Formazioni e trasformazioni di spazi linguistici e sociali: appunti sull'Esquilino

The Esquilino area of Rome is an interesting example of the loss of linguistic and social cohesion linked to the recent trends of immigration and nomadism. Moving from recent sociolinguistic studies of the area, the paper deals mainly with the Linguistic Landscape methodology, an important approach to multilingualism through the written signs in public spaces. The different perceptions and evaluation of linguistic variety by inhabitants and by experts, and the role of quantitative and qualitative methods in sociolinguistic research on multilingualism are some of the points in discussion.