Abstract:
Identities are fluid and multiple, shaped by the discourse patterns and power relationships in our social worlds. Language power hierarchies play an important role in identity construction, and this in turn impacts student learning. Language education policies have a strong influence on establishing the power dynamics between the languages used in a community, but little is known about how educational language policies influence the identity development process in young children, particularly when the home language is not validated in the school. This chapter presents a study from the Maldives that explored how young children depicted their linguistic identities through illustrated self-portraits and narratives. The findings show that even at a young age children’s linguistic identities are affected by the power assigned to languages. These identities are strongly influenced by the languages they experience around them and are sometimes different to what their parents expect. The findings also indicate that where families largely spoke in English at home, the child gave little importance to Dhivehi, suggesting the important role of the home language in building positive identity. The findings have important implications for language education policies in global English-medium school contexts, and for parental education on raising plurilingual children.
