BIG DOG: THE AFTERMATH OF AMERICANIZATION

Aina Mª Bergas

ainaabn@gmail.com

Marta Quellos

andria838@gmail.com

Laura Turmo

lauraturmocompanys@gmail.com

1. INTRODUCTION

As the representative language of globalization that English has become, one ought to be able to spot it anywhere just by paying a minimum of attention to their surroundings and the public inscriptions we find in our everyday lives (Cenoz and Gorter, 2006, in Vanderbroucke, 2016). However, globalization, which is the incorporation of the world culture into a single society (Shimeyura, 2002), is not the sole phenomenon that provokes this burst of the English presence in all our streets. Throughout the recent years, a new concept has come to life: McDonaldization, this being a notion developed by George Ritzer which claims the adoption of fast-food chain characteristics into society through institutions and organisations (Crossman, 2020). One of the approaches to all these economy-related language phenomena is the analysis of Linguistic Landscapes (LLs.)

With regards to this approach, there has been a rising interest in linguistic landscapes. Linguistic landscapes surround us on a daily basis: in the streets, at school, in the shops… Also referred to as LLs, linguistic landscapes are the written information that can be found on written signs, this including the language used (Gorter & Cenoz, 2008). Analysis of LLs is actually key to detecting examples of globalisation and McDonaldization as a product of political and economic impulse.

The token we have chosen to analyse is the entrance sign of Big Dog, a food stall in Carrer Major, the main shopping street in Lleida, which is located in southwest Catalonia. This region of Spain, besides showing the now common regular display of English in commerce, stands out due to its two official languages: Catalan and Spanish. For this reason, it is hardly surprising that all English, Catalan, and Spanish appear on the signboards and posters of the shop, which all announce their products and services. Other languages might be present in this region as well given the fact that Catalonia has been experiencing high migration for several years and this could have led to increased contact between local and global languages.

Regarding the technical aspects, the domain of our token would be “commerce” since it consists of a business whose purpose is to attract the pedestrians’ attention and persuade them into purchasing their products. Although the entrance sign is only in English, the languages shown in the rest of the signs are English, Catalan, and Spanish (“Big Dog”, “Nuevo Milkshake”, “Patatas para llevar”, “Suc de taronja natural”...). Among these languages, the three of them ought to be labelled as foregrounded languages, with no secondary or backgrounded ones, without a subtext. The token understudy could be classified as monoglossic since the Latin alphabet is the only one presented. 

This article is actually part of a much broader project called “Localising English in Lleida” directed by Dr. Maria Sabaté Dalmau addressed to students from the Universitat de Lleida, particularly those cursing “English Language in Context” and that has the objective of allowing students to investigate sociolinguistic phenomena in their surroundings and developing a full understanding. Students are treated as competent knowledge generators due to the idea that learning sociolinguistics from our own perspective and drawing from our own experience is definitely positive (Sabaté-Dalmau, 2022).

2. CONTEXTUALISATION

The token that is the object of our analysis consists of a business entrance sign located in the historic centre of Lleida (see number 1 in Figure 1 below). Specifically, it is situated in what has been recognized as one of the most profitable streets in Spain: the Carrer Major (Carrer Major, 2019). In fact, approximately 8,076 pedestrians wandered through this street daily in 2019 (La Vanguardia, 2019). What is more, the city of Lleida was one of the Catalan regions that underwent the largest economic growth in 2019, increasing its VAB (Valor Absolut Agregat or High Added Value in English) a 2.6% (Lleida, 2020). As an illustration of this street’s profitability, the business that we chose to analyse is surrounded by other multinationals such as the clothing stores Zara and Mango.

Figure 1. Map of Lleida's neighbourhoods. Source: Oficina del Pla. Lleida's town hall (https://www.gifex.com/fullsize2/2011-04-14-13453/Barrios_de_la_ciudad_de _Lerida.html)

Figure 2. Street view map of the surroundings. Source: Picture taken by the authors in Carrer Major street; Lleida 18 May, 2022)

In connection to the area, Lleida had a population of 140,080 inhabitants in 2021. Out of these people, 111,894 had Spanish nationality, 28,186 inhabitants were foreigners, and most of the citizens (99,325) belonged to the "15 to 64" age group (Idescat, 2022). On the other hand, whereas the street in which our token is located has been proved to be highly profitable, the reality of the neighbourhood is more complex.

