Resumo

FLORES, Cristina; GONCALVES, Maria Lurdes; RINKE, Esther  e  TORREGROSSA, Jacopo. Multiple perspectives on the bilingual competence of Portuguese-descendant children living in Switzerland: Linguistics in dialogue with didactics. Rev. Port. de Educação [online]. 2022, vol.35, n.1, pp.102-131.  Epub 19-Jul-2022. ISSN 0871-9187.  https://doi.org/10.21814/rpe.24205.

The present paper presents the results of an empirical study on the bilingual competence of 180 Portuguese-descent children living in three language areas of Switzerland (German, French and Italian). Using a cloze test and a detailed parental questionnaire, the results show that the development of the participants' heritage language (HL) (Portuguese) is shaped by the amount and type of contact that they have with their HL within the family. It is also shown that proficiency in one language correlates with proficiency in the other positively, thus, deconstructing the subtractive conception of migrant bilingualism. Additionally, the opinions of teachers of the Portuguese Teaching Abroad network (EPE) in Switzerland, from the Camões - Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, were collected through a questionnaire and a teachers' training workshop. The study highlights the need for a triangular dialogue between scientific research on language acquisition, didactic practices and language policy within Portuguese families in the diaspora.

Palavras-chave : Bilingualism; Portuguese heritage language; Majority language; Linguistic competence; Teachers' perceptions..

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