Linguistic Landscapes and Multilingual Education

Linguistic landscapes refer to the visible display of languages in public spaces, including street signs, school walls and digital displays. In educational contexts, these semiotic environments—often termed schoolscapes—mediate learners’ encounters with linguistic diversity and reflect underlying language ideologies. Research has shown that the selection, placement and design of multilingual signage shape notions of inclusion, identity and power within schools. By examining how communities negotiate language visibility in classrooms and corridors, scholars reveal the impacts of official policies and grassroots initiatives on pedagogical practice. Multilingual education benefits from conscious curation of linguistic landscapes: when minority and migrant languages appear alongside dominant tongues, learners gain affirmation of their cultural heritage and motivation to develop plurilingual competence. Conversely, monolingual or tokenistic displays may reinforce inequality and limit access to balanced language learning. Contemporary research spans ethnographic studies of primary schools, policy analyses of signage regulations and design-based investigations of classroom materials. Collectively, these approaches underscore the global significance of linguistic landscapes as both a mirror and a catalyst for equitable multilingual education.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Linguistic Landscapes and Multilingual Education publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in linguistic landscapes and multilingual education across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Linguistic landscape: The array of languages visible in public or institutional spaces through signage, posters and notices.

Semiotic landscape: The ensemble of signs and symbols in a specific environment that conveys social and cultural meanings.

Schoolscape: A specialised form of semiotic landscape focused on educational settings and their role in communicating language ideologies.

Co-located schools: Two or more separately administered schools sharing the same physical premises, often with different languages of instruction.

Ethnolinguistic vitality: A measure of a language community’s strength and likelihood of maintaining its linguistic and cultural identity via institutional and symbolic support.

References

1. Spatial ideologies on official bilingualism and co-located schools in Finland and South Tyrol, Italy. Language and Education (2024).
2. Language policy on the ground in Norwegian kindergartens. Linguistics and Education (2024).
3. Ethnolinguistic Vitality in Minority Schoolscape. Languages (2024).