Cover not available

Article published In: Policy and practice in early language learning:
Edited by Janet Enever and Patricia Driscoll
[AILA Review 32] 2019
► pp. 91–111

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
THE LEARNER

Using young learners’ language environments for EFL learning

Ways of working with linguistic landscapes

 | University of Potsdam
 | La Trobe University
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 7 April 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.00022.roo
Abstract
In this article we explore how primary school learners of English in Germany engage with examples of English that they were asked to locate in their local environments (their linguistic landscapes, LLs). In association with each located image, the learners completed a standardised worksheet in German that asked for brief written comments about its location, the reason why they had selected the image and why they thought that English had been used. Their written reflections demonstrate that these children are remarkably sophisticated in their analyses of linguistic, social and cultural aspects of what they found. They show that with nuanced pedagogies primary school children can benefit greatly from leaving the classroom to find language examples in the worlds around them.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • The linguistic landscape: Identifying opportunities for (language) learning
  • Young learners engaging with the linguistic landscape: A study
    • Data collection and analysis
    • Results
    • English in the environment: What examples were selected and where
    • English in the environment: Why examples were selected
    • Why was English used?
      • L2 knowledge and language awareness
      • Insights into social, cultural and economic values associated with English
      • Student feedback
  • Conclusion and outlook
  • References
References (26)
References
Barrs, K. (2013). L2 vocabulary in the L1 environment. Working Papers in Language Education and Research, 1(1), 3–10.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Burwell, C., & Lenters, K. (2015). Word on the street: Investigating linguistic landscapes with urban Canadian youth. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 10(3), 201–221. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2008). The linguistic landscape as an additional source of input in second language acquisition. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 46(3), 267–287. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chern, C.-I., & Dooley, K. (2014). Learning English by walking down the street. ELT Journal, 68(2), 113–123. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chesnut, M., Lee, V., & Schulte, J. (2013). The language lessons around us: Undergraduate English pedagogy and linguistic landscape research. English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 12(2), 102–120.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dagenais, D., Moore, D., Sabatier, C., Lamarre, P., & Armand, F. (2009). Linguistic landscape and language awareness. In E. Shohamy, & D. Gorter (Eds.), Linguistic landscape: expanding the scenery (pp. 253–269). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, G., & Ibrahim, N. (2015). Teaching children how to learn. Peaslake, UK: Delta.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Freire, P., & Macedo, D. (1987). Literacy: Reading the word and the world. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gorter, D. (2013). Linguistic landscapes in a multilingual world. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 331, 190–212. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Linguistic landscapes and trends in the study of schoolscapes. Linguistics and Education, 441, 80–85. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hancock, A. (2012). Capturing the linguistic landscape of Edinburgh: A pedagogical tool to investigate student teachers’ understandings of cultural and linguistic diversity. In C. Hélot, M. Barni, R. Janssens, & C. Bagna (Eds.), Linguistic landscapes, multilingualism and social change (pp. 249–266). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kelly-Holmes, H. (2000). Bier, parfum, kaas – language fetish in European advertising. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 3(1), 67–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Landry, R., & Bourhis, R. Y. (1997). Linguistic landscape and ethnolinguistic vitality: An empirical study. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 16(1), 23–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lopriore, L., & Krikhaar, E. (2011). The school. In J. Enever (Ed.), ELLiE: Early language learning in Europe (pp. 61–78). London: British Council.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Muñoz, C. (2014). Exploring young learners’ foreign language learning awareness. Language Awareness, 23(1–2), 24–40. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nunan, D. (1988). The learner-centred curriculum: A study in second language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rixon, S. (2015). Primary English and critical issues: A worldwide perspective. In J. Bland (Ed.), Teaching English to young learners: Critical issues in language teaching with 3–12 year olds (pp. 31–50). London: Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rogers, C. (1969). Freedom to learn. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roos, J., & Nicholas, H. (2019). Linguistic landscapes and additional language development. In M. Dressman, & R. Sadler (Eds.), The handbook of informal language learning (pp. 243–255). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rowland, L. (2013). The pedagogical benefits of a linguistic landscape project in Japan. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 16(4), 494–505. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sayer, P. (2010). Using the linguistic landscape as a pedagogical resource. ELT Journal, 64(2), 143–154. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shohamy, E., & Waksman, S. (2009). Linguistic landscape as an ecological arena: Modalities, meanings, negotiations, education. In E. Shohamy & D. Gorter (Eds.), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery (pp. 253–269). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Starks, D., Macdonald, S., Nicholas, H., & Roos, J. (2019). Connecting worlds: Linguistic landscapes as transformative curriculum artefacts in schools and universities. In P. Mickan & I. Wallace (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language education curriculum design (pp. 238–255). New York, NY: Routledge.
Tran, T. T., Starks, D., & Nicholas, H. (2020). Discursive constructions of the viewing of a bathroom as a linguistic landscape in a shared home. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics. 43(1), 29-51.
Trumper-Hecht, N. (2010). Linguistic landscape in mixed cities in Israel from the perspective of ‘walkers’: The case of Arabic. In E. Shohamy, E. Ben-Rafael, & M. Barni (Eds.), Linguistic landscape in the city (pp. 235–251). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (10)

Cited by ten other publications

Zhu, Hongxiang
2025. Translation Landscape as an Educational Tool: A Case of Transliteration in Serdang Chinese New Village in Malaysia. In Multilingual Education Yearbook 2025 [Multilingual Education Yearbook, ], ► pp. 209 ff. DOI logo
Krompák, Edina & Esa Hartmann
2023. Multimodal Literacy and Linguistic Landscape: A Digital Tandem Project in European Teacher Education. Alsic 26:1 DOI logo
Lourenço, Mónica, Joana Duarte, Francisco P. Silva & Bruna Batista
2023. Is There a Place for Global Citizenship Education in the Exploration of Linguistic Landscapes? An Analysis of Educational Practices in Five European Countries. In Linguistic Landscapes in Language and Teacher Education [Multilingual Education, 43], ► pp. 93 ff. DOI logo
Malinowski, David, Hiram H. Maxim & Sébastien Dubreil
2023. Introduction: Spatializing Language Studies in the Linguistic Landscape. In Spatializing Language Studies [Educational Linguistics, 62], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Melo-Pfeifer, Sílvia
2023. Introduction: Linguistic Landscapes in Language (Teacher) Education: Multilingual Teaching and Learning Inside and Beyond the Classroom. In Linguistic Landscapes in Language and Teacher Education [Multilingual Education, 43], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Araújo e Sá, Maria Helena, Raquel Carinhas & Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer
2022. De la rue aux pupitres : l’éducation au plurilinguisme à travers les paysages linguistiques vue par les enseignants de langues. Recherches en didactique des langues et des cultures 20-1:20-1 DOI logo
Wiśniewska, Danuta
2021. Linguistic landscape, murals and language learning. In Angewandte Linguistik – Neue Herausforderungen und Konzepte, ► pp. 429 ff. DOI logo
Wiśniewska, Danuta
2024. Mixed-type literature review of research on L2 learning in and through the linguistic landscape. Neofilolog :62/2 ► pp. 379 ff. DOI logo
Roos, Jana & Howard Nicholas
2019. Linguistic Landscapes and Additional Language Development. In The Handbook of Informal Language Learning, ► pp. 243 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2025. Language Learning in Linguistic Landscape: Toward a Sustainable and Socially Responsive Language Education. In The Handbook of Linguistic Landscapes and Multilingualism, ► pp. 481 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue