The Effect of Linguistic Landscape on Palestinians Language Attitudes towards Hebrew in the West Bank

Abstract

This paper reports on an investigation of Palestinians' language attitudes towards Hebrew in the West Bank and the effect that linguistic landscape has on these attitudes. Questionnaires were handed to 121 participants. They were divided into two groups: a control group consisting of 65 young Palestinians living in A Area where Hebrew is absent from the linguistic landscape, and an experimental group consisting of 56 young Palestinians living in Huwwara, a Palestinian village classified as B/C Area where Hebrew is present in the linguistic landscape. It was found that Palestinians living in A Area have negative attitudes towards Hebrew in general as they associate it with the Israeli occupation. On the other hand, residents of Huwwara reported neutral feelings towards Hebrew suggesting that they have developed a sense of tolerance towards it due to its presence on road and shop signs without necessarily knowing the language.