In this presentation, I shall focus on how the teaching of aspects of Portuguese Intangible Culture Heritage, notably the embroidered Lenços dos Namorados, can be used to gain insights into the students’ self-reported: use of Portuguese; use of technologies involving Portuguese; feelings towards learning about explicit aspects of Portuguese culture (accent, Portuguese embroidery tradition) and how these can link to the family and identity.

The presentation will draw on data originating from a study done using an ethnomethodological approach combined with aspects of practitioner research. The work was carried out in London, in a Portuguese complementary school, i.e. schools and classes that teach the language and culture of a minority community in local schools and community halls after school hours (Robertson, 2006).

The study will be contextually situated in the background of the Portuguese Language and Culture classes in London and, informed by the work of Norton (2011), Li (2014) and Gregory et al (2012), I shall offer insights into how classroom interactions can contribute to socially construct language, knowledge and culture.

Data presented will be both quantitative (The children’s self-reported frequency of use of Portuguese and their privileged interlocutors, as well as their use of technology to communicate in Portuguese) and qualitative (children’s comments).

Finally, through the analysis of a multimodal text produced during the study, concepts such as the role of syncretism to construct biliterate identities in Portuguese community language classes will be considered.