Celebrating faith in English
Celebrating faith in English: Migrant support networks in Lleida
names of the group members
1. Introduction:
The linguistic landscape token that we have chosen to analyse is a promotional flyer for the New Living Church of Christ, found on the exterior of this recently established religious association at Valls d’Andorra 28, Lleida. This token is a bottom-up, migrant community-focused religious sign produced by an NGO/ASSOCIATION linked to a particular church faction of the Christian faith. English is the predominant language, present in the main message while catalan is only found at the address of the church (> non standard Catalan, because it is not DE Andorra but d'Andorra...). Despite being very partially polyglossic, just one alphabet (Roman) is used, making it monoglossic in script, in the Roman alphabet.
In this analysis, we will argue that English is used here not just for prestige (a well-known pastor is featured prominently in the flyer), but as a practical, lingua franca tool to reach non-Spanish and non-Catalan speakers such as Nigerian and other mostly African migrant communities. For them, English serves as a native or adjacent language (particularly for the Ghanaian and Nigerian communities), allowing them to access a local religious community in Lleida. ((careful here: the movement presents itself and offers services ONLY in Spanish, online: https://www.vidanuevalleida.com/ and they not only offer religious support but assessment and help with legal issues and support to newly arrived families.
2. Our LL >> CONTEXT?? (follow the guideline with the names of the sections, ok?)
The token is located at Valls d’Andorra 28, in the city of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. This street is in the Balafia neighborhood in Lleida, known as a new residential area mixed with old, more affordable buildings. Currently, there’s an ongoing conflict at only 60-meter distance of the token’s location: The emplacement of a homeless shelter. This shelter is, in theory, targeted to the homeless immigrants (see details of the controversy below).
Figure 1. Location of the New Living Church of Christ at Valls De Andorra 28, Lleida
Source: Google Maps Street View (n.d.)
We can see in Figure 1 the exact location of the church at Valls d’Andorra, 28 (third time you mention the address: repetitive). In Figure 2 we find the immediate surroundings, which include residential apartment buildings. Beside it, a tiny market stands near a place where buses come and go. So this church is easy to reach on foot.
Looking at how Idescat divides areas, this location sits in District IV - just one of nine such zones making up the town (Idescat, 2026). Holding > hosting? around 23,806 people, that part includes 7,546 inhabitants born outside the country. So nearly a third, specifically 31.7%, of those living there came from elsewhere, while across the whole city the average percentage is approximately 23.26% (Idescat, 2026).This migrant-populated demographic profile is perfect for understanding the choice of emplacement and language targeting that the church made. > expression; rewrite "the language used to target users..."
While Idescat data confirms a high immigrant population, it does not specify their countries of origin. However, our field observations and the church's use of English strongly suggest a target audience of migrants from English-speaking African nations, such as Nigerians or Ghanaians.
In the Balàfia area (located within District IV), residents have mobilized against a proposed civic hub that would include temporary housing for homeless individuals (Segre, 2024), so there is a confrontational view point clash of population: people that previously owned property in the neighborhood and new owners of the “Nova Balafia” against immigrants that can not afford high income housing, and want better living conditions or just don’t want to sleep in the street. The high density of an immigrant community plus the discrimination of your never use personalisation with 'you/your' own neighbors often lead to the need of a tied and strong sense of community building that has to show resilience. This case happened in both cases (<I do not understand this sentence), with Balafia Participa, the association that wants to cancel the project of the shelter, or with immigrant communities that unify themselves with bonds such as religion and self-support.
To conduct this analysis, we carried out two types of fieldwork: direct observation at the site and subsequent digital research.
Miguel Osorio, a member of the group project, visited Valls De Andorra 28 in Lleida, the location of the New Living Church of Christ, on February 28, 2026. He photographed a promotional flyer that was displayed outside the building there (see Figure 3). He drove through the surrounding streets for nearly thirty minutes, observing who passed by. Though personal backgrounds remain uncertain, many individuals seemed connected to African heritage, based on their non-caucasic appearance and context (> what do you mean distinguishing migrants by 'context'?). Overheard exchanges, meanwhile, took place entirely in English.This observation supports the hypothesis that the church's use of English may be a strategy to reach English speaking immigrant communities in Balafia.
Second: we added to our in-person observation digital research. We looked for the surroundings (Figures 1 and 2) and verified the precise location using Google Maps. In order to gather demographic information for District IV, we also consulted Idescat (2026), which verified a high immigrant population (31.7%) > repetitive. In order to contextualize Balafia's situation, we also looked at local news about the Balàfia shelter controversy (Segre, 2024) and studied the New Living Ministries website to learn about the church's history and mission (New Living Ministries).
Third, we analyzed the flyer itself using a critical (socially-commited) sociolinguistic qualitative approach, examining:
The languages present (English and Catalan)
The dominance and placement of English where?
The visual design and its possible appeal to a migrant audience
The connection between the church's global identity and its local linguistic choices
Finally, We then considered Catalonia's language policies. Article 14 of the Municipal Ordinance on Civility and Coexistence requires public signage to use Catalan (Ajuntament de Lleida, 2014). The church's flyer is a bottom-up sign. A private religious organization produced it, not the municipal government. Top-down regulations do not apply to this type of sign. This freedom lets the church use English to reach its target demographic > BUT they had to register in La PAeria as an institution in SPANISH. The church can prioritize English even though Catalan is the official preference for public space.
In the context you need to explain that the prophet featuring the flyer (invited host) is Roy Ezeribe from Benin (Nigeria), famous in social networks https://www.facebook.com/roy.ezeribe.9/ whose prayers are all in English..
