The public space of metropolises as well as medium and small-sized towns is profoundly marked by the historic and contemporary traces of linguistic practices, such as graffiti, informal messages, as well as public and commercial signs. These signs are produced by different actors (e.g., members of minority language communities, municipal institutions or private companies). They also carry out different functions, such as communicating information in a doctor’s office, symbolically attesting to the presence of a minority language community in a given neighbourhood, or marketing (niche) products by addressing a specific audience.
Linguistic Landscape (LL) research investigates the distribution of monolingual or multilingual signs in the public sphere, their linguistic and semiotic features, as well as their functions and changes over time. In doing so, LL studies provide insights into the status of historic and migration-related minority languages in specific areas (among others).
In this project seminar, students will be introduced to the main theoretical approaches and empirical methods for mapping linguistic diversity in public spaces. Particular attention is dedicated to an overview of the current state of LL research in the areas where EDUC students live (i.e., Cagliari and Sardinia, Brno and Prague, Brandenburg and Berlin). Subsequently, students will formulate their own research questions and conduct − in small groups by means of the app Lingscape − their own fieldwork projects. Eventually, students’ groups will present their research results in an online block session to be held at the end of June 2021.
| Detailed syllabus |
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| April-May 2021: completion of the web-based training (asynchronous and self-paced learning). |
| May-June 2021: conducting of the fieldwork projects in the towns of the EDUC network. Fieldwork is carried out by students in small groups and supported by asynchronous activities in Moodle.UP. |
| 22nd, 23rd, and 24th June 2021: presentation of the fieldwork results in an online block session synchronously and simultaneously held in the three EDUC universities. |
| ÜBERBLICK |
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Die Studierenden werden während des Semesters durch ein webbasiertes Training zum Ansatz der Linguistic Landscape asynchron eingeführt und dazu eingeladen, ihre eigene Feldforschung zu betreiben. Die Ergebnisse der Feldforschungen werden in den zweitägigen Online-Blockveranstaltung zusammen mit Studierenden und Dozent*innen aus den Universitäten Masaryk und Cagliari diskutiert. |
