Aprendre (socio)lingüística a través del paisatge lingüístic de Palma: Una experiència pràctica
Learning (Socio)Linguistics through the Linguistic Landscape of Palma: APractical Experience

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents a pedagogical experience related to the innovation project “Planning the Acquisition of the Norm: From the Classroom to the Street” (PID232522), which aims to provide students of three undergraduate courses (Sociolinguistics, Language Planning, and Descriptive Grammar: Syntax and Pragmatics) a holistic view of external and internal linguistics, and to equip them with the necessary tools to approach the sociolinguistic reality of the archipelago in their professional lives. Among other things, the project includes, as a key element, the development of a coordinated final project coordinated, which in the 2023-2024 academic year consisted of a study on linguistic landscapes, a key concept for understanding how languages are represented in public space. Specifically, students carried out an analysis of the linguistic landscapes of three types of establishments (a large retail store, a small shop, and a restaurant) in different areas of Palma. Through this study, patterns of linguistic behavior were identified, which can be summarized in two main conclusions. On the one hand, students observed the presence of linguistic diversity in the most touristic areas of the city—in addition to the official languages of the Balearic Islands, languages such as German and English were also present. On the other hand, the project allowed students to find out a predominance of Spanish in the key points for the configuration of the linguistic landscape, followed by the most common languages for dealing with tourists—German and English. The paper shows how this experience allowed students to enhance their knowledge, competencies, and skills, developing a critical awareness of the sociolinguistic situation in the city and gaining better preparation to face the professional challenges that they will encounter in fields such as language planning or teaching.

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