NZ Herald ignores facts, perpetuates fears
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Lauren Gawne writes:
Last week I wrote about an article in the New Zealand Herald that used a single quote from a research article to launch an online poll and report that Kiwis were ‘uncomfortable’ with shop signs in languages other than English while the article itself had little to do with the original research. Apart from sadly indicating that a large number of New Zealanders appear to forget they have another official language (Maori) beside English, the article also appeared to have very little to say about the original research. As I wrote at the time:
It makes me wonder why we bother even doing rigorous peer-reviewed research at all if the media just pull a quote from a phone interview or media release and then twist it to suit their own agenda (in this case fear-mongering).
Unable to find the original publication (‘The Cosmopolitics of Linguistic Landscapes’) online, I contacted the authors Robin Peace and Ian Goodwin at Massey University to see how their work stacked up with the sentiment of the NZ Herald article.
Peace and Goodwin sent me their original press release, explaining that the results are from an unpublished paper as part of a larger research project. Reading through the press release I found myself wishing that I’d wagered money on the Herald failing to do justice to the original research.
To quote directly from the press release:
[Peace and Goodwin] note that some English speaking Kiwis may react negatively to finding themselves surrounded by signs they can not translate or understand. But the real value of cosmopolitan linguistic landscapes is that they may encourage members of the host communities to cultivate ways of knowing and interacting with new migrants, they say.
So Goodwin and Peace offer no idea of how uncomfortable New Zealanders are with a multilingual society, instead they are focused on educating people as to the positive benefits of these shop signs for all segments of the population. The press release goes on to detail the benefits of multilingual shop signs for both the new migrants, who are already under a lot of pressure to deal with the sometimes-stressful process of integration in a new and alien place, and for long term residents of the country, who have the opportunity to be exposed to authentic cross-cultural experiences without even having to remember where their passport is.
One fact in the press release I found staggering is that by 2017 estimates project that around a quarter of Auckland’s residents will be from other Asian countries. It is alarming that there are elements of the New Zealand population who expect linguistic invisibility from such large minority groups.
If the journalists at the NZ Herald were so concerned that their supposedly Anglo-phonic country was being over-run with recalcitrant migrants unwilling to integrate, they could have just allayed their concerns by quoting the press release more extensively:
Auckland’s Asian language signs, the study concludes, depict the process of integration as driven by a desire for belonging, to feel at home and to be part of the social fabric, and offer one way to read the complexity of migrant experiences which the researchers will investigate further.
Instead, the Herald are more interested in perpetuating distrust of non-English speaking migrants, and in doing so, besmirching the good name of both Peace and Goodwin.
Migrant integration is a complex and often multi-generational process. Peace and Goodwin understand this; the NZ Herald clearly understand this no better than journalistic ethics.
[update: As our good buddy Tamaiti Ma'uke (@Te_Reo_KA) pointed out on Twitter, New Zealand actually has three official languages, English, Maori and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). They were the first country to adopt a sign language as a national language back in 2006 - even more proof that New Zealand is linguistically awesome.]
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Baaaaaaaad Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad NZ Herald. Baaaaaaaaaaaa
Multilingual signage is of no problem as long as each one is accompanied by a translation in a common language that everyone can understand.
Take the picture of the monolingual shop front given in this post. It not only poses a problem to English-only whiteys but to any other immigrant who doesn’t speak Chinese.
It would seem only practical that the government should enforce translations of such public signage, and I daresay the public would be less put-out by having a variety of languages on shop-fronts if they knew what they were saying.
Howard B – correction.
It not only poses a problem to English-only whiteys but to any other immigrant who doesn’t speak Chinese.
Nope – it present a problem to those who cant READ Chinese characters. Speaking Chinese is different to reading it.
Maybe the owners don’t want non Chinese reading persons.
@Howard,B.
Have a thought for the many people on this planet for whom only a fraction of the world is in a language they understand. I know you’ll probably retort with ‘but monolingual Chinese signs like this don’t help that at all’, and you’d be right, but I think we dominant anglophones can allow other cultures to have some space of their own. No one complains about Italian shops and signs in places like Sydney’s Leichhardt, because it’s part of the cultural landscape and we’re now proud of it.
Moreover, I don’t think it’s the obligation of a private business to be accessible to everyone; they surely have a prerogative to advertise to a particular audience, and that may be Chinese by a vast majority. I’m thinking of, say, a Chinese medicine practice and herbal dispensary. Surely they can decide that they want to have their signage in Chinese because 99% of their clientele is Chinese rather than using up valuable signage real estate translating it into multiple languages. And yes, I know this is potentially contradictory of what I wrote about a couple of weeks ago about translating official documents into languages so that public housing residents can understand, but I think they’re significantly different.
What about shops, bars and so on that don’t have any signs? Surely they’re more repugnant than those with only one language represented. What about all the shops that don’t have braille on their signs? Surely they’re discriminating against the blind.
I think we just have to accept that there are some things in this world that we can’t understand.
I’m sorry but people complaining about non-English signage sound like big babies to me.
Firstly, how many businesses do you come across that have English names but you still don’t have a clue what they do or what they’re about?
Secondly, if you don’t understand the sign, just look in the effing window and then you will probably find out what their business is about.
Thirdly, if that still doesn’t work, just go in and effing ask them. God forbid, one of the complaining babies actually talk to an immigrant!
Lastly, commercial business is all about competition. If a shop with non-English signage is missing out on business because of it then it’s their own missed opportunity. If a shop with English-only signage is missing out on business, then it’s their missed opportunity.
Jeepers. Get over it.
One day, I’ll make a short film featuring a main character who bursts into tears every time they see a non-English sign. It would amuse me no-end.
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