Abstract：The relationship between linguistic landscape and identity construction is underexplored in Chinese linguistic landscape studies. Using a mixed method of data collection, this paper investigates the historical and contemporary linguistic landscape of Shipai Village, the largest urban village in Guangzhou city, and analyses the characteristics of social dialects as well as the residents’ perception of identities. The naming practices of the historical buildings mark out the traditional clan relationship and the emphasis on private school education in the urban village. Predominantly dwelled by migrant workers, Shipai’s language choices in shop names indicate that the migrant workers’ identity construction endeavors through their local languages, cultural markers and hometown symbols. The survey and interview found that the migrant workers had strong identification with their own dialects and cultures, while their belongingness to the host city of Guangzhou and Shipai Village is low. This might be caused by their low social status in the metropolitan city and the difficulty for them to be truly integrated in the urban society. Finally, this paper proposes some strategies to enhance migrant workers’ identification with the host city.
刘 慧. 城中村语言景观与农民工身份认同研究[J]. 语言战略研究, 2020, 5(4): 61-73.
Liu Hui. Linguistic Landscape of an Urban Village and the Identity of Migrant Workers: An Empirical Study of Shipai Village in Guangzhou. , 2020, 5(4): 61-73.
