class assignment investigating foreign language use and … · 2016-03-24 · class assignment...

AIMS Joint Seminar on Language Spring 2015

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Class assignment

Investigating foreign language use and linguistic accommodation in Kyoto

1 Introduction

The focus of our seminar this semester has been the languages used in ASEAN countries and

Japan. During our class trip to Kyoto, to visit students and teachers at Kyoto University of Foreign

Studies, the seminar students were given an assignment to observe and report on the use of foreign

languages in public spaces in Kyoto. This report summarizes the findings.

2 Language Use at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, by Lim Hai Feng and Azusa

Nagatsuka

We discovered the motto of the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (KUFS) ,“PAX MUNDI PER

LINGUAS” on a building which is facing the main entrance. It is written in language and it means

“World Peace through Languages”. The motto also appears on the logo of the university. The motto

rests upon the Earth, and a white dove represents the students spreading their wings and flying out

into the world as emissaries of peace. We do not know the exact reason Latin was the language used

for the motto, but we infer that the motto was written in another language other than Japanese to

embrace the concept of globalism. Another possible reason might be reviving or appreciating Latin

which is not an actively used language. Historically, old universities in Europe and elsewhere have

had Latin mottos too.

Near the entrance, there is a big welcome sign written in English and the word “hello” is

written in many other languages like Chinese, Italian and German. This linguistic observation can be

said to attract prospective students – both local Japanese students and international students. We

think that many Japanese people are inclining towards studies which are more international or


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simply want to be better in English. Although most international students would have done their

research before entering the university to study, the sign is useful to attract those who visit the

university for study trips or conference. In the university, there are circles or clubs with their names

written in English, for instance the Guitar Club, though the description is in Japanese. We think that

the English title itself can encourage foreign students, especially those who are not confident enough

in their Japanese yet to join the circle.

The prohibition sign, maps and directories have English written on it, besides Japanese. For

example, “no bicycles allowed on the campus” and all the building names are written in English so

that it is convenient for visitors. It is hoped that visitors with little or no knowledge of Japanese can

find their way in the university and understand the rules. However, the order of information –

whether Japanese comes first or English comes first – is also interesting. For the prohibition sign,

English comes first probably because it is more important for foreign students or visitors to

understand and obey the rules. For the directory sign, Japanese comes first probably because the

university wants to retain the language value. For instance, “Morita” in “Morita Memorial Hall” is a

Japanese name that the university wishes to retain.


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Besides, in one of the university building we also saw a sign promoting the recycling of bottle

caps above the garbage can which is probably done by a student body. The sign says “put in caps”

and has simple pictures which are easy to understand. We think that the English sign is meant for

foreign visitors or students to understand. However, it is interesting to note that the explanation

about how recycling caps can help to provide children with vaccine is only written in Japanese. It is

probably difficult to squeeze in an English translation in such a small piece of paper, so only the

important key words are written in English. It is assumed that foreign students can understand the

Japanese elaboration or that it is not that important for them to comprehend it. For the garbage

can itself, there is no English on it because it is expected for foreign students or visitors to know how

garbage should be grouped in Japan in general. Besides there are pictures to indicate which kind of

garbage should be thrown into.

We also found a sign that says “Save our planet! Every day millions of gallons of water are

used. Thank you for helping us conserve the earth's vital resources.” This sign was on the wall at the

sink in the bathroom. It is interesting that they used four languages for this sign, which are English,

French, Chinese and Japanese. Actually, the signs that we found in the university were mostly in

Japanese, in English or both in Japanese and English. Not many had more than two languages.

However, this sign has four languages. The reason for this could be because the people who made

this sign really wanted people to pay attention to the environmental problem. If the sign is written in

their first language, they are more likely to read it. However, there are not many native French

speaker in the university. According to the website of Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, as of May

1st 2015, there are 53 Chinese students, 16 students from Korea, 2 from Taiwan, 1 each from

Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and Malaysia in the Departments of Foreign Languages. Thus, if they

only want to attract attention, they should have used Korean instead of French. Thus, another reason

would be some of the departments that exist in Kyoto University of Foreign Studies are the


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Department of British and American Studies, the Department of French Studies, and the

Department of Chinese Studies. In other words, they have the departments for all the languages that

are on this sign. Particularly, there are flags next to the words, which are the American and British

flags, the French flag, the Chinese flag and the Japanese flag. If we see an English sign, it will not

always be connected to the US and British flag because English is spoken widely in many different

places. However, this sign might be influenced by the name of the departments they have in the

university. Actually, the name of the department is not the Department of English Studies but the

Department of British and American Studies. Thus, this could be connected to the representation of

American and British flags on the sign. The university wants to promote the school and tell the

visitors that the students can read the languages that they are studying. This would be a reason for

them using English, French, Chinese and Japanese and not Korean. This sign is interesting in a sense

that it can be connected to some aspects of the university.