As mentioned before, the business entrance sign is in the Historic Center of Lleida. This particular area vastly increased its number of inhabitants in 2001 due to a migration wave (Cerezuela Sanjulián, 2016). Attracted by the low rental prices, the low-income migrants settled in this neighbourhood, and in a span of 10 years (from 2001 to 2011), the number of immigrant citizens increased to 4,000 (Cerezuela Sanjulián, 2016). Nevertheless, the abundance of "cheap" apartments in this area could be explained by the deterioration of the buildings as well as by the problems with drug traffic and prostitution in the neighbourhood (Revuelta, 2015).

Admittedly, Lleida's town council has tried to upgrade the neighbourhood's status through the implementation of social and economic policies aimed to promote a socio-economic and cultural revitalization of the area (Paeria, 2015). For instance, cultural associations, such as l'Orfeó Lleidatà, have been established there, the number of parking lots has multiplied, and the street lighting has been improved (Revuelta, 2015). Notwithstanding this, it is still a work in progress.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that some of the products that are sold in the business that is under study include hot dogs, milkshakes, sodas, and popcorn, among other typically American goods (see Figure 3 below). What is more, these products are mostly written in English, which could lead us to question the ever-growing impact of America on Catalan culture as well as the impact of globalization.

Figure 3. Signs with typically American goods. Source: picture taken by the authors in Carrer Major street; Lleida 5 May, 2022

3. METHODOLOGY

As for the methodology, the chosen research approach was an ethnographic observation, which consists of approaching the chosen linguistic landscape token (LL token, henceforth) "in a context-sensitive, grounded-manner" (Sabaté-Dalmau, 2022:12). In other words, this instrument of data collection gave us the opportunity to actively examine the object of our investigation in its natural surroundings. Specifically, the LL token was visited on three occasions by different group participants and, on those fieldwork visits, the group members concentrated on its linguistic context. The first one was done on the evening of the 23rd of April 2022 (at 18 p.m. approximately) by two members of the group who were strolling near the location of the LL token and took a picture of it. Although the members of the group were already aware of the presence of that establishment in Carrer Major, it was not until that moment that they noticed its multilingualism and multiculturality. The second visit was done on the 5th of May 2022 at midday (at 12 a.m. approximately) by the other member of the group and lasted 10 minutes. She paid attention to the people who were wandering near the establishment, given the fact that the stall received no customers. The predominant languages of the passers-by were Catalan, Spanish, and Chinese. The third visit took place on the evening of the 7th of May 2022 (at 19 p.m. approximately) by one of the members of the group. In contrast to the second visit, which was done on a weekday, the third one took place on a Saturday during a span of 30 minutes. The main difference was that, on the third visit, we were able to see some customers in the food stall. During the visit, we saw 5 groups of people, mostly families with children or teenagers, who were buying some of their products. These people spoke either Catalan or Spanish. On the occasion of Lleida's Festa Major (i.e. one of the main festivities of the city), the Carrer Major was full of people and hundreds of individuals walked past the establishment. Apart from Catalan and Spanish, which are the official languages of the region, we were able to hear some Arabic, Russian and Romanian.

In relation to language policies, the analysed LL token follows the top-down linguistic policies established by the Catalan Government. According to article 32.2 of the Act 1/1998 of the linguistic policy, “permanent signs and posters with general information and documents offering services provided to users and costumers in establishments open to the public shall be at least drawn up in Catalan” (Government of Catalonia, 1998). It is worth mentioning that this regulation does not apply to “trademarks, commercial names or signs”. For this reason, the commercial name of the food stall is written in English, a non-official language, whereas the rest of the information about the products (e.g. “granitzats”, “batuts”, “suc de taronja natural”, “patatas fritas para llevar”…) and the sticker on the floor (“Gràcies per mantenir la distància de seguretat”) are written either in Catalan or Spanish, following the regulations established by the law.

