Language Contestation and the Geosemiotic of Landscape Linguistic in the Religious Tourism Area, Kampung Ampel Surabaya, East Java

Authors

  • Ni Wayan Sartini

    Department of Indonesian Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia

  • Bramantio

    Department of Indonesian Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia

  • Rima Firdaus

    Department of Indonesian Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia

  • Nadya Afdholy

    Department of Indonesian Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia

  • Salimulloh Tegar Sanubarianto

    National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Research Center for Literature, Language, and Community, Jakarta 12710, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i9.10376
Received: 6 June 2025 | Revised: 23 June 2025 | Accepted: 9 July 2025 | Published Online: 3 September 2025

Abstract

Kampung Ampel is regarded as one of the first locations for the introduction of Islam in East Java. This neighborhood is home to a diverse range of community groups, including indigenous Javanese, Madurese, Arabs, and Chinese. Kampung Ampel's diverse population of many cultural and ethnic backgrounds creates a cosmopolitan language landscape. The research aims to identify language contestation and assess the degree of multilingualism within the linguistic landscape of the area. This research uses qualitative methods by combining sociolinguistics and applied linguistics. Meanwhile, other linguists contend that the study of linguistic landscapes is as old as writing itself. The location and position of a language have a significant impact on its development in society. This study will use Scollon's geosemiotic theory to investigate the construction of the linguistic landscape in Kampung Ampel, Surabaya, East Java, in order to detect language contestation and the level of multilingualism in language use. The map depicting Kampung Ampel's linguistic environment, in which the majority speaks Indonesian monolingually, complies with Indonesia's national language policy. Aside from that, in a broader sense, the creation of Indonesian national identity is based on the use of Indonesian as a communication medium connecting various ethnic and linguistic groups throughout the archipelago.

Keywords:

Linguistic; Landscape; Geosemiotics; Kampung Ampel

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How to Cite

Sartini, N. W., Bramantio, Firdaus, R., Afdholy, N., & Sanubarianto, S. T. (2025). Language Contestation and the Geosemiotic of Landscape Linguistic in the Religious Tourism Area, Kampung Ampel Surabaya, East Java. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(9), 248–264. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i9.10376