| dc.description.abstract | The present thesis is an empirical study of the linguistic landscape of selected streets in
Stavanger, Norway. The aim of the study is to see how English is used in the linguistic landscape
of Stavanger, one of Norway’s largest municipal areas and also known as a relatively
‘international’ city. The study aims to answer the follorwing research questions:
1. How commonly is English used in the linguistic landscape of Bergelandsgata, Pedersgata
and Fargegata, compared to Norwegian?
2. How is English represented differently from Norwegian in the linguistic landscape?
3. What does this tell us about the functions of English in Norwegian urban life?
The material collected for this study consists of pictures of signs and writing in three
selected streets of Stavanger. The signs were classified making use of two main sets of
categories. First of all, they were classified on the basis of the languages used, into two primary
categories, monolingual and multilingual; the languages were also identified. According to their
content, they were further classified as top-down and bottom-up. They were then further
classified in terms of domain: as signs relating to the beauty industry (e.g. hair salons, tattoo
parlors), posters for cultural events and concerts and so on.
The findings showed that the majority of signs contain English and that English in many
cases is represented in a different way from Norwegian. In the material English sometimes
appears as a less personal, less inclusive mode of communication | |
