Entangled with Traffic Signs: An Ethnographic Account of Internationals Driving in Mainland China

Dai Hui

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20

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Entangled with Traffic Signs: An Ethnographic Account of Internationals Driving in Mainland China

Dai Hui

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 8, Issue 3)

Received: 27 February 2020 Accepted: 30 March 2020 Published: 23 April 2020

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Abstract

This study investigates the difficulty of internationals’ driving in non-English Chinese environment by reporting on their encounters and reflections in the traffic contexts. The study adopts a geosemiotic perspective and utilizes an ethnography to study foreigners’ usage of traffic signage in Guangzhou, a major and hub city of Mainland China. It collects the verbal and written data of non-Chinese drivers and Chinese traffic authorities as well as scrutinizing some government standards and news reports on this issue. The study finds that foreign sign users are enculturated to an indigenous Chinese driving practice by assimilating into the local “Chinese-only” driving environment. The empirical findings suggest that traffic signs as one form of discourses in place are keyed to culture contextedness for their comprehension and usage by their users as another form of discourses in action. It is therefore argued that although China with its high-end signing system has stepped into a globalized world, the signing system may be less convenient for foreign drivers to mobilize. The contribution of this research rests with two respects: first, it may appeal to more geosemiotic review of signs in the concrete world; second, this study may be helpful in its attempts to make transportation engineers, urban planners, and law enforcers recognize the importance of Romanized versions of traffic signs addressing foreign drivers in Mainland China.

Published in	International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 8, Issue 3) This article belongs to the Special Issue Humanity and Science: China’s Intercultural Communication with the Outside World in the New Era
DOI	10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20
Page(s)	169-176
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Traffic Signs, Foreign Drivers, Social Action

References

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APA Style

Dai Hui. (2020). Entangled with Traffic Signs: An Ethnographic Account of Internationals Driving in Mainland China. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 8(3), 169-176. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20

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ACS Style

Dai Hui. Entangled with Traffic Signs: An Ethnographic Account of Internationals Driving in Mainland China. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2020, 8(3), 169-176. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20

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AMA Style

Dai Hui. Entangled with Traffic Signs: An Ethnographic Account of Internationals Driving in Mainland China. Int J Lit Arts. 2020;8(3):169-176. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20,
  author = {Dai Hui},
  title = {Entangled with Traffic Signs: An Ethnographic Account of Internationals Driving in Mainland China},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {8},
  number = {3},
  pages = {169-176},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20200803.20},
  abstract = {This study investigates the difficulty of internationals’ driving in non-English Chinese environment by reporting on their encounters and reflections in the traffic contexts. The study adopts a geosemiotic perspective and utilizes an ethnography to study foreigners’ usage of traffic signage in Guangzhou, a major and hub city of Mainland China. It collects the verbal and written data of non-Chinese drivers and Chinese traffic authorities as well as scrutinizing some government standards and news reports on this issue. The study finds that foreign sign users are enculturated to an indigenous Chinese driving practice by assimilating into the local “Chinese-only” driving environment. The empirical findings suggest that traffic signs as one form of discourses in place are keyed to culture contextedness for their comprehension and usage by their users as another form of discourses in action. It is therefore argued that although China with its high-end signing system has stepped into a globalized world, the signing system may be less convenient for foreign drivers to mobilize. The contribution of this research rests with two respects: first, it may appeal to more geosemiotic review of signs in the concrete world; second, this study may be helpful in its attempts to make transportation engineers, urban planners, and law enforcers recognize the importance of Romanized versions of traffic signs addressing foreign drivers in Mainland China.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Entangled with Traffic Signs: An Ethnographic Account of Internationals Driving in Mainland China
AU  - Dai Hui
Y1  - 2020/04/23
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 169
EP  - 176
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20
AB  - This study investigates the difficulty of internationals’ driving in non-English Chinese environment by reporting on their encounters and reflections in the traffic contexts. The study adopts a geosemiotic perspective and utilizes an ethnography to study foreigners’ usage of traffic signage in Guangzhou, a major and hub city of Mainland China. It collects the verbal and written data of non-Chinese drivers and Chinese traffic authorities as well as scrutinizing some government standards and news reports on this issue. The study finds that foreign sign users are enculturated to an indigenous Chinese driving practice by assimilating into the local “Chinese-only” driving environment. The empirical findings suggest that traffic signs as one form of discourses in place are keyed to culture contextedness for their comprehension and usage by their users as another form of discourses in action. It is therefore argued that although China with its high-end signing system has stepped into a globalized world, the signing system may be less convenient for foreign drivers to mobilize. The contribution of this research rests with two respects: first, it may appeal to more geosemiotic review of signs in the concrete world; second, this study may be helpful in its attempts to make transportation engineers, urban planners, and law enforcers recognize the importance of Romanized versions of traffic signs addressing foreign drivers in Mainland China.
VL  - 8
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Dai Hui

