Sticky Objects and Places: Entangled Emotions in an English-Medium University Educationscape

Abstract

This paper explores entangled emotions in an Abu Dhabi English-medium university educationscape in relation to sticky objects and sticky places, which are objects/places saturated in affect through familiarity and repetition. Moving away from a lingua-centric approach to linguistic landscape research, this ethnographic study explores Emirati students’ emotions not only in relation to language as discourses but also in relation to semiotics, objects, and geopolitical meanings. Students’ interpretations of their semiotic and linguistic landscapes (LL) as “intertextual products” connected to emotions, identities, and levels of belonging were gained via virtual bulletin board posts and essays. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis and nexus analysis. Key findings revealed emotions of belonging in familiar and sentimental cultural and linguistic spaces and around sticky objects, comfort in “hidden places” as an escape from emotions of stress and pressure in the English-medium instruction university, and the importance of critical awareness in the educationscape. Based on the findings, the article provides practical suggestions for ways to enhance linguistic and cultural belonging in English-medium educationscapes and recognize emotional entanglements within multilingual university ecosystems.