Rangsit, and Pathum Thani province. The sample consisted of 70 business and service signs located on Ake Thaksin Road (Muang Ake). The data were then classified by type of business and service and analyzed statistically using frequencies and percentages by applying the linguistic landscape concept. The results of this study indicated that business signs for consumer goods are the most prevalent, followed by medical and beauty service signs. In terms of multilingualism, signs were found to come in three formats: monolingual, bilingual, and trilingual, with bilingual signs in English and Thai being the most common at 51.4%. As for font size and visibility, English letters were found to be the largest and most prominent. In terms of linguistic function, the language on the sign served mostly as informational function about product and service details, followed by contact information. As for the symbolic function, it was found that the shop name sign, which was consistent with trade and service businesses in some parts more than the shop name sign, was not consistent with trade and service businesses. Moreover, the study highlighted that the Muang Ake community was an area with linguistic diversity due to its proximity to several large educational institutions, resulting in a dense population of Thai and foreign residents.