Localising English in Lleida

“From ‘Som’ to ‘Slow’: Local Identity in a Global Frame” Wesal El Messaoudi, Lynette Martínez & Jessica Ros Image 1. Token - Association sign. Picture taken by the authors (10/02/2026). INTRODUCTION From the late 20th century to this day, there has been an increasing process of globalization around the world which has contributed to the spread of the English language. Therefore, as Piller (2003: 175) states, “English has become a general symbol of modernity, progress and globalization.” In line with this, Cenoz and Gorter (2009) argue that the use of different languages on signs reflects status, and note that "all around the world, signs which are multilingual tend to include English as one of the languages" (Cenoz & Gorter, 2009: 57), a phenomenon that is directly linked to globalization. Commercial signs in urban centers tend to use the English language to attract more customers, thereby using it to signal prestige and a globalized identity. Our token under ana...

MARCELO FRUITS: AN INSIGHT INTO THE USE OF “COMMERCIAL MULTILINGUALISM” IN LLEIDA  Activity 1: Collective project: Localising English in Lleida    English Studies UdL English Language in Context  Teacher: Dr. Maria Sabatè Dalmau By: Paula Calveras Fernández, Glória Guasch Arias & Vladislava Used Ermakova     1. INTRODUCTION   Figure 1: Map of the area where our token in located Source: Retrieved from Google Maps by the authors (10/03/2026)   This blog post is part of a project titled 'Localising English in Lleida,' which is a key component of the subject 'Language in Context' at the University of Lleida, within the English Studies degree. The project studies the presence, meaning, and concequences of English in public spaces and throughout the city via linguistic landscapes (LL) or public communicative inscriptions, which, as Gorter defined, are the written languages visible in public spaces (Gorter, 2006, 2). ​ The text typology of the ...