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English in Valletta's Linguistic Landscape: a case of instrumental rationality?

Signage in Valletta is overwhelmingly in English, while signs in Maltese are only visible when government measures are enforced

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2022

Lydia Sciriha Open the ORCID record for Lydia Sciriha [Opens in a new window]  and
Mario Vassallo Open the ORCID record for Mario Vassallo [Opens in a new window]
Lydia Sciriha
Affiliation:
Faculty of Arts, University of Malta, Msida, Malta, MSD 2080
Mario Vassallo*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Arts, University of Malta, Msida, Malta, MSD 2080
*
Email: mario.vassallo@um.edu.mt
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Extract

Cities are the natural homes for linguistic and cultural diversity. Valletta, Malta's capital city and the smallest city in the European Union, is no different. When its foundation stone was laid in 1566 by Grandmaster Jean Parisot de Vallette, it was given the formal title of Humillima Civitas Valettae, but ‘there is little that is humble about the appearance of Valletta, that city “built by gentlemen for gentlemen”’ (Luke, 1968: 65).

Type
Shorter Article
Information
English Today , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , June 2023 , pp. 155 - 164
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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