The Signs Outside and Surrounding Head Start Centers: Analysis and
Implications
Abstract
In recent years linguistic landscape researchers have begun to examine signs in public
space as a means to examine the community’s response to multilingualism.
Linguistic landscape research looks at the significance and implications of the content
and language found on signs in contexts with multilingual populations. In addition
educational researchers have begun to study the signs outside of schools to determine
the languages used, the languages represented, the functions of the signs and whether
warning signs, informative signs or decorative/welcoming signs dominate.
The
aim of this paper is to share the results of an ongoing study that investigated the
signage in the public spaces immediately outside and surrounding 8 Head Start
Centers in culturally and linguistically diverse neighborhoods in 2 northeast urban
centers in the US. The findings indicate that there is a great deal of variety in the
types, functions and languages used on signs immediately outside Head Start Centers.
The signage also does not always reflect the linguistic landscape of the area
surrounding the Centers. There are implications for stakeholders in culturally and
linguistically diverse neighborhoods wanting to make educational centers and schools
more welcoming.
Background
In recent years linguistic landscape researchers have begun to examine signs in public
space as a means to examine the community’s response to multilingualism (Shohamy
& Gorter, 2009). Linguistic landscape research looks at the significance and
implications of the content and language found on signs in contexts with multilingual
populations. In addition there is a need for educational researchers have begun to
study the signs outside of schools to determine the languages used, the languages
represented, the functions of the signs and whether warning signs, informative signs
or decorative/welcoming signs dominate.
Theoretical Frameworks
In a groundbreaking paper from Landry and Bourhis (1997), linguistic landscape
is defined as:
The language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names,
place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government
buildings combines to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory,
region, or urban agglomeration.
Studies of linguistic landscapes in offer a useful and an important background for
sociolinguistic and multilingual understanding (e.g., Huebner, 2006). Among the
growing number of linguistic landscape studies, have begun to study the way
multilingualism exists and is reflected on the signage displayed in the
community (Shohamy & Gorter, 2009). It can be said that the signs in the
linguistic landscape are a reflection of each neighborhood, the status of the
neighborhood, government, market, and the power relations within a certain
community (Huebner, 2006). In other words signs provide valuable insights
about the linguistic values and norms of the signs and the community, especially
in institutions with clear goals such as schools.
Schools as a Community
Many scholars and stakeholders have acknowledged schools as community.
According to Driscoll (2001):
Schools have always played two roles in American society. One the one hand,
they are linked to familiar places of home, family and community; on the other,
they stand as the primary institution charged with the preparation of children
for the ‘broader’ worlds or society, polity and nation.
The school climate and school facilities are important for stakeholders in the
school itself as well as the community. The signs found on the outside of schools
and in the schoolyards are an important, but under researched aspect of the
school environment. Signs exhibited and authored by a school should be viewed
as a point of contact between schools and homes and can be welcoming or offputting for culturally and linguistically diverse families (Linse, 2011).
Research Questions
This study will address the following research questions:
1. What different types of signs are displayed in the linguistic landscape
immediately outside 8 Head Start Centers in 2 urban centers regarding function
and language use?
2. What different types of signs are displayed in the linguistic landscape within a
1000 feet of the Head Start entrances?
3. Do the languages represented on the signs displayed outside the Head Start
Centers reflect the languages and cultures of the community represented in the
1000 foot perimeter surrounding each center?
Methodology
This study is designed to investigate the languages represented in the areas
immediately outside and surrounding Head Start centers. Signs will be
examined and grouped based on the functions such as warning, informing or
welcoming and the languages represented. The next aim is to document best
practices and to make suggestions on how schools, serving learners of all ages, in
urban culturally and linguistically diverse neighborhoods can make the signage
more welcoming.
Sample
The two urban centers chosen for this research are based in the Northeast of the
US and boast over 35 percent of households speak a language at home other than
English. Head Start Centers were chosen as the focus of this research for a
variety of reasons. Head Start is a community based early childhood education
program that has a long history and is also a program that strives to help
impoverished preschoolers by providing educational support (Kaiifeh, CohenVogel & Grass, 2011 ). Second Head Start Centers are often placed in
neighborhoods that are culturally and linguistically diverse neighborhoods.
Third, Head Start programs are intended to be a positive force in the community
and to also to create positive home school partnerships.
Data Collection and Analysis
The data collection and analysis procedures which will be followed are based on the
work of Gorter (2009) and Spolsky (2009). Photos were taken only of the signage
within 1000 feet of the Head Start Center entrance using a digital camera. No photos
of people will be taken. Based on previous research it is anticipated that there will be
approximately 30 signs at each site for a total of 240 signs. The photos of the signs
will be analyzed based on the actual language, such as Spanish, Chinese, English or
Creole contained in the sign along with the function of the sign. The functions of
each sign will also be recorded, coded and analyzed. The ratios between different
functions of signs such as warnings and informational signs will be calculated.
We will also examine whether the languages represented on the signs reflect the
linguistic community surrounding the Head Start Center.
