This study investigates and compares the use of English in 1,539 prime time television commercials from five European countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. Our study contributes to the existing body of research by adding two methodological issues. First, we investigate whether results differ depending on which definition of the term 'English word' is used (i.e. a strict or a broad definition). Second, we explore which factor best predicts the occurrence and the amount of English used in European television commercials: the advertised product (i.e. culture-free or culture-bound) or the country where the commercial is broadcast.

Foreign languages are commonly used in advertising, because it is generally thought that they attract consumers' attention. Compared to English, Italian is only rarely chosen by European advertisers. Precisely because of their low frequency, Italian words have a higher chance to capture and hold the consumers' attention. Although foreign languages are widespread in advertising, the effectiveness of their use has not been studied extensively. In our study on print advertisements we compare the effectiveness of a foreign language slogan (Italian) relative to a slogan in the local language (Dutch). More specifically, we focus on the effects of foreign language usage on cognitive, affective and conative consumer responses. Cognitive responses include spontaneous and prompted recall of the slogan and the brand name. Affective responses pertain to the attitude towards the slogan, the brand and the advertisement. Conative response was defined in terms of purchase intention. Our sample consisted of 236 subjects of different age and educational level from the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. These participants had little or no knowledge of the Italian language. The experiment had a betweensubjects design. Participants either saw the Italian or the Dutch version of the advertisement. In order to optimize the effectiveness of the use of the foreign language, we ensured a match between foreign language, country of origin, and the advertised product. Therefore, we created an advertisement for Italian wines with visual elements (a picture and a drawing) evoking Italy. Additionally, we chose easy Italian words, as previous research has shown that slogans with easy foreign words are more appreciated than difficult slogans. The results of our study show that the Dutch slogan was more effective for the spontaneous and prompted recall of the brand name. The language of the slogan had no effect on participants' attitudes towards the brand, the slogan and the advertisement. By contrast, the Italian slogan had

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As cidades fronteiriças dos Estados Unidos e do México são geralmente definidas como multiculturais e cidades transnacionais relativamente recentes, as quais se afastaram apesar de seu passado histórico comum. A política de fronteira, que começou efetivamente durante a administração de Eisenhower, parece favorecer outras diferenças. Cidades fronteiriças, assim como a (construção) da identidade de seus habitantes – estejam eles de passagem ou não – agora parecem mudar mais drasticamente. O presente artigo analisa como o documentarista Phillip Rodriguez traduz o imaginário urbano e as mudanças etnográficas para as telas, especialmente em Mixed Feelings: San Diego/Tijuana (2002) e Los Angeles Now (2003). Será dada muita atenção às estratégias multimodais e outras práticas discursivas, assim como para o dominante uso da Língua Inglesa e ao enfoque de alguma forma enviesado dos atores sociais envolvidos na zona de fronteira. Nós argumentamos que, em seu retrato das cidades fronteiriças, Rodriguez convida sua audiência a considerar essas cidades a partir de uma perspectiva do norte, desejando representar mundos multifacetados e conectados, enquanto se visualiza espaços duais e divididos. Procuramos, dessa forma, responder a questão de em que medida o discurso nas cidades fronteiriças enriquece o polissistema socio-cultural em termos de transmissão de conhecimento e dos efeitos relacionados às experiências de vida em fronteiras urbanas.

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