The Application of Bilingual Menus and Vendors' Perceptions in the Night Markets of University Areas in Taiwan

台灣夜市雙語菜單使用情形及商家知覺之研究：以大學地區夜市為例

柯宜中(I-Chung Ke) ； 郭裕芯(Yu-Hsin Kuo)

《觀光旅遊研究學刊》 8卷2期 (2013/12) Pp. 37-58

摘要

This study investigates the use of bilingual menus in two Taiwan's night markets (Shih-Ta and Feng-Chia) with a field survey recording their actual use and interviews with vendors on their perceptions. The field survey of 264 vendors shows that 33% vendors in Shih-Ta and 18% in Feng-Chia night market used bilingual menus. Chi-square analyses show that booth vendors of traditional Taiwanese food with price range below NT$50 were less likely to have bilingual menus while vendors selling foreign foods with higher price in chain store shop were more likely to use bilingual menus (p＜0.001). The majority of interviewed vendors held a positive view on bilingual menus, which help the business of vendors of traditional food, but not those of foreign food. Bilingual menus may both relieve some vendors' pressure with its communication function and increase other vendors' anxiety with its indexical function when communicating with foreigners. The symbolic, indexical, attention-getting, and educational functions of bilingual menus illustrate the creative agency by vendors to utilize English as global resource in a glocal site.

關鍵字

全球化 ； 語言態度 ； 跨文化溝通 ； 雙語菜單

並列摘要

This study investigates the use of bilingual menus in two Taiwan's night markets (Shih-Ta and Feng-Chia) with a field survey recording their actual use and interviews with vendors on their perceptions. The field survey of 264 vendors shows that 33% vendors in Shih-Ta and 18% in Feng-Chia night market used bilingual menus. Chi-square analyses show that booth vendors of traditional Taiwanese food with price range below NT$50 were less likely to have bilingual menus while vendors selling foreign foods with higher price in chain store shop were more likely to use bilingual menus (p＜0.001). The majority of interviewed vendors held a positive view on bilingual menus, which help the business of vendors of traditional food, but not those of foreign food. Bilingual menus may both relieve some vendors' pressure with its communication function and increase other vendors' anxiety with its indexical function when communicating with foreigners. The symbolic, indexical, attention-getting, and educational functions of bilingual menus illustrate the creative agency by vendors to utilize English as global resource in a glocal site.

並列關鍵字

Globalization ； Language attitude ； Intercultural communication ； Bilingual menu