Our LL token also follows the bottom-up language policy since the English commercial name is part of a private commercial initiative. Indeed, the commercial enterprise has opted for strategic multilingualism (i.e. incorporation of a non-official, but attractive and powerful language as English) for economic, and probably aesthetic, motives. 

Lastly, during the third visit, we also took some pictures of the LLs surrounding our chosen token. We found out that most of the LLs tokens that we could find next to our establishment contained, at least, some elements in English (see Figure 4). Again, it is presumed that English is used for economic and aesthetic reasons in those places as well. Some examples were "Barceber shop", "Llao Llao - Natural frozen yogurt", "Belleza - hair and cosmetic store", "Dr. Mobile" or "Beth's hair - Botiga online / Métode curly". The repeated presence of English in the entrance signs of Carrer Major could lead us to believe that it is not an isolated occurrence but rather a popular phenomenon.  

Figure 4. Other businesses in Carrer Major that use English. Source: pictures taken by the author in Carrer Major street; Lleida 7 May, 2022

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 5. Our LL token. Source: picture taken by the authors in Carrer Major street; Lleida 23 April, 2022

As mentioned in the introduction and methodology, the LL token (see Figure 5) contains 3 languages. Some of the products are in Catalan (e.g.: “batuts”, ·granitzats”), other commodities are advertised in Spanish (e.g.: “kinder bueno”, “patatas para llevar”) and finally, the business name, as well as the names of some of the products sold there (e.g.: “popcorn”, “milkshake”), are in English. This is of special interest to our analysis because according to Vandenbroucke (2016: 87), “informational signs in a particular language are thus symbolic language choices (…) they reflect the dominant and most valued spoken language(s) in local linguistic repertoires and by prospective clients”. In this case, considering that results of official surveys have displayed a gap with regard to the Spaniard’s English proficiency level in comparison to other European countries (Eurydice, 2017, as cited in Férnandez-Costales et al., 2021), it could be questioned whether putting the business name in English is a wise choice, for instance.

Nevertheless, albeit some studies have concluded that advertising in Spanish is more effective for Latin-American Spanish speakers than in English (Hernandez & Newman, 1992), in the case of Spain, the use of English in advertising is perceived as a sign of “modernity, progress and globalization” (Hooft et al., 2017: 2). As a matter of fact, English is now being used all over the world in public spaces and in advertising (Vandenbroucke, 2016), which has been studied as an indicator of globalization (Cenoz and Gorter, 2006, in Vandenbroucke, 2016). Therefore, it would be a plausible explanation to assume that in the Big Dog business, English is used as a crafted fetish for branding instead of transmitting content. Also, because of this positive perception of English, the business sign would still affect potential customers through connotation even if they did not understand it (Sabaté-Dalmau, 2022).  On the other hand, the general perception of English and its association with positive stereotypes is particularly relevant to determining the values that can be observed in the LL token.

Concerning the values, it could be argued that the LL token has an aesthetic, productive, and identity value. On the one hand, aesthetic value refers to “a landscape's capacity to transmit a certain feeling of beauty, depending on the significance and cultural appreciation that it has acquired throughout history” (Landscape Observatory of Catalonia, as cited in Sabaté-Dalmau, 2022:8). This particular token has an aesthetic value because of the feeling of modernity and freshness that the English language evokes. Also, the aesthetic value of the token can be found in the visual image of the business, which perfectly combines red and yellow colors and contains some of the visual imagery related to American culture. There is even a wordplay between the name of the business and the image of the big dog, perhaps indexing the idea that they sell "big hot dogs". Then, the LL token also has a productive value because it is aimed at making money, and considering the general and ever-growing use of English in advertising, it seems like the name of the business was consciously chosen with that purpose in mind. Also, due to the effect of McDonaldization, this type of business that uses typically American imagery is associated by the customers with selling cheap and quick meals (Zeleny et al., 2020),  which could attract those customers that do not wish to spend much time and money on a meal. Finally, it could be argued that the LL token has an identity value, as the union of a foreign language with the selling of typically American goods in a Catalan store could be indicators of a globalized and Americanized identity. Particularly, the business would be presenting itself as modern, quick, and internationalized.  

