Resumen de English in Ecuador: a look into the linguistic landscape of Azogues
This study analyses the use of English in the linguistic landscape (LL) of Azogues, Ecuador. A representative sample of fixed signs in the economic centre of the city was photographed by the author in the summer of 2017, consisting of 171 photographed signs. This study analyses what linguistic features are used and how other semiotic resources accompany them. The use of English, in either bilingual signs or in monolingual English signs, is fairly widespread in the LL. The use of English is examined from a branding linguistics perspective (Carnavale et al. [2017]. ‘Brand Linguistics: A Theory-Driven Framework for the Study of Language in Branding’. International Journal of Research in Marketing 34 (2): 572–591) to understand how its use is an effective tool to boost brands’ impact for consumers. The focus of English in branding is considered with other factors in the way that English is emphasised on signs (Androutsopoulos [2012]. ‘English “on Top”: Discourse Functions of English Resources in the German Mediascape’. Sociolinguistic Studies 6 (2): 209–238) along with the functionality of other multimodal features to highlight English as a branding technique to distinguish one business from another.
