A theoretical and practical discussion of how researchers document language in public spaces

What is it about?

The Linguistic Landscape, which primarily but not exclusively consists of printed language in public places, is frequently studied by researchers who gather data by taking photographs of signage and other displays of language. This article discusses considerations for the use of photography for data collection and presents methods of using digital video to document and study the Linguistic Landscape.

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Photo by Evan Krause on Unsplash

Photo by Evan Krause on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Many studies of the Linguistic Landscape rely heavily on analysis of photographs, but this research method has not been fully theorized in this field of scholarship. This article grounds research methods in theories of visual representation and includes new developments such as videography.