I f we contrast this with the name on
the main sign at the entrance, we see that Cepsa seems to have adopted a clear policy of
bilingualism or a specific communicative line with the market (24 of the service stations
we studied belonged to or bore the name of this company). Similarly, we see that the
presence of Catalan is most deficient stations whose main sign (6) is REPSOL or CAMPSA. As we only
took into account signs in Catalan when we created the index, we have cancelled out the
specific weight of ambiguity or bilingualism.
Finally, as
regards whether this deficient or complete lack of presence of Catalan could be related to
the factor or variable of whether stations have been recently rehabilitated or not, we can
see that 33% of cases were premises that had not been reformed in recent years, unless
these were new buildings or facilities. As regards possession, we also see that over 60%
of these service areas are privately-owned or form part of a co-operative, and that almost
1/3 do not display signs from a multinational petrol company.
2.3.1. Creation of the Index of
Catalan Use in Written Documentation
The second
index we created was the index of use in written documentation Index 2. It
included a question regarding the language in which service stations receive information
from the fuel-supplying companies and the language in which they order their supplies.
There are three possibilities:
1. no written
information in Catalan;
2. the two
forms of communication are in Catalan;
3. one of the
two forms is in Catalan.
Index 2,
Catalan Use in Written Documentation
|
|
Frequency |
Percentage |
Accumulated
Percentage |
Valid |
.00 |
379 |
73.7 |
73.7 |
|
.50 |
107 |
20.8 |
94.6 |
|
1.00 |
27 |
5.4 |
100.0 |
|
Total |
513 |
100.0 |
|
Source: Language
in service stations in Catalonia. Sociolinguistic contribution. 2000
Almost 74% of
the service stations stated that they did not use Catalan or did not know in which way the
owner communicated with the supplier. We should point out that, as it was summer, a large
number of staff were on holiday and that their replacements did not often have access to
this information. However, we can state that in 20% of cases, written communication is in
Catalan. The data obtained using this indicator should be handled extremely carefully,
given the minority presence of the Catalan language in this sector and activity (7).
2.3.2. Creation of Index 3, Oral
Use of Catalan (8)
The third
index Index 3 relates to the spontaneous oral production of the cashier
and/or manager. This index produces three possibilities:
1.- that
no-one speaks spontaneously in Catalan;
2.- that both
the manager and cashier speak it;
3.- that, if
there are two or more people, they all speak it.
Index 3,
Oral Catalan Use
|
|
Frequency |
Percentage |
Accumulated Percentage |
Valid |
.00 |
190 |
37.2 |
37.2 |
|
.50 |
107 |
20.8 |
58.0 |
|
1.00 |
216 |
42.0 |
100.0 |
|
Total |
513 |
100.0 |
|
Source: Language
in service stations in Catalonia. Sociolinguistic contribution. 2000
The results
obtained with the creation of index 3, oral Catalan use, contrast with those obtained from
index 2 and with the provisional conclusions drawn from this index, which deals with
written usage. Thus, we see that the conversation between interviewee (cashier or manager)
and informant was carried out in Catalan in 42% of cases. We also see that in 21% of
cases, the cashier or manager addresses the interviewer in Catalan. It should be pointed
out that, in the majority of service stations, there were not two or more staff on service
at the time of the observation and interview. We also noted that, in 37% of cases, staff
at service stations do not address their customers spontaneously in Catalan. Finally, a
large number of establishments are selfservice (9) where the oral use of Catalan by
the company is zero. |