Multilingualism in the linguistic landscape of Istanbul

Abstract

Situated in the Expanding Circle, Turkey has become a setting which offers vibrant linguistic landscapes fascinating to linguists. Underlying this vibrancy is the prevalent use of English for a wide variety of instrumental purposes and multilingualism that is becoming increasingly tangible. This paper explores how diversity brought about by globalization and migration has generated an interesting mix of languages, scripts and modalities led by English in the Turkish context. The data collected from the streets of various districts in Istanbul indicate an interplay of Turkish, English and Arabic, and a sociolinguistic analysis reveals practices of code-switching and translanguaging. The pedagogical implications highlight the importance of promoting a WE/ELF-aware English language teaching through a framework that considers both the plurilingual view of English and the entailing sociolinguistic processes.