Porta Linguarum An International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning

Edited & Co-Financed

Editorial Team — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Committees & Journal/Special Issue Data

Editorial Team — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Voices of Belonging - Linguistic homescape and lifescape as a multisensorial and multimodal research tool

Edina Krompák — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Linguistic landscape can be considered “one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing fields in applied linguistics and sociolinguistics” (Gorter & Cenoz, 2024, p. 2), focusing on language use in public space. The research field is constantly expanding its objectives and methodology. In doing so, the borders between public and private become more fluid and flexible. Consequently, the researchers draw attention to more private spaces such as the linguistic homescape (Boivin, 2021; Author, 2021; Yu, 2022) and familyscape (Gonçalves & Lanza, 2024). This paper focuses on three “Linguistic Homescape and Lifescape” projects, which explore linguistic and semiotic signs within the home environment and various life contexts. The investigation is guided by the following research questions: How is belonging represented in the linguistic homescape and lifescape? How applicable are linguistic homescape and lifescape as multimodal research tools in the investigation of belonging? Multilingual children and young people and adults (N = 31) were included in the research through the use of participatory photography (Holm, 2018), whereby the participants took photographs of their linguistic environment at home and in other life contexts and also explained their choices. The results of the study shed light on three key dimensions of belonging – social belonging, spatial belonging and visceral belonging – and how these are represented in the multimodal data. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that linguistic homescape and lifescape, combined with participant narratives, offer a valuable multimodal research method.

The Spanish linguistic landscape: variation and change from the classroom to the street

Ana María Romera Manzanares — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Linguistic landscape (LLS) studies as an educational tool are currently a strong and fruitful line of study in terms of linguistic diversity research and its didactic application. Taking into account all the advances in this line of research and based on previous bibliography, in this paper we present a study on how PL samples have been used to materialize different theoretical contents related to the history of Spanish, the historical dialects of the Peninsula, the varieties of current Spanish both in the Peninsula and in the Americas, and many other contents related to the complexity and plurality of Spanish language and its teaching and learning in classrooms at different educational levels. In this sense, showing the linguistic complexity of our streets through photographic samples of PL helps students to ground various theoretical questions and prepares them to participate directly and critically in the variational analysis of the verbal signs that make up their immediate reality.

The street as a classroom: Linguistic landscapes in non-immersion contexts

Raquel Navas — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The main objective of this article is to present and analyse the perceptions and reflections of undergraduate B2-level Spanish students in the United Kingdom regarding the presence of this language in the linguistic landscape (LL) of their local community. Through an LL exploration project, students identified, documented, and interpreted real examples of Spanish in their environment, thus developing lexical-grammatical, sociolinguistic, cultural, and analytical-critical skills.

This study aims to foster meaningful connections with the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures outside the classroom setting, using the LL as a complementary source of input in second language learning. In particular, it seeks to harness the LL to enrich the learning experience in a non-immersion context, where opportunities for direct interaction with native speakers are limited.

The article includes concrete examples of Spanish texts found by students and analyses their impact on their learning process. Additionally, it reflects on the usefulness of the LL as a pedagogical resource in teaching Spanish as a foreign language, highlighting its potential to motivate students to seek out and analyse authentic input in their daily environment.

Exploration and competition in the linguistic landscape as a tool for language teaching and learning

Carmen Fernández Juncal, Mercedes de-la-Torre-García — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This research proposes an activity in the form of a gymkhana 'a competition of a playful nature in which the participating teams must overcome a series of tests and obstacles along a route' (DLE) as an approach to the linguistic landscape by learners of Spanish as a second language in an immersion context and as a training tool. It combines, therefore, several elements that can be very attractive in guided self-learning processes: gamification, team collaboration and competition.

The rationale of this activity lies, on the one hand, in the introduction of content-related games as a stimulus for the acquisition of communicative skills and knowledge. On the other hand, we adopt the Data Driven Learning (DDL) approach, which promotes self-training by discovery through the analysis of data from linguistic corpora.

This experience has already been successfully put into practice in a specialised course with adults with a high command of the language (native or C2) as part of their training as teachers or future teachers. We have found that the combination of tools is appropriate in immersion situations and can be extended to other languages, as well as to the development of communicative competence in Spanish as a first language.

The Linguistic Landscape as a tool for awareness and evaluation of a stay abroad: A study with German university students learning Spanish as a foreign language

Lidia Bellido Barea — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Linguistic Landscape (LL) is a valuable tool that allows the didactic exploitation of authentic material for various purposes. In our case, a university module for preparation/evaluation purposes that complements the mandatory stay abroad for Hispanic students from a German university, the ultimate goal is the creation of a multimodal corpus of the linguistic landscape. For this purpose, the LL is progressively implemented: during the preparation course, it is introduced for the exploration of the linguistic, social and (inter)cultural ecology and diversity of the offered destinations, in order to facilitate their choice and create (inter)linguistic and spatial awareness. During the stay abroad, a small research project will be carried out consisting of the compilation and quantitative/qualitative analysis of the samples (also collecting the interpretation of people in their surroundings), with a focus on pragmatic competence and the interrelationships between languages and between top-down and bottom-up signs. Upon their return, during the evaluation course, they will present and share a portfolio in which, among other aspects, they will discuss these experiences for collective feedback.

