Increasing multilingualism in schoolscapes

Abstract

In this qualitative research study, we examine changes made in 23 New York City schools that participated in a project for which participating schools were asked to regard bilingualism as a resource in instruction and develop a multilingual linguistic landscape. Findings document efforts made by schools to change their linguistic landscape in ways that recognize students’ many languages and cultures, significant corresponding ideological shifts by school leaders from monolingual to multilingual views of language and language learning, educators’ incorporation of students’ home languages in instruction, and new formal language education policies resulting from these efforts. We document the impact of all of these changes on students and their families and suggest that research on linguistic landscape conducted in schools should consider not only the physical landscape but also its connections to pedagogy, programming, and language policies.