Edited by Patricia Gubitosi and Michelle F. Ramos Pellicia
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 35] 2021
► pp. 341–364
This chapter examines the Linguistic Landscape of business plazas in Orlando, Florida to identify the roles of Spanish and English and illustrate how signage converges with local neighborhoods. Data consists of storefront signage for 119 businesses in 10 Orlando plazas. Quantitative data analysis demonstrated how language represented the surrounding populations (Van Mensel, Vandenbroucke, & Blackwood, 2016). By integrating grammar of visual design (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 1996), geosemiotics (Scollon & Scollon, 2003), and multimodality (Kress, 2003, 2010), I examined how multimodal choices further index certain populations. Findings indicate the importance of neighborhood plaza culture in language choice and the role of gentrification and translocal identities in the creation of Orlando business signs.