ABSTRACT
At the age of nine, Azizul was asked to write his own language profile. The picture that emerges is one of a child who is familiar with four quite distinct language systems. Azizul is literate in three of these languages. The extract from his profile is a powerful reminder of how the social and cultural worlds that children inhabit are reflected in their uses of language as well as in their knowledge about language. Azizul’s feelings about the languages around him are also important. They help to shape his view of himself as a language user – take for instance his lack of confidence in reading aloud in English – and how this contrasts with his ability to read Arabic. Of course these attitudes are not fixed for ever. We would anticipate that Azizul’s confidence in reading English will increase in the future: but not at the expense of those other languages in his repertoire.