The paper will include a thorough discussion of the results, implications and
limitations. The discussion will be of interest to anyone working in or
investigating schools that serve multilingual diverse populations in urban
neighborhoods. The stakeholders will learn, as a result of the study, ways to
improve the school climate by improving the signage displayed.
References
Driscoll, M.E. (2001). The sense of place and the neighborhood school: Implications
for building school capital and for community development. In R. Crowson (Ed.).
Community development and school reform, Vol. 5 (pp. 19-41). Oxford: Elsevier
Science.
Gorter, D. (Ed.). (2006). Linguistic landscape: A new approach to multilingualism.
Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Huebner, T. (2006). Bangkok’s linguistic landscapes: Environmental print, codemixing
and language change. In D. Gorter (Ed.), Linguistic landscape: A new approach to
multilingualism (pp. 31-51). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Kaiifeh, P., Cohen-Vogel, L & Grass,S (2011)
The Federal Role in Early Childhood Education: Evolution in the Goals,
Governance, and Policy Instruments of Project Head Start Phyllis Kalifeh,
Educational Policy 2011 25: 36
Landry, R., & Bourhis, R. Y. (1997). Linguistic landscape and ethnolinguistic vitality: An
empirical study. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 16(1), 23-49.
Linse, C.T. (2010) "Creating Taxonomies to Improve School–Home Connections With
Families of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners" Education and Urban Society
Shohamy, E. and D. Gorter (eds.). (2009). Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery.
New York: Routledge.
Spolsky, B. (2009). Prolegomena to a Sociolinguistic Theory of Public Signage. In
Shohamy, E. and D. Gorter (eds.). Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery. (pp/ 2540) New York: Routledge.
The Federal Role in Early Childhood Education: Evolution in the Goals,
Governance, and Policy Instruments of Project Head Start Phyllis Kalifeh,
Lora Cohen-Vogel and Saralyn Grass
Educational Policy 2011 25: 36
The aim of this paper is to share the results of an ongoing study that investigated the
signage in the public spaces immediately outside and surrounding 8 Head Start
Centers in culturally and linguistically diverse neighborhoods in 2 northeast urban
centers in the US. The findings indicate that there is a great deal of variety in the
types, functions and languages used on signs immediately outside Head Start Centers.
The signage also does not always reflect the linguistic landscape of the area
surrounding the Centers. There are implications for stakeholders in culturally and
linguistically diverse neighborhoods wanting to make educational centers and schools
more welcoming.
Session Description 500 Words
The first objective of this workshop is to share the theoretical frameworks that served
as the foundation for a study that investigated the signage in the public spaces outside
8 Head Start Centers in culturally and linguistically diverse neighborhoods in 2
different urban centers in the US. One of the theoretical frameworks is the home
school taxonomy developed by Linse (2010) that can be used to assess aspects of
cultural and linguistic responsive. Different points of contact between schools and
homes such as the signs that greet culturally and linguistically diverse parents when
they are navigating the entrance to the school on behalf of their children can be
evaluated using the taxonomy. In addition, the actual research methodology utilized
was based on linguistic landscape research. A growing number of pivotal linguistic
landscape studies have examined the content and use of different languages on
signs in communities serving multilingual populations in order to obtain a sense
of the sociolinguistic context (Gorter, 2006; Backhaus, 2007; Shohamy & Gorter,
2009). To date there are no published studies of the linguistic landscape
surrounding educational settings for young children.
The second objective is to share the data collection and analysis procedures which
were followed based on the work of Gorter (2009) and Spolsky (2009). Photos were
taken only of the signage within 150 meter perimeter of the Head Start Center
entrance using a digital camera. No photos of people were taken. The signs were
analyzed based on the actual language, such as Spanish, Chinese, English or Creoloe
contained in the sign along with the function of the sign.
The third objective is for participants to work with actual linguistic landscape data to
determine key themes. Participants will be able to classify the signs according to
regulatory (punitive), informational and decorative functions. Participants will also
quantify the number and volume of different languages represented and compare it to
demographic information concerning the different languages spoken in the
neighborhood.
The fourth objective is for participants to explore the significance of the findings.
They will discuss what the results tell us about the sociolinguistic community and the
regulatory stance towards the community. Participants will also discuss the
implications from a pragmatic standpoint as they explore ways to improve the school
signage.
The session overview or structure is based on the objectives. The first two objectives
will be presented in lecture or plenary format. Objective three will be in the form of a
demonstration that participants will be able to replicate. This will be followed by
small group discussions concerning the significance and implications of the findings
which will address objective four.
From a scholarly vantage point this research approach is focusing on a new
unexplored but significant area of inquiry which is the space surrounding the Head
Start center which is an important point of contact between families and schools. It is
looking at the signs as a family point of contact that can engage or disengage families
based on the languages represented as well as the content of the signs.
The photos are of the textual signs posted belonging to the Head Start Programs as
well as the signage found within a 150 meter perimeter surrounding the Centers. The
second objective of this poster session is to share implications of this research from
the perspectives of multilingualism and family engagement.
The Plain English Act and School Transportation Information
The yellow school bus is a mainstay of US education
References
; Shohamy & Gorter, 2009