Coloniality in the Japanese university linguistic landscape

Donnellan, J. (2025) Coloniality in the Japanese university linguistic landscape. Asian Englishes.

Text (Revised_Anonymized_Manuscript)
Revised_Anonymized_Manuscript.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (769kB)

Abstract

Linguistic landscapes (LL) are contested spaces where a variety of authors vie for control over part or all of the space, making them a good source of information for the investigation of competing ideologies and policies. This study of the LL of the ‘International Learning Centre’ of a private STEM university in Japan draws from photographic data of texts gathered over multiple visits to the site and from walking tour interviews with three individuals who had been engaged in creating the LL. Utilizing ideas from the modernity/coloniality/decoloniality project, this study discusses how colonial myths about language are both reinforced and subverted through the hidden curriculum of the LL. Coloniality was reflected through the myths of monolingualism and the native speaker, as well as colonial hierarchies of language. Some decolonial moves were seen in texts that blurred boundaries between English and Japanese or that highlighted a plurality of Englishes.