Is There a Place for Global Citizenship Education in the Exploration of Linguistic Landscapes? An Analysis of Educational Practices in Five European Countries

Abstract

Prior research has shown that linguistic landscapes (LL) can promote language awareness and critical thinking, foster text-to-world connections, and develop intercultural awareness and understanding. Still, few studies have specifically explored the potential of LL in contributing to global citizenship education (GCE), an educational perspective that aims to prepare students to fully embrace the opportunities and challenges of a globalised world, and to assume active roles, both locally and globally. The study reported in this chapter draws on data gathered in an ongoing international project that brings together researchers, teacher educators, language (and other subject) teachers, and students from five European countries. The study investigates whether, to what extent, and how the LL multimodal modules designed and carried out by the teachers in the different partner cities of the project address domains of learning, include competences and topics, and are developed according to methodological approaches aligned with GCE. To do this, a qualitative methodology was adopted and an analytical tool for content analysis was created drawing on key GCE literature. Based on the findings, a set of recommendations are proposed, illustrated by example activities that may inspire teachers to address GCE in a more comprehensive and meaningful way while exploring LL.