3 Language Use and Linguistic Accommodation in Hotels and Restaurants (by

Christine Ho Wen Xin)

Kyoto is a popular holiday destination for both local Japanese and foreigners with its rich array

of World Heritage Sites, beauty and fantastic food. While the Japanese will have no problems

navigating, placing orders and reading instructions, how would their Japanese-illiterate foreign

counterparts fair? My point of focus is on public signs and displays found in the hotel and

restaurants, where I observed its foreigner- friendliness and usability on these signs. Apart from


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signs, I also observed customer services rendered in the hotel, restaurants and elsewhere.

The hotel we stayed in, Daiwa Roynet Hotel, which is the only hotel we visited on this trip, is

slightly upscale and has bilingual signs in most places. Sings are displayed in Japanese with its

English translation just below it. At the elevator, there is a signboard that notifies two parts, or

paragraphs, in Japanese and one part in English. One wonders if the English translation is complete

as it is less than that of the Japanese notice. The English reads, “Hotel rooms are available to the

registered guests only. Any other people cannot enter into the hotel rooms. Thank you.” Brief,

succinct and grammatical, it indicates information well channeled. Thus, one can assume that the

message to the guests has been sufficiently communicated in English and those additional ones of

the Japanese are not as important as to require translating.

Notice at the elevator.


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In the hotel rooms are also a few signs and notices, thankfully, in bilingual. As, if there were to

be anywhere that needs signs translated the most, it would be in hotel rooms if guests comfort is

what the hotel is after. On the wall of the bathtub is a simple sign that reads “WATER LEVEL”,

below its Japanese equivalent. This is self-explanatory. The sign on the toilet roll, on the other hand,

is grammatically incorrect thus requires a certain amount of guessing its meaning, if one is unable to

read the Japanese. It reads, “To use up the end of rolls supports us conserve resources”, as one

would guess, is requesting guests to finish up the entire roll of toilet paper before replacing with a

new roll kept just below it in support of their effort in the conservation of resources. Everything else

in the room is user friendly for non-Japanese readers.

Sign on the bathtub wall in hotel.


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Toilet roll sign with grammatical mistakes.


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However, strangely enough, at the lobby of the hotel is a large sign standing just beside the front

desk where the only words on it are entirely Japanese. It has no indication whatsoever what it could

be about in English. As it stands conspicuously for all to pay attention to, it can be unnerving for

guests not to be able to comprehend a single word.


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With regards to customer service at the hotel, all staff are English literate and are able to assist

us well in English. This is, of course, a basic requirement of hotel services and they have done well.

Kudos!

The restaurants, however, can be a little tricky. Signs and menus are predominantly in Japanese,

especially if they are of the kind not to expect tourist patronization. Some signs that stand or hang

outside the eatery are completely in Japanese. The particular ramen place we went for lunch within

our hotel’s vicinity is more tourist friendly as not only does the promotional board outside have (a

few) English words, the shop also took great effort in providing a comprehensive guide to their

menu in English as well as a few other languages (refer to picture). The other restaurants we went to

are not as readily English friendly in terms of their menu. One would just order by what looks good

on the picture menu. But their services are great. As we were mostly with Japanese speaking people,

they placed orders in Japanese, therefore, I was unable to gauge their ability in English.


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Promotional board outside restaurant that is in Japanese only.

Signs in Japanese with some English words.


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On the entrance of our lunch place has posters in English.

In a nutshell, Kyoto’s hotels and restaurants are relatively foreigner friendly with smattering to

pretty good abilities for English, the international language. Although the prefecture is still not

completely proficient in the language, it is heartening to see them make a sincere effort to improve

in this area.


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The menu explained in various languages including English.

