2011/02/19 by Beatriz Lado · 63 citations
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Multilingual Education and Policy #Second Language Learning and Teaching #Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies #Valencian #Catalan #Ideology #Linguistics #Linguistic landscape #Variety (cybernetics) #Multilingualism #Prestige #Language policy #Sociology #Geography #Political science #Law #Politics #Computer science
paper · doi:10.1080/14790718.2010.550296
published in International Journal of Multilingualism 8(2), 135-150 (Routledge)
openalex publication_date 2011/02/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The Valencian Community is an area in Spain where Valencian, a variety of Catalan, is the co-official language along with Spanish. Differently from other bilingual areas in Spain, the unique historical circumstances that the Valencian Community underwent have led to the current linguistic and ideological conflict in the area. The historical division between Spanish versus Valencian, with Spanish being the high prestige language, was reinforced during Franco's dictatorship. After Franco's death, there was a slow process of language normalisation intended to reinforce the use of the local language. In Valencia, this situation was hindered by the birth of a secessionist movement claiming that Valencian and Catalan were two different languages. This ideological situation frames the language policy in Valencia and is reflected in the public space. This paper analyses 248 linguistic landscape items collected in two urban sites representing public and private institutions. The data uncover existing conflicts such as the inconsistency between institutional norms and language practices, and provide evidence of the implicit and explicit mechanisms that determine ‘de facto language policies’.