This essay addresses issues of language use and the reciprocal relationship between language and identity in the context of the migration of Portuguese-speakers to London from Brazil. It also underlines the importance of considering varying social factors as well as the influence of migrants' objectives and goals within the receptor society in obtaining a better appreciation of such relationships. My empirical investigation centres upon a group of Brazilian families whose children attend extra-curricular Portuguese language lessons. Through in-depth interviews, I examine the reasons behind the mothers' multiple and changeable self-identification practices manifest through language use, as well as the impact of the importance they attach to their ethnicity on their children's emotional and instrumental links to their community language.

Language and identity Portuguese language Mixed-heritage children Brazilian migration Migrant mothers

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