Ricerc@Sapienza

In this paper we aim to analyse the presence of American varieties in the teaching of L2 Spanish, focusing in particular on textbooks, students’ books and online resources used both in Spanish classes and in teachers’ long-life training. The relevance of this investigation derives from social and cultural changes in contemporary city landscapes: migration fluxes moving from Hispanic American countries to Italy present linguists and teaching experts with new challenges, because of the presence of second generation and heritage speakers in L2 Spanish classes.

Resumen: El presente trabajo se desarrolla en la línea teórica del Linguistic Landscape (Landry y Bourhis, 1997) y describe la visibilidad y el impacto de la comunidad latinoamericana en la ciudad de Roma. La investigación se basa en el examen de los signos comunicativos que han aparecido en los mensajes públicos de la capital italiana. El análisis de las prácticas discursivas —relacionadas sobre todo con la selección lingüística— permite examinar la (re)construcción de la(s) identidad(es) y las formas de (re)territorialización que estos migrantes activan.

Beyond the significant results achieved in field research, the study of the Linguistic Landscape (LL) offers a testing ground for the theoretical and categorical changes that have impacted the latest sociolinguistic research. It is in fact through this concept that linguistic studies have participated in the so-called ‘spatial turn’ so pervasive in the human and social sciences in recent decades marked by an increasingly complex interpretation of space.

This paper provides a short exploration of the possibilities offered by the Linguistic Landscape to enhance students’ language awareness and to act as a tool for language teachers. After briefly introducing the main features that characterize the Linguistic Landscape in urban spaces, namely its multilingual aspect, the informational and symbolic functions and the differences between top-down and bottom-up messages, the article describes the roles of English both as a lingua franca and as a symbol of prestige.