Department of English, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Dai Hui. (2020). Entangled with Traffic Signs: An Ethnographic Account of Internationals Driving in Mainland China. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 8(3), 169-176. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20

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ACS Style

Dai Hui. Entangled with Traffic Signs: An Ethnographic Account of Internationals Driving in Mainland China. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2020, 8(3), 169-176. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20

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AMA Style

Dai Hui. Entangled with Traffic Signs: An Ethnographic Account of Internationals Driving in Mainland China. Int J Lit Arts. 2020;8(3):169-176. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20,
  author = {Dai Hui},
  title = {Entangled with Traffic Signs: An Ethnographic Account of Internationals Driving in Mainland China},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {8},
  number = {3},
  pages = {169-176},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20200803.20},
  abstract = {This study investigates the difficulty of internationals’ driving in non-English Chinese environment by reporting on their encounters and reflections in the traffic contexts. The study adopts a geosemiotic perspective and utilizes an ethnography to study foreigners’ usage of traffic signage in Guangzhou, a major and hub city of Mainland China. It collects the verbal and written data of non-Chinese drivers and Chinese traffic authorities as well as scrutinizing some government standards and news reports on this issue. The study finds that foreign sign users are enculturated to an indigenous Chinese driving practice by assimilating into the local “Chinese-only” driving environment. The empirical findings suggest that traffic signs as one form of discourses in place are keyed to culture contextedness for their comprehension and usage by their users as another form of discourses in action. It is therefore argued that although China with its high-end signing system has stepped into a globalized world, the signing system may be less convenient for foreign drivers to mobilize. The contribution of this research rests with two respects: first, it may appeal to more geosemiotic review of signs in the concrete world; second, this study may be helpful in its attempts to make transportation engineers, urban planners, and law enforcers recognize the importance of Romanized versions of traffic signs addressing foreign drivers in Mainland China.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Entangled with Traffic Signs: An Ethnographic Account of Internationals Driving in Mainland China
AU  - Dai Hui
Y1  - 2020/04/23
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 169
EP  - 176
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.20
AB  - This study investigates the difficulty of internationals’ driving in non-English Chinese environment by reporting on their encounters and reflections in the traffic contexts. The study adopts a geosemiotic perspective and utilizes an ethnography to study foreigners’ usage of traffic signage in Guangzhou, a major and hub city of Mainland China. It collects the verbal and written data of non-Chinese drivers and Chinese traffic authorities as well as scrutinizing some government standards and news reports on this issue. The study finds that foreign sign users are enculturated to an indigenous Chinese driving practice by assimilating into the local “Chinese-only” driving environment. The empirical findings suggest that traffic signs as one form of discourses in place are keyed to culture contextedness for their comprehension and usage by their users as another form of discourses in action. It is therefore argued that although China with its high-end signing system has stepped into a globalized world, the signing system may be less convenient for foreign drivers to mobilize. The contribution of this research rests with two respects: first, it may appeal to more geosemiotic review of signs in the concrete world; second, this study may be helpful in its attempts to make transportation engineers, urban planners, and law enforcers recognize the importance of Romanized versions of traffic signs addressing foreign drivers in Mainland China.
VL  - 8
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download