4. Picture of our LL
Picture taken by Miguel Angel (28/02/2026)
All needs to be in paragraphs so develop full writing and not bullet points, ok?
Visual description. It is a multimodal sign involving text and image... The flyer uses a dark colorful background with bright text (check the meaning of orange and yellow for 'heart'). The Prophet, Roy Ezcribe, is on the left side of the picture. The text can be visually divided into three sections. We can find the church name at the top left. The event details and the location are in the center and at the bottom, respectively. "Grateful Heart" and the largest text are the most noticeable components when viewed from a distance.We looked for the surroundings and verified the precise location using Google Maps (Figures 1 and 2). > REPEATED FROM ABOVE!
Language distribution. Two languages appear on the flyer: English and Catalan. English dominates. The following elements appear in English:
Church name: "NEW LIVING CHURCH OF CHRIST"
Ministry description: "Ministry (Great Family)"
Event type: "Annual Thanksgiving" and "10 YEARS ANNIVERSARY"
Theme: "Grateful Heart"
Religious titles: "Prophet" and "HOST"
Date labels: "DEC 2025 / 13TH | 14TH"
Time labels: "6:00PM" and "11:00AM"
FOLLOWING ON MULTIMODALITY, PLEASE MENTION THE IMAGE OF THE FRUITS (GOD FEEDS YOU) + CAPITAL LETTERS FOR IMPORTANT INFO
Catalan appears in the address at the bottom: "Valls D'Andorra 28 Spain Lleida." The street name "Valls D'Andorra" uses Catalan spelling and grammar > NO. there is no grammar. i tis a street name and it is not written in the standard form..., placing the church within its local linguistic environment.
This division is not accidental. English carries the spiritual and community message. Catalan provides the address. The church uses English to communicate its identity and purpose to a global or migrant audience and it uses Catalan to locate itself for local residents.
FOR THE VALUES you need to mention where you took the categories from: References for the values: https://www.catpaisatge.net/en/landscape-resources/landscape-glossary
First, English has productive value. Cenoz and Gorter (2009) > you did NOt get the concept of this value. Your LL is definitely NOT to make money/profit. It is a social religious association! rewrite this all. argue that language choice follows market principles. The flyer promotes the anniversary event and uses English to reach a specific group. That group is English-speaking immigrants looking for a religious community. The language serves a practical purpose: it brings people through the door.
Second, English has an identity value. Cenoz and Gorter (2009) describe how languages carry symbolic capital. English signals global prestige. The church borrows this prestige to present itself as inclusive and transnational. The phrase "Great Family" supports this image. In a neighborhood where 31.7 percent of residents are immigrants (Idescat, 2026), English signals welcome. It tells newcomers this space is for them. > BELONGING TO A BROADER MIGRANT COMMUNITY/affiliation to a 'non-local' identity + affiliation ot a religious identity.
Third, English has spiritual value. The target audience shapes language choice (Cenoz & Gorter, 2009). Many English-speaking migrants from Nigeria and Ghana practice Christianity in English. The language connects them to familiar worship. Terms like "Ministry," "Prophet," and "Thanksgiving" in English signal an spiritual experience. The church offers more than community, It offers worship in a language that feels like home we need a comment on what branch of Christianity they follow exactly.
AESTHETIC VALUE!!!!!! Check class notes
5. Conclusion
This project taught us to see Lleida's streets differently. A simple flyer on a church window contains layers of social meaning. We learned that language choice is never random. It responds to real people and real needs.
The data supported what we observed. District IV has 31.7 percent immigrants > 5th time repeated,. The shelter debate in Balàfia shows local tensions around migration. The New Living Church uses English to reach a population that exists right there: English-speaking migrants seeking community and spiritual connection.This project was an opportunity for us to reflect on the current migrant situation that we are going through.
Miissing: English getting incoporated through faith.. Englishisation to migrant religion..
FALTA TOT AIXÒ: 7.CONCLUDING THOUGHTSThis will consist of a more personal opinion on the use of linguistic landscaping as a pedagogical tool learn about, and to do, sociolinguistics, and as a way to participate in socially-engaged citizenship ethnography via TKA/TEP, by asking you to act as knowledge generators, learning within as well as outside the university classroom walls in your immediate (private-life) socialisation space.
Ajuntament de Lleida. (2014). Ordenança municipal de civisme i convivència de la ciutat de Lleida. https://www.paeria.cat/docs/ordenances/ordenanca-civisme-convivencia-2014.pdf
Ajuntament de Lleida. (2024). Dades obertes de Lleida Open Data: Estrangers per barris i paisos any 2023. https://aplicacionsweb.paeria.es/eOpenDataPublicWeb/
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2009). Language economy and linguistic landscape. In E. Shohamy & D. Gorter (Eds.), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery (pp. 55-69). Routledge.
Google. (n.d.). [Google Maps location for Valls de Andorra 28, Lleida, Spain]. Retrieved March 4, 2026, from https://maps.google.com
Idescat. (2026, February 25). Població estrangera a 1 de gener. Per districtes (Lleida). https://www.idescat.cat/poblacioestrangera/?b=10&geo=mun:251207
New Living Ministries. (n.d.). About us. Retrieved March 4, 2026, from http://www.newlivingministries.org/about.php
Segre. (2024, February 26). Los contrarios al albergue de Balàfia anuncian una protesta cada mes. https://www.segre.com/es/lleida/260214/los-contrarios-al-albergue-de-balfia-anuncian-una-protesta-cada-mes_1111663.html
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