The use of English in Dutch magazine advertising: a sociolinguistic study

Term

2010

Capstone

Thesis

Degree Name

MAESL

Abstract

This study seeks to analyze the use of English in print advertisements in four Dutch female magazines. The aim was to establish whether and how the amount of English in advertisements depends on the target audience and product category, which advertisement parts are most and least likely to contain English, and finally to determine whether the English was British, American or dutchified . A total of 512 ads were collected. The findings suggest that ads for a young target audience from a higher socioeconomic class contain the most English and that English is used to give the impression of modernity and technological sophistication. English words are concentrated in the most prominent parts of advertisements. American spelling was used slightly more than British spelling. Only a few instances of nativization were found.

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