In order to critically engage with the use of language(s) in the public space, my linguistic landscape course includes site visits for students to observe the linguistic landscape of campus and Bay Area neighborhoods. Site visits offer students the opportunity to take their learning outside of the classroom. And while they take quite a bit of preparation on the part of the instructor, students often consider fieldtrips to be the highlight of the course.

In order to select a location for a site visit, instructors may prefer to determine these ahead of time, provide students with a list of options, or work together as a class to identify areas of interest. I employed the latter option, giving students a role in the decision-making process, since my linguistic landscape course contained 16 students. Being a Spanish course, several students suggested Spanish-speaking Latinx ethnic enclaves in the area. We decided that our first field trip would be to the San Francisco Mission district. I scouted out the area prior to the site visit, and I recommend instructors also visit the location themselves prior to conducting the fieldtrip with students in order to evaluate accessibility and determine exactly where they want to go.

For educators in language departments, ethnic enclaves can prove to be fertile learning grounds; however, there are important ethical concerns to keep in mind so as to aim for more reciprocal experiences. For a discussion of reciprocity in research, see Carr (2024), Charity (2008), Rickford (1997), and Wolfram (1993).

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On this webpage I will share my experiences and recommendations for organizing site visits, including preparation, transportation, and a scavenger hunt we conducted.

Instructors concerned with transportation may choose to begin with walks around their campus to observe the presence (and absence) of certain languages. For any trips outside of the university, campus risk assessment offices should be contacted to ensure all guidelines are followed. In my case, it was best to allow students to figure out their own transportation, since ample public transportation is available in the Bay Area, and most is free to undergraduate students at UC Berkeley. Some students decided to carpool, and others met took public transportation together, as I recommended traveling with at least one other person. We all met at a predetermined meetup spot prior on the day of the site visit.

Prior to the site visit, students were assigned homework to investigate the history of Spanish and Spanish speakers in the area, also noting modern-day immigration and census data points. This led to an interesting discussion of topics including colonialism, gentrification, resistance, and language justice.​

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I prepared students for our site visit in class and also sent an email repeating this information two days before our trip. Topics we discussed in class included:

• the meeting time and place

• items students should bring with them (school ID, public transportation card, water, snacks, cash if they planned on buying things, comfortable clothes/shoes, hat, sunblock, and their charged camera/phone and charger. I also mentioned that they should make sure their camera/phone had adequate space and had location services turned on to geolocate pictures)

• An overview of our plan (see site visit day below)

• Tips for data collection: 

  • Aim for 1 sign per pic 

  • Entire image should be in sign, not cut off

  • Avoid zooming, get as close as possible to sign for best quality (check to see if your phone automatically zooms in)

  • Take as many pix as possible, can choose what to analyze later (will eventually be sharing 10 pictures of the Mission each)

  • If questions come up, text or call me and I can come find you

  • Try to avoid capturing people in your pictures

  • Be respectful of locals, people outside. Don’t get in way=

  • Keep in mind cultural and circumstantial differences regarding picture-taking: certain cultures or groups of people can be more sensitive to photography

  • Reciprocity in research: We will be learning a lot from our fieldtrip to the Mission. How can we give back to the community? Some ideas we generated as a class on Thursday were shopping local businesses (restaurants, panaderías, and other non-chain stores. The holidays are coming up, could be some cool present ideas if that’s your thing!), picking up trash

After meeting at the Garfield Square Community Center, I passed around sunblock and repeated our plan to students, as well as tips for data collection. They were also divided into groups of 2 to 3 for the latter part of our site visit. We began with a walk down 24th Street as a group, pausing at different signs to share our impressions of the LL. I first modeled my expectations and then students took turns narrating their visual experiences. Next students worked in groups of 2-3 to take pictures and conduct (1) a short scavenger hunt (see below) and (2) fieldwork/data collection to understand the use and functions of Spanish in the Mission District for later analysis. Finally, we regrouped to check back in and say goodbye, but all students decided to attend the optional outing afterwards to eat at a restaurant together before parting ways to go home. ​