Abstract
During the last decades, the promotion of multilingualism has been key when designing linguistic policies in Europe. Previous research studies have focused on how languages are employed in fields such as education, media, and urban sites, among others. Bearing all this in mind, the aim of this paper is to analyse the linguistic landscapes of three municipalities located in a bilingual region in Spain, that of the Valencian Community. Thus, issues such as language contact, language dominance, and the languages used by a number of institutions on private and public signs were examined. As for the method, over 140 pictures of language signs were taken in order to examine language contact, language dominance, and the influence of official and foreign languages on private and public signs. The results suggest that the presence of languages may vary depending on the population living in these settings, the citizens’ mother tongue, and the policy regarding the minority language. The findings also indicate that the power of the two co-official languages is reinforced by public signs, whereas rich linguistic diversity is shown in private signs. All in all, it can be stated that the linguistic policy in the Valencian Community is not homogeneous throughout the region.
Highlights
In recent years, official institutions have regulated linguistic policies dealing with the protection of minority languages (European Parliament 2017) and the introduction of foreign languages within a given territory, in Europe (European Commission 2015)
This paper focuses on language contact, language dominance, and the languages used on the private and public signs of three municipalities located in the Valencian Community: Benasal, Almazora, and Valencia
The linguistic landscape of three municipalities was examined to address existing issues in urban and rural areas related to language contact, language dominance, and the distribution of official and foreign languages on private and public signs
Summary
Official institutions have regulated linguistic policies dealing with the protection of minority languages (European Parliament 2017) and the introduction of foreign languages within a given territory, in Europe (European Commission 2015). In this sense, bilingual and multilingual phenomena may occur in the linguistic landscape of an area. Bilingual and multilingual phenomena may occur in the linguistic landscape of an area This concept has been regarded as the “language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings which is combined to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory, region, or urban agglomeration”. Previous research studies have acknowledged bilingual and multilingual practices in urban sites (Cenoz and Gorter 2006; Gorter 2006; Huebner 2006; Ben-Rafael et al 2006; Shohamy et al 2010)
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