PaPanBread - Internationality on Daily Occurrence

UNIVERSITAT DE LLEIDA

Facultat Lletres

Sociolinguistics

PaPanBread, Internationality on a Daily Occurrence

Project by Elizabeth MacDougall, Rebecca Zolli and Maria Chiappin

Presented to Maria Sabaté Dalmau

English Language in Context






Group 2







March 29th, 2019

PAPANBREAD

Internationality on Daily Occurrence

1. INTRODUCTION

A variety of languages can be observed on signs, banners, posters and other linguistic landscapes (LLs) in the city of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It is vital to acknowledge and analyze the purpose of linguistic tokens as they reflect the world we live in. Languages carry various values and tell a story by leaving imprints and slices of history and culture. PaPanBread, a local bakery shop, uses three distinct languages on their commercial sign. This diversity in language illustrates social, cultural, and linguistic factors in this given context, Lleida. The PaPanBread sign has a commercial purpose via this 'advertising language combinations' written in Catalan, Spanish and English, using the standard Roman alphabet: the first two languages are co-official in this city, while the third is the worldwide “lingua franca”. The subtitle of the shop “Forn Artesà” highlights the predominance of Catalan. As Edelman and Gorter analyzed in their article Linguistic Landscapes and the Market, “Language choices in advertising messages displayed in the linguistic landscape give valuable information about prevailing language regimes and challenges to these regimes." (Edelman, 2010, p.96) The use of English in the sign has two main objectives which are to increase economic benefits and reach out to foreign people; therefore, English as a global language is used for Monetisation and Marketisation. The owner of this local bakery shop chose the name of the sign, which indicates bottom-up policies; however, he/she needs to follow the top-down bilingual policies in Catalonia.

2. CONTEXTUALISATION

The context in which a given linguistic landscape is located demonstrates meaning as correlations can be made between the environment and the token. Communicative inscriptions are a way of claiming a space into the community. A holistic approach is desired and necessary to examine the linguistic token to comprehend its essence. For instance, analyzing various factors surrounding the linguistic token, such as its context and values, allows for a better understanding of its overall function and target. PaPanBread is a local bakery shop located in Carrer Roca Labrador 15 in Mariola, Lleida. The neighborhood of Mariola is populated mostly by local people (77.74%) and a considerable portion of foreign people (22.26%). (La Paeria, 2012, p.27) The majority of people who live in this neighborhood are considered middle class: families, students, young professionals, and seniors can be seen walking in this neighborhood. The significant amount of foreigners in Mariola influences local shops, such as PaPanBread. Catalan and Spanish are standard; however, English is included in their sign to speak to the world. One could infer that this local shop included English in their sign for the foreign people to understand. This sign indexes local identity by demonstrating great interest in reaching out to various cultures.

Figure 1 - Street view. Picture taken from Google Maps.

Figure 2 - Neighborhood. Picture taken from Google Maps.

3. METHODOLOGY

We took pictures of the main banner of PaPanBread as well as the outside of the building. It is an attractive bakery because from the outside, you can see the products and the artisans at work and you can smell the fresh bread. The people who work are both young and senior workers, which reflects the locality and internationality of the whole city. This bakery shop, located in the outskirts of downtown, is very well established and seems to reach to tourists and foreign people with its branding and marketing techniques.

The scientific method that was used to conduct this research project is critical sociolinguistic ethnography, more precisely, a mixture of intuitive knowledge and empirical knowledge. At first, we described the LL objectively by identifying the neighborhood, the demographic factors, and the linguistic token itself. Then, utilized our intuitive knowledge as we interpreted social factors, contextualized the environment, and made links between various linguistic factors. During the data collection process, we used four types of data which are field notes, participant observations, audio-visual materials, and archives. This allowed us to approach our token in a grounded-manner by contextualizing the imprints in a slice of urban geography.

The three fieldwork visits were very useful to examine social, cultural, and linguistic factors. Our first visit, on March 1st, our second visit on March 13th, and our third visit March 20th were all different and practical. The sign of the shop did not change during our three visits. We entered the shop the first and the third time, and both times, we heard people speaking mostly Catalan and Spanish. The first time we visited PaPanBread, we spoke Spanish, while the second time we spoke English: in both cases, the cashiers answered us without problems, adjusting to the language that we were speaking. This demonstrates the ability of this local shop to quickly adapt and break language barriers.

