چکیده:
This study examines the visual aesthetic function of English signs in line with ethnographic approaches as a means of achieving various symbolic and communicative implications in the linguistic landscape (LL) of Jordan. Having coded the data in 6 urban streets of the major Jordanian cities, the social semiotic analysis centers on the visual layout of signs based on the typographical features of English texts and the multimodal interrelationships amongst the typographical characteristics wherein images and drawings are often supplemented to the English letter-forms in decorative manners. These aesthetic resources utilized in the construction of the English signs encourage symbolic ideological meanings of practices and customs related to young femininity, amusement and entertainment values, and shared cultural concepts. After all, this study establishes the aesthetic and ornamental aspect of visual English as a new approach in communicating the symbolic commercial messages in the Jordanian public space for both Arabic- and English-speaking audiences.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Saidat3 Received: 15/10/2018 Accepted: 15/07/2019 Abstract This study examines the visual aesthetic function of English signs in line with ethnographic approaches as a means of achieving various symbolic and communicative implications in the linguistic landscape (LL) of Jordan.
Having coded the data in 6 urban streets of the major Jordanian cities, the social semiotic analysis centers on the visual layout of signs based on the typographical features of English texts and the multimodal interrelationships amongst the typographical characteristics wherein images and drawings are often supplemented to the English letter-forms in decorative manners.
After all, this study establishes the aesthetic and ornamental aspect of visual English as a new approach in communicating the symbolic commercial messages in the Jordanian public space for both Arabic- and English-speaking audiences.
With the analysis of LL signs within their symbolic and informative functions (Landry & Bourhis, 1997), particularly English aesthetic and decorative reflections through visual semiotic resources and features, the present study is likely to establish new insight in the investigation of the display of English in the Jordanian urban spaces.
In essence, these studies view English as the language of Westernization, cosmopolitanism, progress, and attractiveness (Curtin, 2014; Gorter & Cenoz, 2008; Guihang & Bingjie, 2017; Kelly-Holmes, 2005; Lanza & Woldemariam, 2014; Manan, David, & Dumanig, 2014; Nikolaou, 2016; Shang & Guo, 2017).
Multimodality The visual elements of typography in combination with the symbolic images, drawings, or illustrations could make the content of the English texts more understandable and communicative in the urban areas of Jordan.