Abstract ID: 788
Part of Session 172: Urban Language Conflict (Other abstracts in this session)
Authors: Marten, Heiko F.; Saagpakk, Maris
Submitted by: Marten, Heiko F. (Tallinn University, Estonia)
Our paper investigates multilingualism in the highly multicultural district of Kreuzberg in Berlin, in which German as the main language of German society co-exists in oral and written spheres with „immigrant“ languages such as Turkish or Arabic and languages of tourism and international advertising (mostly English). We will show patterns of multilingualism according to the method of „Linguistic Landscapes“ as well as perceptions of this multilingualism by various groups of recipients.
In a first step, we will provide a general picture of the languages present on written signs in our reseach area in Kreuzberg according to their frequency and their functions. In a second step, we investigate the text and the symbolism on some of these signs, applying a multimodal approach which perceives signs as a semiotic unities. Then, we will report of some of the reactions of sign producers and recipients with whom we conducted spontaneous interviews – why for instance shop owners decided to produce signs in specific languages using certain symbols and how their customers and other passers-by react to these signs.
Finally, we will reflect upon the way in which we conducted research with a group of students from Estonia, some of whom have Estonian and some have Russian as their home language. Many of these students had never been to Germany previously, let alone experienced the multicultural nature of a typical „immigration“ area such as Kreuzberg. In our paper, we will look at how their perceptions of the relationship between language, identity and multiculturalism in Berlin changed within the 10 days of the research excursion and in which way their own backgrounds as (majority) speakers of Estonian or (minority) speakers of Russian influenced their attitudes and experiences.