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Developing multiliteracies in the linguistic landscape
Hiram H. Maxim
Emory University
Within the burgeoning field of Linguistic Landscape Studies, there has been growing interest in using the linguistic landscape as a resource for language and literacy education (e.g., Malinowski, Maxim, & Dubreil, 2020). The underlying premise behind this pedagogical approach is that the visible texts of a particular place are ideologically charged and can thus serve as a telling window into the relations between different language communities and the politics of societal multilingualism. To demonstrate the pedagogical possibilities in the linguistic landscape, this presentation reports on three different projects undertaken with undergraduate students to examine the visible and audible texts of local spaces. Two of the projects took place as part of a summer study abroad program in Vienna, Austria and explored, respectively, the commercial role of graffiti and the manifestation of multilingualism in public spaces. The third project focused on multilingual Atlanta, Georgia. Central to each of these projects was an instructional framework that consisted of the four multiliteracies pedagogical principles, Experiencing, Conceptualizing, Analyzing, Applying (Cope & Kalantzis, 2015). Results from each project indicate possibilities for developing students’ linguistic, metalinguistic, methodological, intercultural, and affective awareness and abilities.
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2015). The things you do to know: An introduction to the pedagogy of multiliteracies. In B. Cope & M. Kalantzis (Eds.), Pedagogy of multiliteracies: Learning by design (pp. 1–36). Palgrave Macmillan.
Malinowski, D., Maxim, H. H., & Dubreil, S. (Eds.). (2020). Language Teaching in the Linguistic Landscape: Mobilizing Pedagogy in Public Space. Springer International Publishing.