Abstract Book of the 4th International Education Conference
Year: 2025
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Exploring the Language Landscape to Conceptualize the Institutional Language Policies: a Qualitative Case Study at a Turkish Private University
Renan Guney
ABSTRACT:
This study interrogates the linguistic landscape (LL) of a private university campus in Ankara Turkey where English-medium instruction (EMI) is adopted. It investigates the conceptualization of language policy and institutional identities through these public signs. In this research, a qualitative case study has been adopted to thoroughly comprehend multimodal campus signage which uncover the reciprocity between English and Turkish languages and the semiotic richness situated in this institutional zone. This research overtly showcases the dominant use of English in academic and administrative signs that depict the university’s international identity although Turkish is predominantly utilized in practical and informal contexts. Hence, the study highlights the intriguing interplay between top-down language strategy and bottom-up linguistic approach, pinpointing that language policies are both made use of and confronted within daily spatial activities. This research sheds light on linguistic landscape studies by delving more into the salient embodiment of multilingual signage as a locus where language ideologies and institutional approaches unite. It also broaden the horizons of language teacher trainers, policy makers, to accelerate the awareness of educational society by focusing more on a socially equitable and spatially relevant educational instruction.
Keywords: Cultural Heritage; English Medium Instruction; Globalization; Institutional Identity; Neoliberalism