***new update*** NYCLL represents at the ALAS Conference

Check out the Techbrarian/NYCLL collab. Podcast for ALAS…

click the box above to stream mp3 file, right-click or ctrl+click to save the mp3.

go to Techbrarian.com for more!

This is a collaborative blog for sharing and collaborating on Linguistic Landscape maps.

What is LL?

LL, or ‘Linguistic Landscape’ has to do with interpreting the written texts all around us. Pioneered by socio-linguists (such as Shohamy, Backhaus), LL is a method for seeing the different texts posted by different groups in our environment.

In this context, I focus specifically on bottom-up and top-down examples of LL, meaning, signs put up by ‘everyday citizens’ with their respective motivations, and signs put up by government agencies with  mandated ‘rules’ and ‘regulations.’

Why record the LL in NYC?

This project began for me when I recorded the LL of two places on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in February, 2008.

This first attempt was posted on Facebook

This attempt at LL in New York takes a similar approach while utilizing Web 2.0 technologies to document and share findings.

How does it work?

Have a look at the first case study.

My hope would be for collaborative feedback based on this data-collection, comments about the findings, sharing links and resources based on emerging themes, submitting media connected with the case study area, etc.

How can I contribute?

If you want to post a map on here, please send me the ‘link’ or ‘html embedding’ for your google map (or a Google Earth kml file)

If you’re a programmer who is looking at this, shaking your head and thinking “amateur”…you’re right!! I’d ultimately like to turn this into a mash-up where interested LL analysts/amateur google-map gurus can generate, analyze and post their maps all on one site.

Please email me: ddb2113@columbia.edu