Nyelv és tér egy budapesti olasz két tanítási nyelvű gimnáziumban
Language and space in an Italian bilingual high school in Budapest

Summary/Abstract: One important line of research that examines the relationship between language and space from a variety of perspectives is the study of linguistic landscapes, with special focus on the physical space of the communities that carry out educational activities, i.e. school. The presence, abundance or absence of verbal signs on the walls of school buildings, or their relocation to the digital space, can provide a wealth of interesting information about the internal dynamics of school communities, the communication strategies of teachers and students, and educational activities in general. Our study uses Szabó’s (2016) tourist guide technique, a specific method of linguistic schoolscape analysis, to provide insights into the everyday life of an Italian-Hungarian bilingual high school in Budapest and also, the attitudes of the teaching staff through the use of the verbal signs displayed in the school building. The research was carried out in two phases in the spring and autumn of 2024, the first with a young Italian teacher of the school, the second with the deputy head of the Italian section of the school. The analysis of the interview texts and the photographs taken on the spot confirmed our hypothesis that secondary schools in Hungary are under-utilising the linguistic/methodological potential of the linguistic schoolscape as a language teaching/learning opportunity.

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