Envisioning the use of translanguaging in public spaces as a resource in higher institutions of learning

Abstract

In this paper we explore translanguaging in the linguistic landscapes of two South African universities located in the Western Cape Province. The paper foregrounds translanguaging as a representation of marketisation and internationalisation in these multilingual settings, even though some of the borrowed languages are not part of the indigenous languages of the users of that space. The study draws on photographic data which were collected from selected campuses of both universities. In this study, we focus on the available modal resources and the application of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Multimodality (MDA) in examining the observed translanguaging and symbolic placements of modal resources on the campuses. Findings revealed that word-borrowing is as much an economic signal (business, language and institutional marketing), as it is a potential avenue for global learning and engagement. We, therefore propose ways through which translanguaging can be beneficial to students as a resource for cross and intracultural or intralinguistic engagements on the selected university campuses discussed in the study.

Key words: Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) Institutional, Linguistic Landscape Marketing, Multilingual, South African Universities, Translanguaging, Western Cape Province,