LING 181 - Special Studies in Linguistics A-Z

Semester Hours: 1-3

Current Special Topics

LING 181L: Linguistic Landscapes

Language surrounds us in our everyday lives. We communicate through linguistic means, and we are constantly bombarded by signs and other forms of linguistic communication, both verbal and visual (as in road signs, billboards, street names, commercial shop signs, and signs on government buildings, to name just a few). The aim of this course is to offer an overview of research on linguistic/semiotic landscapes, focusing in particular on the insights that can be gained from a spatial perspective on languages and other multimodal meaning-making practices, such as how language is visualized via images, sounds, drawings, movements, graffiti, tattoos, colors, clothing, and smells. The course will also equip students with different methodologies for analyzing languages in various spaces and places. In this course, we will explore not only the public sphere but at times the digital sphere as well. We will begin with an overview of the field of linguistic landscapes, moving into examples of linguistic landscape research broadly, as well as through particular foci such as bilingualism/multilingualism, local vs. global advertising, history and the past, tourism, protest, sexuality, and linguistic injustices (when the language used in a sign can have legal and other real-world implications for public safety). The focus of the course will thus involve investigating which languages appear where, when, by whom, for whom, in which format, and to what end. From our reading of the linguistic landscape, we can then begin to see the power, meaning, and significance of individual languages in society.

 

Prerequisite(s)/Course Notes:
Subjects to be announced yearly. May be repeated when topics vary.

View Course Offering(s):

Summer I 2025

Summer II 2025

Summer III 2025

Fall 2025