Portuguese as heritage language and Portuguese non native language. (Re)construction of identities through the teaching-learning experience in the intensive summer course for luso-descendants at Madeira University

Abstract

This article fits into the topic “PL2 / PLE / PLH teaching-learning experiences”. The (re)construction of the identities of the Luso-descendants and other participants of the Intensive Summer Course for Luso-descendants (CIVLD), before and after attendance of the course, was studied through surveys and interviews to record the respective Life stories. For this, two surveys were developed, one for the students to complete at the beginning of the course and the other one, in the last class of the same, and the identity reconstruction was taking place throughout the teaching-learning experience. Data were collected on their motivation for attending the course, their expectations of the course and their learning of the Portuguese language (LP), their views of Madeira and its culture, before and after the course, as well as difficulties, both in language and social integration. Of these Luso-descendants, those who have Portuguese as a Heritage Language express themselves with many phonetic, lexical and morphosyntactic interferences of the Spanish of Venezuela orthe English of South Africa. The course also includes six Venezuelans (non-Luso-descendants), married with Luso-descendants from Madeira. They feel their coming to Madeira as an opportunity to create a new home, as well as the challenge of (re)constructing their identity, in contact with Portuguese Language and Culture.