Despite being a relatively new concept in ELT, the use of linguistic landscapes has far-reaching effects on the language learning process in that they are authentic materials and tools for linking the classroom with the real world. Keeping this in mind, as English teachers, being aware of the benefits and the use of this resource is of great importance. To this end, in this post, there will be a brief introduction to linguistic landscapes and their role in English language teaching.
Linguistic Landscapes, Explained
The most common definition of the linguistic landscape was given by Landry and Bourhis (1997:25) as follows;
“The language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings combine to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory, region, or urban agglomeration.”
Taken from: https://llineltproject.com/photo-gallery.html
However, they cannot be considered only as signs or linguistic elements in a certain region. Linguistic landscapes are also the reflections of linguistic situations as well as the sociocultural structure of a certain community in that they reflect the dominance of a language or the role of others in society (Cenoz and Gorter, 2008). For that reason, they have a great potential to focus on the sociolinguistic aspect and multilingualism in the language learning process.
Linguistic Landscapes in English Language Teaching
Among the materials and tools which are used in English language teaching, the use of authentic materials is more salient because of the prevalence of communicative language teaching approaches. These are the materials that are prepared and published for the real use of the target language. They also imply the approximation of the world outside the classroom (McDonough, J., & Shaw, C., 2003). For example, an article in the Guardian or a brochure for an event. All these examples and more include the real use of that language. Besides, authentic materials bear some benefits for language learners;
- They are motivating and lower the affective filter
- The learners can learn about the colloquial language (i.e., daily use of the language)
- They are meaningful and provide a purpose for using the target language.
However, it does not mean that newspapers or magazines are counted as authentic materials. Instead, the language that can be found all around the students can be considered authentic materials such as linguistic landscapes. As it was mentioned above, these are the signs, street names, and billboards. They include a great source of language input for the learners as well as contextualizing the language being presented. In the case of English language teaching, LLs that include the English language can be found anywhere in the world as it is the global language. Therefore, it does not mean that the learners have to live in a country where English is spoken as the native language in order to benefit from linguistic landscapes. As a result of globalization, the prevalence of English can be seen in outdoor media (Crystal, 1997). For that reason, learners can be exposed to the target language (i.e., English) in their local settings, as well.
Pedagogical Benefits of the Use of LLs
One of the most important earnings of learning through linguistic landscapes is that they reflect the social structure of that setting/environment and include various cultural, and societal signs. As a result, sociolinguistic awareness can be raised among the students. What’s more, they can be used to raise awareness of pragmatic competence. Briefly, pragmatic competence can be defined as “the ability to communicate and interpret meaning in social interaction” (Taguchi, 2011). In other words, students with pragmatic competence can detect and be aware of the underlying meaning that an utterance has (i.e., illocutionary speech act). When it comes to the role of linguistic landscapes in gaining pragmatic competence, most of the signs and ads surrounding us have some kind of underlying meaning that force us to take action. It can be understood better with an example;
The questions written in Spanish mean “Are you thirsty?”. This question implies another thing, which is encouraging people to buy a coke. Other interpretations can also be made especially in language classes. For example, students can be asked to find these kinds of statements in their neighborhood and they can be asked to present and interpret them in English. In this way, they will be aware of the implicatures and they will have the ability to interpret the utterances in the target language.
There are of course other benefits of using LLs as a source and input in English language teaching. However, in this article, some basic ones have been discussed and analyzed. For further information, some articles and websites can be found below.
Sources for Further Information on LL in ELT
References
Bourhis, R. and Landry, R. (1997) Linguistic Landscape and Ethnolinguistic Vitality—An Empirical Study. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 16, 23-49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0261927X970161002
Crystal, D. (1997). English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gorter, Durk & Cenoz, Jasone. (2008). Knowledge about Language and Linguistic Landscape. 10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_160.
McDonough, J., & Shaw, C. (2003). Materials and methods in ELT: A teacher’s guide. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
Taguchi, Naoko. (2011). Teaching Pragmatics: Trends and Issues. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. 31. 289 – 310. 10.1017/S0267190511000018.
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