Migratory trends affect de facto language
I read with some interest about recent developments regarding multilingual signage at the mainline station in Southall, West London. Southall has been known for many years amongst Londoners as an area of predominantly Asian residents from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan.
To reflect this, the railway operator First Great Western, and years before them, British Rail Intercity, had Southall station bedecked with bilingual signs in both English and Punjabi…Punjabi, in terms of percentage of population, being the de facto language of the town.
In more recent times, however, there has been a large influx of other nationals most notably, Somalis and Eastern Europeans. This has noticeably changed the demography of the area (although the de facto language in terms of percentage of population is still Punjabi) and this has been reflected by a recent complaint to First Great Western regarding the signage.
The company has received requests from the newly arrived ethnic groups that besides Punjabi, their languages should also be represented on any signage, but in response First Great Western have reverted to English only signage: FGW said it would be impossible to display every language and it would be consulting the community to find a permanent solution.