4 Language Use in Transportation, by Yusuke Otawa

4.1 Introduction

This part will discuss how languages are used in public transportation. First of all I will describe

how the real usage of languages in public transportation we observed during the field trip to Kyoto,

and then, as the next point, try to explain the reason of the real situation.

4.2 Description of Language Usage in Transportation

Transportation used in Kyoto is mainly trains and buses. Though there are several different

types of trains and buses maintained by different companies, the discussion here will be based only

on our observation of limited types of transportation. The focus will be on written information and

spoken information.


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A. Train

The train is one of the main types of transportation in Kyoto and several types of lines are used

inside Kyoto. Yet, the train is less popular for using to move to place to place for sightseeing,

compared with the bus, because of its number and locations of stations.

Written Information

The written information at train stations is basically written

in Japanese and English, as seen from the picture on the right. “Exit”

is the only word written also in Korean and Chinese in this example.

However, information that should be conveyed here is name of

places, which does not require deep understanding. Also, symbols

and numbering places help people to get necessary information.

In contrast to this, written information inside trains is a

little different from that in stations. Little English information can

be seen inside trains somehow unlike outside. Also the trains we

observed do not have screens showing the next stop even in Japanese, which makes it harder to

figure out where we are and make it difficult for people who cannot read Japanese.

Spoken Information

Japanese and English are used also for announcements inside stations and trains,

announcing information of coming trains and their destination. The usage of English is, however,

just for recorded information. So additional information related to sudden changes by staff or

drivers will not be conveyed in English.

B. Bus

The bus, covering most sightseeing places, is the most popular transportation among

tourists to Kyoto. Based on our observation, the bus is more foreigners-friendly.

Written Information

At some bus stops, they have screens

showing information of buses as in this picture.

This is providing information about the numbers of

the bus lines, their destinations, and even the

current locations of the buses, by using colors and

figures. Also this screen uses English, Chinese, and

Korean in turn, in addition to the constant usage of

Japanese. On this display, the Chinese description is now shown below the slightly larger Japanese

written information, and this part changes to Korean and English every few seconds.


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Spoken Information

The spoken information used on the bus is also convenient. Announcements are conducted

in the same 4 languages: Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean. Also there are buses with speakers

announcing outside toward the people waiting for buses to inform about the bus. This is great

especially for small bus stops that do not have enough equipment to convey enough information like

the screen introduced in the previous part.

4.3 Analysis

From our observation, it was found out that buses use more languages and other expressions by

using developed equipment, compared with trains. I think this is explained by the need for usage of

languages other than Japanese, and feasibility in terms of space and time.

One important point which should be mentioned regarding the need for foreign languages, is

that in Kyoto tourists are more likely to use buses than trains because of the covered area and its

convenience. Due to this, foreigners also use buses more because many foreigners staying in Kyoto

are tourists for shorter period, rather than long-term or permanent residents. Therefore, the need

for languages on the bus service is relatively higher.

One more aspect to be considered is the feasibility of including foreign languages. As for written

information, the first problem might be the problem of space. Even if you want to put information in

many languages, it is not always practical because of limitations of space. One way to solve this

problem is by using a screen. It can change the language so it does not cause the problem of space.

However, there still remains the problem of time, which is relevant both to written information

on screens and to spoken information. Although space is not a problem for written information on

screens and announcements, time still matters because it takes time to show or announce in many

languages. Therefore the bus stops which tried to use more languages still used only 4 languages due

to the constraints of time. If the problem of time could be solved by new methods, other languages

might be included. I think if public transportation creates new application giving information

through passengers' smartphones, the problem of time can be solved, because passengers can

choose their preferred language.

Nowadays, the need for foreign language is still limited to Japanese, English, Chinese and

Korean because of the number of people coming to Kyoto. However, in the near future, people from

different places around world with the different linguistic background will visit Japan hopefully, due

to the increasing standard of living, which gives people there more accessibility to Japan, and also to

the promotion by the Japanese government to attract Asian people to visit. This AIMS program is

raised as an example of these actions already implemented by the government. I think this trend

enhances the need for foreign languages in public transportation and especially the languages of

Asian countries such as Thai and Malaysian can be included in the near future.


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Then the key point to see here is the constraints of space and time, as already discussed above.

So to have more variety in language in public transportation, new technology or new convenient

devices are necessary. I think the change and the development can be seen already like the screen at

bus stops, but it is still in process. Therefore, analyzing the possibly increasing needs for more

languages and also inventing the ways to realize it are the main two things to be considered to create

a more convenient environment for people coming to Kyoto.

