English Language Representation in Korean Linguistic Landscapes

Abstract

This study sought to analyzed English linguistic landscapes in South Korea to find out the kinds of businesses, shop, street and directional signs that are represented in English. A corpus of 500 public and commercial English signs (clothing, shoes, accessories, beauty products, children’s toys restaurants, cafes, hotel names, supermarket, mall names and street names, tourist attractions and street names) was collected from some South Korean cities during the author’s visit in September 2023. In addition, a sample of Korean colleagues who are university professors were surveyed to find out why the number of English signages has considerably increased compared to the status of English signs two decades ago. While most business and street signages are still in Korean, there are notably a good amount of English signages which represent international as well as local brand names. The most frequent businesses with English signs are  food and beverage shops (27%), clothing, shoes, handbags, lingerie and beauty product shops (24%), hotel name signs (17%), directional signs (11%), malls, supermarkets and convenience stores (5%), entertainment shops, games, gyms, clubs, music, and theme parks (4%) and miscellaneous kinds of shop, businesses and public service names (5%). Businesses, shops, directional and service signs with English sign names include international hotel chains, clothing shops, cafes and Franchised shops with English names are Sheraton, Marriott, Starbucks, Burger King, McDonnalds, Pizza Hut; local Korean brand names transliterated in English, and local English names created by the Korean shop owners. The Korean professors believe that use of foreign names attract shoppers' attention more than Korean names. More international tourists and foreigners who are residing in South Korea can be reached. They also gave globalization factors that affect the preference for English sign names. Recommendations for exploring the status of English sign names in non-English speaking countries as Russia, China, Indonesia and others are still needed in addition to studies that show how the national identity can be preserved in the commercial sector in the face of English-flooded linguistic landscapes around the world.