Educational Possibilities of Linguistic Landscapes Exploration in a Context of Pre-service Teacher Education

In a globalised world marked by the mobility of individuals from different linguistic and cultural contexts, it is important to educate future teachers for educational approaches to the linguistic and cultural diversity present in the landscapes that we observe and we live in. Therefore, it is essential to develop teacher education programmes that privilege understanding concerning the (in)visibility of linguistic and cultural diversity and its value in educational contexts. Such programmes may enhance teachers’ contribution to the construction of fairer societies, by developing pupils’ multiliteracy competences and language awareness. This study aims to reflect on the potential of linguistic landscapes (LL) as a didactical resource for educational purposes, in the context of initial teacher education at the Department of Education and Psychology of the University of Aveiro, Portugal. For that matter, student teachers’ discourses are analysed in order to identify the effects of LL as an educational resource on their professional knowledge, namely concerning three dimensions: pedagogical and didactic, ethical and political, and linguistic and communicative. Data was collected by means of their pedagogical projects and written reflections regarding LL educational exploration. The analysis allows us to understand and discuss the teaching professional knowledge built by future teachers when focusing on the concept of LL. It also allows us to reflect on the capitalisation possibilities of this concept in pre-service teacher education contexts.