Cover not available

Article published In: Linguistic Landscape
Vol. 3:2 (2017) ► pp.187–212

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Exploring the perceptions of passers-by through the participatory documentary photography tool PhotoVoice

 | Sakhnin College
Published online: 19 October 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.3.2.04hay
Abstract
Research in the linguistic landscape (LL) field underscores the need for investigating the passers-by’s perspectives. To explore how the passers-by perceive LLs, researchers often use questionnaires or interviews. This article suggests the use of an innovative research tool named PhotoVoice (Wang, C., Burris, M., & Xiang, Y. P. (1996). Chinese village women as visual anthropologists: A participatory approach to reaching policy makers. Social Science and Medicine, 421, 1391–1400. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), to shed light on the perception of signs by Israeli-Arab college students in their ideologically-laden area. After familiarizing the students with PhotoVoice and guiding questions for examining LLs, they were asked to capture photos of signs within their localities, analyze the messages embedded within, and write commentaries voicing their reflections. Thus, students themselves became both the data collectors and the analyzers. One of the highlighted categories was the absence of Arabic from commercial signs produced by Arab business owners. Students’ “PhotoVoices” within this category reflected not only the linguistic reality of the commercial signs within Arab localities, but also the ways such space was experienced by them as local inhabitants. Such findings demonstrate how, through PhotoVoice, LLs can become a stimulus for profound cognitive and emotional reflections of passers-by toward the LL.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The linguistic landscape reality in Israel
  • 3.Using PhotoVoice in linguistic landscape research
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Research context and participants
    • 4.2Data collection process
    • 4.3Data analysis
    • 4.4The commercial signs category
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Stirring negative feelings
    • 5.2Negligence and self-disrespect
    • 5.3Pride in own language
    • 5.4Language loss
    • 5.5Language preservation
    • 5.6Searching for reasons and possible justifications
      • 5.6.1Practicality
      • 5.6.2English is prestigious
      • 5.6.3Hebrew is prestigious
    • 5.7Catering to Hebrew non-readers
    • 5.8Need for change
    • 5.9Lack of mutuality
  • 6.Further scrutiny into students’ photos and voices
    • 6.1The linguistic reality
    • 6.2The perspectives of local inhabitants
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
References (45)
References
Abelson, R. P. (1963). Computer simulation of “hot cognitions.” In S. Tomkins & S. Messick (Eds.), Computer simulation of personality. New York: Wiley,Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Abu Ghazaleh-Mahajneh, M. (2009). Attitudes towards the status of the Arabic, Hebrew and English languages among Arab students at the university (Unpublished master’s thesis). Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. (In Hebrew)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aiestaran, J., Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2010). Multilingual cityscapes: Perceptions and preferences of the inhabitants of the city of Donostia-San Sebastian. In Shohamy, E. G., Rafael, E. B., & Barni, M. (Eds.). (2010). Linguistic landscape in the city. Multilingual Matters, 219–234. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Amara, M. (2006). The vitality of the Arabic language in Israel from a sociolinguistic perspective. Adala’s Newsletter, 291, 1–11.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ben-Rafael, E. (2009). A sociological approach to the study of linguistic landscapes. In E. Shohamy and D. Gorter (eds.), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery (pp. 40–54). London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ben Rafael, E., Shohamy, E., Amara, M. H. and Trumper-Hecht, N. (2006). Linguistic landscape as a symbolic construction of the public space: the case of Israel. International Journal of Multilingualism, 3(1), 7–31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P. (1993). Sociology in question (Vol. 181). Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cenoz, J. & Gorter, D. (2006). Linguistic landscape and minority languages. International Journal of Multilingualism, 3(1), 67–80. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Certeau, M. (1984). The practice of everyday life. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gee, J. P. (2001). Reading as situated language: A sociocognitive perspective. Journal of adolescent & adult Literacy, 44(8), 714–725. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldestein-Havazki, R. (2011). A travel diary in Jaffa: Development of linguistic landscape awareness and attitudes among teenagers (Master’s thesis, Tel Aviv University).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Garvin, R. T. (2011). Emotional responses to the linguistic landscape in Memphis, Tennessee: Visual perceptions of public spaces in transition (Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University of Pennsylvania).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goel, V., & Vartanian, O. (2011). Negative emotions can attenuate the influence of beliefs on logical reasoning. Cognition and Emotion, 25(1), 121–131. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Graziano, K. J. (2011). Working with English language learners: Preservice teachers and photovoice. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 13(1), 1–19. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hanuaer, D. (2009). Science and the linguistic landscape: A genre analysis of representational wall space in a microbiology laboratory. In E. Shohamy and D. Gorter (Eds.). (2009), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery (pp. 287–301). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hayik, R. (2016). Through their eyes: Israeli-Arab students speak up through participatory documentary photography projects. Language Teaching Research Journal, 1–20.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huebner, T. (2009). A framework for the linguistic analysis of linguistic landscapes. In E. Shohamy and D. Gorter (eds), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery (pp. 253–269). New York: Routledge.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
