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In line with a recent trend in sociolinguistic research focusing on the visual dimension of multilingual urban environments, this study investigates multilingualism, as seen in street signage, more particularly shopfronts, in the Parisian neighbourhood of Belleville. Through this illustrative account, the study aims to highlight the ways in which, in spite of a national policy that proclaims the pre-eminence of the French language, immigrant communities in Belleville succeed in gaining visibility in the linguistic landscape. It also seeks to explore the ways in which written signs, as well as other discursive modalities such as images and elements of architecture, enact cultural diversity in Belleville's linguistic landscape. The study also documents the impact of the English language on Belleville's linguistic landscape. Specifically, the analysis highlights the influence of English syntax in shop and business names, and the use of English as a symbol of cosmopolitanism and globalisation. The study is supplemented by the metalinguistic remarks and insights of individual actors regarding their choice of language for their business names.

A number of linguistic studies on courtroom discourse deal with witness examinations, however counsels' opening statements have been given relatively little attention. Drawing on the analysis of a Crown Prosecutor's opening statement in a murder trial held at the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and using the Systemic Functional Linguistics framework (Halliday 1994), this study highlights the ways in which the prosecutor constructs his narrative of the crime in his opening statement in order to persuade the jurors of his views. Specifically, the analysis highlights the ways in which the narrative is made persuasive through its specific rhetorical organization and over-specification of orientational information, as well as more credible through quotations from participants with personal experience in the related events. It also shows the ways in which the prosecutor seeks to engage the jurors through his use of second-person pronouns, as well as his differentiated use of the crime participants' names. Finally, this study highlights the dialogic and heteroglossic characteristics of the adversarial legal process, in that it both refers to what was previously stated and tries to anticipate the response of the jury, whose voice comes as the last word through their verdict.

This article focuses on the linguistic landscape of Noaiwia, one of thirteen villages located on Nguna Island off the north coast of Efate, Vanuatu. It contributes to the understanding of the linguistic landscape of a small village in a previously undocumented rural setting in the understudied islands of Southeast Asia and Oceania. Using a corpus of photographs and detailed qualitative interpretation of the visual and verbal signs found around the village, the analysis first highlights the near absence of the island’s indigenous language in the public space. An analysis of the signage found at the school further suggests the exclusive presence and high status of the English language. A contrastive analysis also shows a different linguistic landscape from the one found in Vanuatu’s capital city Port Vila. Finally, the article looks at the presence of the Chinese language on a water tank, a reflection of China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road programme in the Pacific. The results are discussed in relation to the status of indigenous languages and Bislama, the islands’ lingua franca, language policy in education in Vanuatu, and language ideology in a globalised world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the time of their introduction in Paris and other French cities in the summer of 2018, free-floating electric scooters have quickly grown in popularity and numbers, creating a conundrum for Paris and other municipalities over their regulation. This study aims to explore the representation, in French mainstream newspapers with contrasting ideological viewpoints, of free floating e-scooters, their users and operators, as well as public authorities' response to the problems they caused. Articles from Le Figaro and Le Monde newspapers were collected between June 2018 and September 2019, generating a dataset of 107 articles and 741 occurrences of appraisal. The analysis highlights a very negative view of e-scooters, most particularly over safety issues and their use of public space. Articles from Le Figaro were also harshly critical of the ways in which public authorities struggled to regulate this new means of transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using articles from two major French newspapers of contrasting ideological viewpoints, this study seeks to explore their representation of cycling the city, and their potential to position readers to view cycling favourably or unfavourably. The analysis, drawing on systemic functional linguistics' appraisal framework, highlights the ways in which readers of both Le Figaro and Le Monde are positioned to take a positive view of cycling through their listings of the benefits of cycling or praise of bicycle-sharing systems. Conversely, readers may embrace a negative view through their reading about cycling casualties and safety issues. The analysis also shows that a reader of Le Monde might feel more inclined to take up cycling than a reader of Le Figaro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fundraising letters mailed by not-for-profit organizations aim at convincing potential donors of the worthiness of the cause that they seek to support, and influence readers to contribute a donation. Their persuasive appeal derives from a complex interplay of verbal text, images (when a photograph is included), as well as a range of typographic features, combined in a visual design by means of layout. Drawing on an analysis of the fundraising letter that Oxfam Australia emailed their supporters in the wake of the Pakistani floods, this study seeks to highlight the ways in which both the verbal and visual modes, while utilizing the distinctive meaning-making features of their respective semiotic systems, work in intersemiotic complementarity to elicit solidarity from the targeted audience and entice donations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is crucial that interviewers in job interviews make a good impression on candidates so they can attract the right person for the position they need to fill. The large body of literature on job interviews however mostly focuses on interviewers' impressions of the candidates. This study aims at redressing the imbalance by examining interviewers' impression management strategies. In particular, it explores the ways in which interviewers evaluate candidates in the course of their interviews. Drawing on systemic functional linguistics, and in particular on Appraisal theory (Martin and White, 2005), this paper examines a set of authentic job interviews in French, or French and English. The analysis of the job interviews is complemented by analysis of participants' comments on their interviews. The first analysis reveals an evaluative stance that is overwhelmingly positive and favourable to candidates, while the second shows candidates' positive reaction and alignment to their interviewers' appraisal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]