ABSTRACT
The discursive data provide a multimodal lens into the linguistic landscape and shift the focus from what is visible to what people experience. The narratives student ethnographers have shared in their iterations about the presence of visible, audible multilingual practices are not simple truths that are there for us to categorise, but ‘conjectures' which are based on ideological work about legitimacy, normalcy, accountability, identity, and belonging. Through engaging in this project, student ethnographers developed their critical language awareness. Linguistic landscapes are incomplete, as they cannot be interpreted in themselves. They require an audience: a viewer and a listener. People engage with their local suburbs through their mundane activities. The narrative approach allowed for a unique crossing over the micro and the macro factors shaping the interactions in the landscape.
