Quantitative 2.0: Toward Variationist Linguistic Landscape Study (VaLLS) and a Standard Canon of LL Variables

Abstract

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Linguistic Landscapes in the Stockholm Archipelago—Producing and Reflecting a Sense of Place

“…Furthermore, in the case of the linguistic landscapes discussed in the present study, for example, such a typology would focus disproportionately on qualities of commercial signs, while more subtle differences within e.g., messages on bulletin boards would be lost. Amos and Soukup (2020) propose a set of variables for more standardized quantitative studies of linguistic landscapes, but as the perspective of the present study is more qualitative, with a focus on the signs as texts rather than just language choice, any such complex solutions were not deemed useful for the purpose of this article.…”

Changes in the commemorative streetscape of Leipzig over the past 100 years

“…Only recently has the field taken a turn toward more sophisticated quantitative approaches, taking onboard some of the theoretical and methodological premises of variationist sociolinguistics. Soukup (2020; see also Amos & Soukup, 2020) has called this emerging subfield variationist LL studies (VaLLS) and a number of researchers have demonstrated the value of exploring changes in the LL from an accountable, quantitative point of view (Buchstaller & Alvanides, 2013Hélot et al, 2012:18, inter alia). At the same time, research within the framework of LL has started to take a more critical turn, drawing on approaches from discourse analysis, semiotics, and the more affect-centered strands of geography (Wee, 2016;Wee & Goh, 2016).…”

Survey area selection in Variationist Linguistic Landscape Study (VaLLS)

“…In other words, while the focus here is typically on written language use ("any display of visible written language" - Gorter, 2013: 190), insights are, just as in variationist sociolinguistics, generated by examining and interpreting constellations and patternings of linguistic variables (notably, language choice and forms of multilingualism) relative to social variables (authorship, audience, sign appearance, placement, thematic contextsee e.g. Amos & Soukup, 2020;Backhaus, 2007;Blackwood & Tufi, 2015;Gorter, 2006).…”

“…On the basis of this shared premise, quantitative LL research can be conceptualized as a variationist sociolinguistic enterprise -so that it can be cast as 'Variationist Linguistic Landscape Study' ('VaLLS' for short -see Amos & Soukup, 2020;Soukup, 2016). And on these grounds, tried-and-tested variationist theory and methods can be harnessed and made fruitful for the purposes of quantitatively oriented studies of LLs.…”

“…This call for greater methodological sophistication, systematizing, and rigor resonates particularly loudly in the context of quantitative LL research, a strand whose empirical practices, particularly of data collection, have been problematized virtually since its inception (see e.g. Amos & Soukup, 2020;Blackwood, 2015). Blackwood (2015) pinpoints two of the most contentious issues as the definition of the unit of analysis (the 'sign'), and the choice of a survey area (see also Backhaus, 2007).…”