Voices of Belonging - Linguistic homescape and lifescape as a multisensorial and multimodal research tool

Linguistic landscape can be considered “one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing fields in applied linguistics and sociolinguistics” (Gorter & Cenoz, 2024, p. 2), focusing on language use in public space. The research field is constantly expanding its objectives and methodology. In doing so, the borders between public and private become more fluid and flexible. Consequently, the researchers draw attention to more private spaces such as the linguistic homescape (Boivin, 2021; Author, 2021; Yu, 2022) and familyscape (Gonçalves & Lanza, 2024). This paper focuses on three “Linguistic Homescape and Lifescape” projects, which explore linguistic and semiotic signs within the home environment and various life contexts. The investigation is guided by the following research questions: How is belonging represented in the linguistic homescape and lifescape? How applicable are linguistic homescape and lifescape as multimodal research tools in the investigation of belonging? Multilingual children and young people and adults (N = 31) were included in the research through the use of participatory photography (Holm, 2018), whereby the participants took photographs of their linguistic environment at home and in other life contexts and also explained their choices. The results of the study shed light on three key dimensions of belonging – social belonging, spatial belonging and visceral belonging – and how these are represented in the multimodal data. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that linguistic homescape and lifescape, combined with participant narratives, offer a valuable multimodal research method.