‘Multilingual Streets’ travels to Belfast

On 23rd May 2019 Dr Jessica Bradley, Lecturer in Literacies in the School of Education, gave an invited seminar alongside Dr James Simpson (Leeds) at Queen’s University Belfast as part of the TESOL research seminar series. She was invited by Dr Ibrar Bhatt to talk about research carried out for the TLANG project (Translation and Translanguaging: Investigating Linguistic and Cultural Transformations in Superdiverse Wards in Four UK Cities) and its application in the context of language education. The presentation was two-part, with the first focusing on empirical research which took place in the context of immigration advice in a drop-in centre in Leeds and the second offering early insights into research design and methodology for the Multilingual Streets project.

Multilingual Streets: Translating and Curating the Linguistic Landscape is a research project which focuses on the languages visible across different urban spaces — or Linguistic Landscape. It uses participatory and arts-based methods to explore young people’s engagement with the languages around them. It also uses LinguaSnapp — an innovative app to document and map multilingual signs developed by researchers at the University of Manchester. The interdisciplinary project is situated at the intersection of research, practice and engagement and seeks to have an impact on language education and arts education.

The Multilingual Streets project is led by Dr Jessica Bradley, working with Dr Louise Atkinson, artist-researcher. The project is developed in collaboration with Multilingual Manchester at the University of Manchester. Jessica will also be talking about the project at the University of Leeds School of Education ‘Distinguished Scholar in Residence’ event on 11 June 2019.

For more information and details of how to participate please see the project website or contact Jessica directly, jessica.bradley@sheffield.ac.uk.