ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the issue of language ideology in light of “the visibility and salience of languages on public and commercial signs in a given territory or region” (Landry and Bourhis 1997: 23), that is, through an area’s linguistic landscape. Language ideology refers to a set of shared attitudes and beliefs about language, underpinned by certain social/cultural values. The literature on ideology, as noted by Blommaert (2005: 158), is a “morass” of contradictions and controversies yet central to the notion is the issue of power. The specific literature on language ideology is vast and diverse (Woolard 1998); however, it all includes a view towards understanding language in a broader social, cultural or/and political frame. Irvine (1989: 255) presents language ideology as “the cultural system of ideas about social and linguistic relationships, together with their loading of moral and political interests.” Hence it is not merely an individual’s perception of language use or attitudes towards their users, but is related to collective perceptions and cultural hegemonies (Gal 1998). Language ideology, moreover, is neither stable nor static. In fact it is potentially inconsistent and in opposition to other ideologies in general (Lanza and Svendsen, 2007). Woolard (1998: 3) calls language ideology “the mediating link between social forms and forms of talk” and hence also forms of language display, including the linguistic landscape (LL). Language ideology is, furthermore, closely linked to the notion of identity. What we think about language will be related to how we perceive ourselves and eventually how others perceive us.
