Linguistic Landscape in Tanjungbalai

This study investigated the texts used in public spaces in Tanjungbalai, North Sumatera, Indonesia. From 182 signboards analyzed, it was found that the items in the bottom-up category had a large number than in the top-down category. This finding approved that shop notes, private business notes, and private broadcasts dominated the Tanjungbalai’s linguistic landscape. The texts used in top-down and bottom-up categories were monolingual (using BI/FL/LL) and bilingual (using BI and FL/ BI and LL/ FL and LL). In terms of monolingualism, BI was dominantly used in both categories. In the top-down category, BI was used in 19 nameplates of public institutions, 7 public notes of common interest, and 11 public broadcasts. In the bottom-up category, BI was used in 46 shop notes, 11 private business notes, and 16 private broadcasts. However, LL had the least number in use. It was merely used in 1 public broadcast and 2 shop notes. In terms of bilingualism, in the top-down category, bilingualism was only found in public broadcasts while in the bottom-up category, it was found in all types of items. Public broadcasts in Tanjungbalai combined BI with LL. Such combination will allow a culturally diverse society to comprehend the information provided by state and local government. In the bottom-up category, BI and FL were the major combinations identified (found in 15 shop signs, 2 private business signs, and 14 private announcements), followed by FL and LL combination (found in 3 shop signs), and BI and LL combination (found in 1 shop sign). Low LL usage in all categories (top-down, bottom-up, monolingual, and bilingual) indicated the failure of local government to promote LL and the potential for the death of LL. This study, then, can be a self-reflection for the local government in Tanjungbalai to redesign language policy and planning.