Building Language Teacher Awareness of Colonial Histories and Imperialistic Oppression Through the Linguistic Landscape

Abstract

This chapter considers the potential of the linguistic landscape to address the challenge of developing critical multilingual awareness in a predominantly English monolingual and white settler student body in a Canadian teacher education program. The chapter begins with a historical overview of colonial efforts to suppress multilingualism in the province through education, provides a review of relevant literature, and describes a teacher education linguistic landscape activity in relation to this literature. From there, the chapter provides details and findings from a small study of pre-service teachers. The chapter includes examples of student photo analysis as well as a discussion of the usefulness of “noticing” the textual practices of public spaces in helping student teachers to build their awareness of colonial histories and imperialistic oppression. In this way, the chapter addresses the question of how the linguistic landscape can become a productive site for project-based learning in language teacher education.