The linguistic landscape and its potential for english language teaching

This paper provides a short exploration of the possibilities offered by the Linguistic Landscape to enhance students’ language awareness and to act as a tool for language teachers. After briefly introducing the main features that characterize the Linguistic Landscape in urban spaces, namely its multilingual aspect, the informational and symbolic functions and the differences between top-down and bottom-up messages, the article describes the roles of English both as a lingua franca and as a symbol of prestige. A review of studies on the use of the Linguistic Landscape for teaching English is then presented. What is argued is that the Linguistic Landscape can be fruitfully employed to teach English – or another foreign language – at the university level. The proposed teaching approach will help students both to become more aware and also to be more active language learners.