Notwithstanding this, no matter how modern and fresh the English language in advertising might appear to the public, one shall not forget about its anthropological side effects, which are linked to linguistic imperialism. The current strength of English (among other languages, but especially English) is tightly linked to the consequences of colonialism and its former policies (Phillipson, 2018) and is resulting in a modern type of colonization: through language and culture.

On the other hand, there is the possible side effect of acculturation. Acculturation is defined as “those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original culture patterns of either or both groups” (Redfield, Linton, & Herskovits, 1936, pp. 149–152). This subject concerns the cultural panorama of Lleida because it is in fact a bilingual territory where both Spanish and Catalan are recognised as official languages, even though English might be starting to rule over both of them in areas such as the advertising field. It is undeniable that American propaganda is attractive to the public and that it effectively takes advantage of the Englishisation that is currently taking over society, but the concern of the consequences it might have on our other local languages and the impulse to preserve them ought to also be present.

Moreover, the fact that “the intensification of migration flows in the last decade has accentuated the diversity in the sociolinguistic puzzle of the Catalan multilingual territory” (Fernández-Costales et al., 2021) does not mean that minority languages have been as lucky as English and Spanish in the sense of having an established and secured place in our daily linguistic landscapes. While there has been a notable expansion in the number of languages spoken, they still have a minor impact, and prominence is left to Spanish and English, the latter being even a more concerning threat to Catalan than Spanish (Block, 2016). 

Despite being completely supportive of globalisation and its positive effects, we are also reluctant to embrace it fully due to its increasing side effects. It is marvellous that English acts as a lingua franca that enables us to communicate with people around the world, thus expanding our cultural knowledge, but we should also have the impulse of wanting to defend our community and mother tongues and keep using our languages in our daily lives (advertising and business included) instead of letting English “colonize” us. Moreover, no matter the number of speakers or cultural representation, all languages and their speakers deserve to be present in the society they live in since they are intrinsically part of our identity and linked to the human condition.

    5. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Concerning the chosen token, we conclude that the entrance sign of Big Dog is a clear example of the relevance not only of the English language but also of the culture of English-speaking countries, such as the United States of America, in the city of Lleida. From the moment in which we talked about multilingual landscapes in class, we have realised that, indeed, the city of Lleida is undergoing a strong process of Englishization. No matter where one looks, there is a high likelihood to find some English. According to Vandenbroucke (2016), the presence of English in public spaces is an indication of globalization. Moreover, the exponential rise of the use of English is a sign of the development and spread of English as a lingua franca across the world.

If we take a closer look at the commercial area in Lleida (i.e. the Carrer Major or Eix comercial), we can see that the usage of English for commercial purposes is not an isolated phenomenon. Indeed, other businesses located near our LL token have also used English in their signs or window displays. By way of illustration, there is the electronics store Dr Mobile, “Llao Llao” that sells “natural frozen yogurt” or even the store “Women’secret” with its slogan “Pretty, Comfortable & Sexy”. In commercial advertising, the usage of English has the objective of attracting customers by projecting an image of modernity and quality (Vandenbroucke, 2016), as we have explained in detail in the sections above.

The use of linguistic landscaping is an excellent pedagogical tool since it gives the students the opportunity to actively participate in the project and apply the concepts that they have learnt in class to a real situation. Therefore, students are able to see sociolinguistics not just as an abstract discipline, but also as something attainable. In other words, their participation in socially-engaged citizenship ethnography via TKA (Technology of Knowledge Acquisition) and TEP (Technology of Engagement and Participation) brings the discipline of sociolinguistics closer to the students, which makes them realise that they can actually do sociolinguistics. Besides, the use of technology makes it more engaging and dynamic, which encourages the students to participate in the project.

In a nutshell, we would say that we have been surprised by the amount of English that one can find in the streets of Lleida, which is by no means as globalised and cosmopolitan as other capitals of the country, such as Barcelona or Madrid. In addition, we have enjoyed the process of looking for LL tokens around the city and the experience of “being sociolinguists”.

6. REFERENCES

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