The Classroom Linguistic Landscape (CLL): examining English linguistic imperialism and [de]colonisation

Abdul Awal — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study examines classroom linguistic landscapes (CLL), the dynamics of linguistic imperialism, and (de) colonisation in educational spaces, and how it is reflected in (post)colonial linguistic ideologies. The reflexive ethnographic approach was conducted using visual ethnography (Barrantes, 2019; Pink, 2007) and linguistic landscaping method (Haji-Othman, 2020; Lyons, 2017; Pienimäki et al., 2023). The data were collected through photographic documentation of classroom materials, signage, artifacts, and many others. The analysis showed a significant discrepancy between Bengali Medium (BM) and Qawmi Madrasa Education (ME) in Bangladesh, where BM reinforces the dominance of English signage as a linguistic and cultural tool. By contrast, ME has a more balanced multilingual representation within CLL, including English, Bengali, Arabic, Urdu, and Farsi, thereby resisting English hegemony and actively promoting a more equitable multilingual environment.

Children's discourse in Sevillian landscape: language didactics proposals for educators

Marta Rodríguez Manzano — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study explores children's discourse in the linguistic landscape of Seville, understood as the display of verbal signs in shared spaces through posters, store showcase and murals. This research emphasizes messages produced by and directed to children, displayed in parks, areas near educational centers and shopping malls, which often use an eye-catching, simplified style which is close to their senders or target audience.

The main objective of this paper is to analyse how these elements of the linguistic landscape can be used in the classes to develop linguistic and communicative competencies in university students of the degrees in Primary and Early Childhood Education. Based on the examination of the collected documentation, didactic proposals for future teachers are presented, aimed at fostering in their future students a critical appreciation of the linguistic environment and using these textual samples to reinforce knowledge and learning of the Spanish language. Furthermore, the children´s linguistic landscape not only enriches university students´metalinguistic understanding but also allows them to connect their learning with the sociocultural and linguistic context of their immediate reality.

Richness of the linguistic landscape in the classroom, state of the art.

Natalia Martínez-León, María Heredia Mantis, José Alejandro Ángeles-González — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The linguistic landscape (LL) emerges as a backbone for situated, inclusive, and multilingual pedagogies. Its dynamic and multimodal nature not only reflects the sociolinguistic complexity of our communities but also offers teachers a privileged platform to promote critical thinking, metalinguistic reflection, and transformative action inside and outside the classroom. The linguistic landscape in the classroom context refers to the use and analysis of texts and visible signs in the school and community environment as a pedagogical resource. This approach connects formal learning with sociolinguistic reality, promoting cultural awareness, symbolic competence, and the development of multiliteracy skills. The study of LL illustrates theoretical issues in education at different levels and has prepared our students to participate critically in the variational analysis of the verbal signs that make up their immediate reality.

Linguistic landscape and pragmatic competence development: Towards an integrative pedagogical model

Manuel Macías Borrego — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article explores the concept of the linguistic landscape, referring to written language in public spaces, and its role in enhancing pragmatic competence in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). It presents a teaching method that incorporates instructional signage within the linguistic landscape to help students grasp the pragmatic aspects of politeness. The approach was applied in a B2 Translation Studies course, where students analyzed and revised signs to reflect different pragmatic goals. Results were assessed using Mao et al. (2021) Integrated Model of Pragmatic Competence (IMPC). The study emphasized that politeness and impoliteness extend beyond vocabulary and grammar, encouraging learners to critically engage with these concepts. The findings highlight the value of integrating real-world linguistic elements into language education for a deeper understanding of pragmatic contexts.

The varieties of Spanish in the linguistic landscape (PL): theoretical approach and didactic proposal

Narciso M. Contreras Izquierdo — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The linguistic landscape, the manifestations of written language in public spaces, currently constitutes a widely developed field in linguistic research, as well as in its educational application, as it offers authentic and contextualized linguistic samples, favoring the development of linguistic and intercultural awareness, as it represents the collective identity of the speech community that uses them. In the Hispanic context, studies in this area are developing with great vigor and are being applied in secondary and university education. In line with this latter orientation, we present a didactic proposal for addressing the linguistic variation of Spanish in a university philology degree through elements of the linguistic landscape.

Linguistic landscape as a didactic tool in Andalusian languages class

Manuel Cabello Pino — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The present study seeks to show how the lingüistic landscape can be a very useful didactic tool for the teaching of tha andalusian languages in a universitary level. With this purpose, it begins with the theoretical contextualization of the own concept of linguistic landscape and it carries out a revision of the main contributions which has been done through the last years to the study of its application to the education field. Afterwards, it focuses the attention in three blocks of content: the preconceptions of the own speakers about what is i tana example of the andalusian languages and what not, vocabulary issues and andalusian words and the sociolinguistic consideration of the andalusian languages and its prestige. The article explains at lenght how to use the linguistic landscape to work each one of these topics in classroom, mainly through activities wich are proposed to the students. The conclusión is that its own nature (dinamic, volatile, available…) turns the linguistic landscape samples into an ideal tool for working issues related to the diatopical varieties, such as the andalusian languages.

Introduction

Natalia Martínez León, María Heredia Mantis, José Alejandro Ángeles-González — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000