Figure 3 - Commercial sign. Picture taken by authors.

Figure 4 - Commercial sign. Picture taken by authors.

Figure 5 - Commercial sign. Picture taken by authors.

The LL followed three regulations: Article 4.3, being “collocating, without the expressed authorization of the Town Council, cartels, banners, adhesives and any other form of propaganda or advertisement, on municipal buildings and installations, on elements of landscape and urbanistic; in general, on every element that, localized on the public space, are addressed to give specific services to the population.”(La Paeria, p.2), Article 14, being “public signs of all kinds or typologies shall be normally written in Catalan.”(La Paeria, p.7), and Article 17.2, being “outside the Catalan-speaking area, advertising shall preferably be conducted in a double version of it: in Catalan and then in a language which is not spoken in the Catalan-speaking area, or in Spanish." (La Paeria, p.8)

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 6 - Commercial sign. Picture taken by authors.

The sign of the bakery demonstrates two predominant values, which are the identity value and the productive value. The playful language hierarchisation reflects the importance of diversity while shedding light on the first language of the region, Catalan. This arrangement of languages refers to linguistic structuration/hierarchisations of languages Catalan, Spanish and English, all languages that can be seen on the sign, are written in the same size, which manifests the identity of the region but also its open mind to foreign people. All three words are written using capital letters; thus, it suggests that all languages are equal in importance. On the other hand, placing English at the end highlights the importance of local identity by placing Catalan, and then Spanish on the sign. The presence of English on the sign of PaPanBread indicates adaptability and open-mindedness.

Using English manifests a productive value as it provides a financial benefit by attracting tourists and foreign people. By including English, the majority of the population can relate to PaPanBread and feel part of the community. As Edelman and Gorter affirmed in their article Linguistic Landscapes and the Market, “English is the most frequently used language in advertising in non-English-speaking markets, besides the local language. Often the English language is used to associate a product with a social stereotype of modernity, progress, and globalization”. (Edelman, 2010, p.97)

5. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Even though English is used for commercial purposes throughout the city, Catalan remains the dominant language. The first word that can be read on the sign is Catalan, which directly addresses the local people in Lleida and shows the ethnolinguistic afiliation of the city and the region. English, being the predominant language for international purposes, is used by local shops, such as PaPanBread, to increase their financial wealth through tourism.

Lleida promotes the values of diversity, open-mindedness, and cultural inclusion by being a cultural melting pot.

Thanks to the Google map (Technology of Empowerment and Participation, TEP), hidden places in the city can be found more easily by tourists and by locals. Moreover, it can be used as a pedagogical tool in classroom contexts through ICT (Information and Communication Technology), TAC (Technologies for the acquisition of knowledge), and TEP (Technologies of Empowerment and Participation). (Prego-Vázquez & Zas Varela 2018: 281)

This technological tool may also help small businesses grow as they promote local culture and their products. As three Erasmus students, we do not find ourselves left out of the community. The presence of various languages throughout the city of Lleida helped our integration process as we developed a sense of belonging.

References

• Edelman, L. and Gorter, D. (2010) Linguistic landscapes and the market. In: Language in the Market (ed.) by H. Kelly-Holmes & G. Mautner (p. 96, quote in 2. Contextualisation; p. 97, quote in 4. Results and Discussion)
• Prego-Vázquez, G. & Zas Varela, L. (2018). Paisaje lingüístico: Un recurso TIC-TAC-TEP para el aula. Lingue Linguaggi 25: 277-295
• La Paeria. (2012). Buttletí Socioeconòmic de Lleida. 14: 27-28. http://paeria.cat/butlletieconomic/2012/03-juliol/06-poblacio.pdf 
• Gifex. (2011). Barrio de la ciudad de Lleida. https://www.gifex.com/fullsize2/2011-04-14-13453/Barrios_de_la_ciudad_de_Lerida.html 
• La Paeria. (2012). Ordenença municipal de civisme i convivència de la ciutat de Lleida. 2-8. http://www.lleidaparticipa.cat/public/197/docs/6c2e2ab8cee8ef11cc82f1e8621d78b5.pdf