My multi-lingual self: Children's language self-portraits

4. 'MY LANGUAGE LOCATIONS'


Another boy includes four languages in his picture.

He calls his mother tongue ‘Pakistani’ and places it in his heart. He speaks his mother tongue at home. He draws a carpet to represent his cultural background. 

He places Italian in his head. It is the language he learned from his teacher in nursery.

He learned English in school. He represents English with a school table and a chair, and the school gate.

He draws two boys. He labels them with language which he calls ‘Indian’. He has learned this language from his best friend.