Sophie also conducted two classroom observations as part of her PhD project. The classes were offered by Margarida Sousa.

Sophie Bennett said: “It was really interesting to witness heritage language teaching and learning firsthand, across children and teenagers from different backgrounds. It is crucial to relate research into heritage language acquisition to the experiences of the teachers and learners in the classroom. Learning Portuguese undeniably plays a very important part of their lives, so it is excellent that the Camões Institute provides this extra-curricular opportunity to Portuguese families in the community. I would like to thank Margarida and the learners for welcoming me into the classroom.”

Sophie’s work is supported by an ESRC CASE Studentship. The CASE project focuses on the linguistic development of heritage language bilinguals. Sophie is co-supervised by Professor Patrick Rebuschat, Professor Padraic Monaghan (both Lancaster University), Professor Cristina Flores (University of Minho) and Dr. Cátia Verguete (Camões Institute UK).

For more information on Portuguese language classes in the UK, please visit the following page: https://www.e-portugues.co.uk/.