Kramsch, C. (2002). Language and culture: A social semiotic perspective. ADFL Bulletin, 33(2), 8–15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kroeger, S., Burton, C., Comarata, A., Combs, C., Hamm, C., Hopkins, R., & Kouche, B. (2004). Student voice and critical reflection: Helping students at risk. Teaching Exceptional Children, 36(3), 50–57. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lefebvre, H. (1991). The production of space. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lewison, M., Leland, C., & Harste, J. C. (2008). Creating critical classrooms: K-8 reading and writing with an edge. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis Group.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ornelas, I. J., Amell, J., Tran, A. N., Royster, M., Armstrong-Brown, J., & Eng, E. (2009). Understanding African American men’s perception of racism, male gender socialization, and social capital through photovoice. Qualitative Health Research, 19(4), 552–565. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Piller, I. (2001). Identity constructions in multilingual advertising. Language in Society, 301, 153–186. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2003). Advertising as a site of language contact. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 231, 170–183. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sayer, P. (2009). Using the linguistic landscape as a pedagogical resource. ELT Journal, 51(1), 1–12.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scollon, R., & Scollon, S. W. (2003). Discourses in place: Language in the material world. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shohamy, E. (2008). At what cost? Methods of language revival and protection: examples from Hebrew. In K. King, N. Shilling-Estes, L. Fogle, J. Lou and B. Soukup (eds.), Sustaining linguistic diversity: Endangered languages and language varieties (pp. 348–71). Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Linguistic landscapes and multilingualism. In M. Martin-Jones, A. Blackledge, & A. Creese (eds.), The Routledge handbook of multilingualism (pp. 538–551). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014). The weight of English in global perspective the role of English in Israel. Review of Research in Education, 38(1), 273–289. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shohamy, E. and Donitsa-Schmidt, S. (1998). Jews vs. Arabs: Language attitudes and stereotypes. Tel Aviv: The Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research. Tel Aviv University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shohamy, E., & Ghazaleh-Mahajneh, M. A. (2012). Linguistic landscape as a tool for interpreting language vitality: Arabic as a ‘minority’ language in Israel. In Minority languages in the linguistic landscape (pp. 89–106). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spolsky, B. (2009). Prolegomena to a sociolinguistic theory of public signage. In E. Shohamy and D. Gorter (eds.), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery (pp. 25–39). London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spolsky, B., & Cooper, R. L. (1991). The languages of Jerusalem. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spolsky, B. and Shohamy, E. (1999). The Languages of Israel: Policy, ideology and practice. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Törrönen, J. (2002). Semiotic theory on qualitative interviewing using stimulus texts. Qualitative Research, 2(3), 343–362. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trumper-Hecht, N. (2009). Constructing national identity in mixed cities in Israel: Arabic on signs in the public space of upper Nazareth. In E. Shohamy and D. Gorter (eds.), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery (pp. 238–52). London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2010). Linguistic landscape in mixed cities in Israel from the perspective of ‘walkers’: The case of Arabic. In E. G. Shohamy, E. B. Rafael, & M. Barni (Eds.), Linguistic landscape in the city, (pp. 235–251). Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tufi, S., & Blackwood, R. (2010). Trademarks in the linguistic landscape: methodological and theoretical challenges in qualifying brand names in the public space. International Journal of Multilingualism, 7(3), 197–210. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, C., Burris, M., & Xiang, Y. P. (1996). Chinese village women as visual anthropologists: A participatory approach to reaching policy makers. Social Science and Medicine, 421, 1391–1400. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, C. C., Cash, J. L., & Powers, L. S. (2000). Who knows the streets as well as the homeless? Promoting personal and community action through photovoice. Health Promotion Practice, 11, 81–89. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wilson, N., Minkler, M., Dasho, S., Wallerstein, N., & Martin, A. C. (2008). Getting to social action: The Youth Empowerment Strategies (YES!) project. Health Promotion Practice, 9 (4), 395–403. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zenkov, K., & Harmon, J. (2009). Picturing a writing process: Photovoice and teaching writing to urban youth. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 52(7), 575–584. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (15)

