El paisaje lingüístico en Cataluña: Caracterización y percepciones del paisaje visual y auditivo en una avenida comercial de Barcelona

Abstract

This study analyzes the linguistic landscape (LL) of a shopping street in central Barcelona (Avinguda Gaudi) and investigates the presence of different languages in the elements of the LL (main sign, marketing promotions, schedules, etc.). The results of photographic data show that the predominant language is Catalan, followed by cases where it is impossible to distinguish one language from another (for example, through the use of trademarks or proper names) and Spanish and English. The analysis of the different levels of the LL shows that the use of Spanish increases as we move away from the main sign of the establishment, although Catalan is still the dominant language. Perception data from the owners or employees of the stores confirmed the preponderance of Catalan, although there is a trend for Catalan to be more present in the visual than in the auditive landscape. Finally, data on knowledge of the regulations concerning LL in Catalonia show that most employees know of the existence of regulations, even though a very small percentage knows its details. The last section discusses the results of the study in light of previous LL studies and raises methodological issues in the investigation of LL.