5. Languages Used for Tourist Information, by Sayaka Kazato and Tran Nhu Quynh

What we felt after we arrived at Kyoto is the strong presence of international tourists and

visitors, which easily exceeds that of Tokyo, with a few exceptions of Asakusa or similar areas. From

package tours traveling in large groups with professional guides to back-packers who navigate with

foldable maps and Lonely Planet, Kyoto at first glance offered great dynamics of internationalism

which is rarely observed in Japan, even at the capital city Tokyo where we came from. Conveniently

right at Kyoto Station, there stood an Information Center which exclusively provides tourists with

helpful information to get around and explore the city.

Information at Kyoto Porta, with instructions in Japanese and English

Our assignment was to observe the linguistic use in tourist spots so during our short 2 days

in this lovely city we made sure to capture every interesting material we could come across in our


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photos. Kyoto is obviously one of the most popular destinations in Japan and evidently more

equipped to assist tourists with signs in dual or multiple languages. Most of the stations have

instructions provided in Japanese and English, while some went further to add Chinese and Korean.

Still, Chinese and Korean signs were quite limited compared to English, and the impression we had

looking at most the of places is that even when there are signs in Chinese or Korean, they are likely

to be added after instructions in Japanese and English were written in, hence lack of space and

smaller sizes.

Most instructions are translated to English

Directions and instruction in English are indeed vastly available, but the quality of the

English translation, in our opinion, could be further improved. Also, examining more carefully the

multiple-language signs we ran across on our way, we came to realize that the services offered might

be available solely in English, not all the languages shown.


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Chinese or Korean are generally additional; primary language of instruction remains

English (take a closer look at the map)


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Kudos for the hospitality but some tourists might find this totally confusing

Multiple languages to say: service in English (only) is available


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We are convinced that Kyoto is off to bigger plans to attracting more and more

international tourist, evidently in their efforts to provide first full English instructions at major sites

and second, extend the service to non-English visitors. Shrines and temples in Kyoto are usually

accompanied by instructions and explanation in English so that the international visitors can feel

the charm and history of those spots, even without the help of professional tour guides.

Gion Post Office Udon Museum

Traditional shrines and temples, with explanations in English


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Ticket to Kiyomizu Temple. In the back there’s a poem in Japanese and English

translation

We believe Kyoto is on the way to further attract non-English international tourists and

soon in the future, we can witness more diverse language uses in Kyoto. Walking through the streets

of the beautiful and traditional Gion, we also caught welcoming signs in languages other than

English, Chinese or Korean and hopefully saw it as the sign of Kyoto’s increasing internationalism.

おこしやす – “Welcome” in Kyoto dialect and in six other languages: English, Korean,

Spanish, Germany, Chinese, and French.

As far as I am informed, Japan has relaxed its visa policy to countries like Thailand in the

last few years and since then it has witnessed a great increase in the number of visitors from such

countries. We did not see any instructions or signs in Thai at any major tourist spots, however, one

quiet corner on the street of Gion offered us an astonishing discover: a seemingly traditional house

with Thai signboard. We could not figure out what kind of place it was but it was a pleasant surprise

to see something written in Thai at the heart of Kyoto.


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เชิญเข้ารับชมฟรีค่ะ “Feel free to have a look inside!”

We think that the reason behind adopting Chinese and Korean after English for tourist instructions

is the strategic geographic proximity as well as the rapid increase of visitors from the 2 countries.

We could not really feel the prominence of Korean tourists during our short stay in Kyoto, but the

overwhelming presence of Chinese visitors was strongly evident. We ran into Chinese tourists at

most of the places and saw that souvenir shops on the way to Kiyomizu temple even had Chinese

speaking staff to serve the Chinese customers. It can be predicted that in the near future, Chinese

might play a more dominant role in assisting international tourists in Kyoto; and as the nationality

of the visitors to Kyoto diversifies, multi-linguistic sign would come in more languages. Still, one

real challenge the city of Kyoto might face in the future is to find the multi-linguistic staff capable of

meeting the demand to provide services for non-English speakers. Considering now they still

struggle to provide basic English assistance for international tourists, this may take several years

and a decisive strategy to accomplish.

class assignment investigating foreign language use and … · 2016-03-24 · class assignment...

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