Global Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

The Linguistic Landscape in Jordan: Opinions and Attitudes

Mohammed Y. Nofal and Ahmad J. Mansour

This study aimed to investigate the languages choice in shop signs in Jordan from a sociolinguistic view. Two questions concerning language choice and attitudes towards the languages used guided the study. This study was carried out on shop signs in three different areas in Amman, Jordan, namely, Al-Wehdat Camp, Sweifieh and Jabal Al-Hussein. A sample of 100 participants was selected on ground of convenience. The researchers made use of a sociolinguistic questionnaire, comprising three sections and a survey of shop signs that totaled around 680 in the selected areas. Results revealed that there are two main categories of shop signs; namely, monolingual or bilingual signs. Results also indicated that the use of foreign names in shop signs is increasing especially the English ones. Moreover, Shop owners hold positive attitudes towards using foreign names for their shops.