Analyzing Linguistic Commodification and English Usage in Non-Anglophone Tourist Destinations

Abstract

The global growth of the tourism industry has seen language evolve from a means of communication into an economic resource, otherwise referred to as linguistic commodification. The present study aims to analyze the use of the English language in tourist areas outside Anglophone territories through the investigation of the tension between the instrumental and symbolic nature of English in these locations. The identified issue of the study is the possibility of the marginalization of local language identity as compared to the marketing language that focuses more on economic benefits than cultural significance. As the research method, a qualitative multi-case design involving Critical Discourse Analysis of 150 language markers and interviews with 45 individuals will be applied. Some of the obtained results show that while English remains a crucial medium for navigation and safety, the main reason why it is used everywhere in commercial advertising and labeling is associated with its symbolic value as a sign of modernity and elitism. This study demonstrates that a major trend has been established in which there is a hybrid usage of translanguaging that entails the localization of English in order to achieve a cosmopolitan appearance. This study has theoretical implications within sociolinguistics because it establishes the empirical nature of language-as-product. The main implication is that an equilibrium between the teaching of English while preserving the cultural heritage of non-English speaking people is needed.