Knowledge about Language and Linguistic Landscape

Abstract

The linguistic landscape is around us all the time. We can see language signs on the streets, in the countryside, in hospitals, at schools and in shops. Are we aware of the language on street signs, billboards, graffiti, or posters? It is difficult to believe that everybody has a full knowledge of the linguistic landscape but most of us sometimes notice the lan-guage(s) used and the specific linguistic characteristics of the linguistic landscape. Nowadays, with an increasing predominance of visual information there are more signs than ever before. When one takes a look at pictures or postal cards of shopping streets of 100 years ago it is obvious that the number of linguistic signs has increased enormously. The highest density of signs can be found in cities and towns, in particular in the main shopping streets, commercial and industrial areas. This era of visual information is also reflected in school classrooms, corridors and halls where official boards, children's work, teaching material, notices and ads fill the walls that were barely used in the past. The study of the linguistic landscape focuses on the analysis of the written information that is available on language signs in a specific area. This chapter summarizes the main findings in this field, the work in progress and future directions. The linguistic landscape can provide important insights and a different perspective on our knowledge about language. E A R LY D E V E L O P M E N T S The interest in the study of signs has a long tradition in semiotics but the specific study of the linguistic landscape in its own right is a relatively recent development. This increasing interest is shown in the number of recent publications and special colloquia at conferences that we refer to in the other sections. The study of the linguistic landscape focuses on the identification of the informative and symbolic functions of linguistic signs. Nowadays most research studies are based on the analysis of digitized pictures.