Concerning Phenomenon of Westernizing Linguistic Landscapes and Its Correlation between House Prices in Astana, Kazakhstan
Abstract
By conducting research in Astana, Kazakhstan, as an example of a non-Western country, this paper seeks to demonstrate the Westernization of linguistic landscapes in Astana, Kazakhstan, and its correlation with house prices, while also discussing the meaning of the phenomenon and what actions Kazakhstan people should take.
Throughout the process, the researcher gathered data on 166 houses to determine the average house prices per square meter of two groups of adjacent residential blocks, as well as 257 photographs of linguistic landscapes to determine the extent of Westernization in both groups. Subsequently, the data from the two groups would be compared to determine whether there is a correlation between house prices and the Westernization of language landscapes.
The findings revealed that linguistic landscapes in Astana are undoubtedly Westernizing and that there is a strong correlation between house prices and linguistic landscape Westernization, with one group having higher house prices per square meter and the extent of Westernization than the other at the same time.
The researcher believes that this phenomenon is caused by various factors, including the similar social context of high-income individuals in Astana and the majority of the West (e.g., both predominantly work in the service industry), higher exposure to the internet, etc. While the limitedness of the data resulted in a barely fruitful finding in this research, it is safe to say that this article contributed to the study of linguistic landscapes' Westernization and the correlation between high income and Westernization in Astana.
Keywords: linguistic landscape, Westernization
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All necessary information is within the paper and URLs in Appendix section linked to the researcher's personal Google Drive, which is accessible for all readers.
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