Cited by 15 other publications

Algrim, Jacob
2025. Wo Fat walls. Linguistic Landscape. An international journal 11:4 ► pp. 355 ff. DOI logo
Si, Jinghui
2025. Developing multilingual awareness through engaging with the linguistic landscape: a transformative approach. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Zhao, Fengzhi & Jackie Jia Lou
2025. Localising cosmopolitanism in place talk: Semiotic landscape as stance object. Language in Society 54:2 ► pp. 321 ff. DOI logo
Boulos, Lina, Rawia Hayik, Amal Taha-Fahoum & Yaser Awad
2024. Culture-based pedagogy in the Palestinian-Israeli College classroom. Pedagogy, Culture & Society 32:2 ► pp. 375 ff. DOI logo
Li, Yu, Hakyoon Lee & Bumyong Choi
2022. Developing beginning language learners’ (meta-)cultural understanding via student-led Linguistic Landscape research. Linguistic Landscape. An international journal 8:1 ► pp. 56 ff. DOI logo
Hayik, Rawia
2020. Using Linguistic Landscapes as Stimuli for Relevant EFL Writing. In Language Teaching in the Linguistic Landscape [Educational Linguistics, 49], ► pp. 205 ff. DOI logo
Hayik, Rawia
2021. Through their lenses: Arab students' environmental documentation and action. Environmental Education Research 27:3 ► pp. 438 ff. DOI logo
Hayik, Rawia
2024. Accurate minority Language Representation in the Public Space: the case of Arabic in Israel. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Hayik, Rawia
2024. Raising awareness to the representation of a minority language through engaging pedagogies. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Hayik, Rawia
2025. Theory Into Practice in Teacher Education: Applying Engaging Pedagogies in the Arab EFL Classroom. European Journal of Education 60:1 DOI logo
Michalovich, Amir
2019. Reframing the linguistic to analyze the landscape. Linguistic Landscape. An international journal 5:1 ► pp. 28 ff. DOI logo
Litzenberg, Jason
2018. ‘Official language for intercultural ties’. Linguistic Landscape. An international journal 4:2 ► pp. 153 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2025. Language Attitudes in the Multilingual Linguistic Landscape. In The Handbook of Linguistic Landscapes and Multilingualism, ► pp. 97 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2025. Linguistic Landscape in Israel: Policy, Research, Practice. In The Handbook of Linguistic Landscapes and Multilingualism, ► pp. 255 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2025. Linguistic Landscape for (Foreign) Language Learning. In The Handbook of Linguistic Landscapes and Multilingualism, ► pp. 501 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 26 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