Danger Knows No Language: Analyzing the Online Linguistic Landscape of the National Park Service
Location
SU-216
Start Date
2-5-2025 9:40 AM
Department
Linguistics
Abstract
According to the U.S. National Park Service’s (NPS) visitation numbers, as of 2023, approximately 325,498,646 recreational visits were made to the 400+ park sites within the United States. Out of those roughly 325.5 million visitors, an estimated 14 million visitors are international. While information regarding the potential dangers a visitor might encounter in a given park site is readily available in English, the consistent string of unfortunate, and sometimes fatal, events that occur between visitors and wildlife, raise the question: how well is the NPS investing in informing and protecting the international/non-English speaking community that consistently visits these park spaces? The aim of this presentation is to examine the online linguistic landscape (OLL) of the NPS, and discuss what, if any, languages other than English (LOTEs) have been utilized to inform readers.This information was tabulated and labelled as either informative or emblematic text (Giacon, 2020, Gorter, 2023). This study is largely informed by both current OLL and preceding linguistic landscape (LL) research (Kallen et al, 2020, Landry & Bourhis, 1997). Findings show that, while there is information provided in LOTEs, it is provided in a vague overview, often located in an obscure section of each site. For example, while Rocky Mountain National Park has 102 English web pages dedicated to planning a visit and general visitor safety, the information provided in Spanish is shoved onto a single page as one mass of text, with most topics regarding safety supplied with less than five lines of information. This lack of clear, concise communication does not simply have an impact on the international or non-English speaking communities, it has an impact on citizens, as well. These violations and incidents can have severely adverse effects on our ecosystems and efforts to preserve the crucial natural spaces within the United States. As the fate of the NPS is currently in the air, further research might discuss the (d)evolution of the NPS’s OLL and online presence as a whole.
Faculty Sponsor
Richard Hallett
Danger Knows No Language: Analyzing the Online Linguistic Landscape of the National Park Service
SU-216
According to the U.S. National Park Service’s (NPS) visitation numbers, as of 2023, approximately 325,498,646 recreational visits were made to the 400+ park sites within the United States. Out of those roughly 325.5 million visitors, an estimated 14 million visitors are international. While information regarding the potential dangers a visitor might encounter in a given park site is readily available in English, the consistent string of unfortunate, and sometimes fatal, events that occur between visitors and wildlife, raise the question: how well is the NPS investing in informing and protecting the international/non-English speaking community that consistently visits these park spaces? The aim of this presentation is to examine the online linguistic landscape (OLL) of the NPS, and discuss what, if any, languages other than English (LOTEs) have been utilized to inform readers.This information was tabulated and labelled as either informative or emblematic text (Giacon, 2020, Gorter, 2023). This study is largely informed by both current OLL and preceding linguistic landscape (LL) research (Kallen et al, 2020, Landry & Bourhis, 1997). Findings show that, while there is information provided in LOTEs, it is provided in a vague overview, often located in an obscure section of each site. For example, while Rocky Mountain National Park has 102 English web pages dedicated to planning a visit and general visitor safety, the information provided in Spanish is shoved onto a single page as one mass of text, with most topics regarding safety supplied with less than five lines of information. This lack of clear, concise communication does not simply have an impact on the international or non-English speaking communities, it has an impact on citizens, as well. These violations and incidents can have severely adverse effects on our ecosystems and efforts to preserve the crucial natural spaces within the United States. As the fate of the NPS is currently in the air, further research might discuss the (d)evolution of the NPS’s OLL and online presence as a whole.