The Olympics of Portuguese as a Heritage Language: experiences and challenges ; Olimpíadas do Português como Língua de Herança: relato de experiência e desafios

The following article seeks to contextualize the first and second editions of the Olympics of Portuguese as a Heritage Language (Português como Língua de Herança, OPLH), a cultural contest promoted by the Brazilian government in 2021 and 2022 for children and adolescents of Brazilian origin, up to 15 years of age. The contest took place in several regions of the world as part of the public policies for Portuguese as a Heritage Language (PLH) recently promoted by Brazil. This article is an account of the experiences, and it addresses the following: (i) community engagement; (ii) the challenges of designing the assessment materials in the face of the heterogeneity that is characteristic of PLH; (iii) how communities respond to the idea of assessing the contestants’ performance in PLH; and (iv) the adjustments made between the contest’s first and second editions. The structure of this discussion is based on data from these experiences in four locations, as follows: the geographical coverage of the Consulates of Brazil in Barcelona (Spain), Zurich (Switzerland), Nagoia (Japan) and New York (USA). It is concluded that, despite their initial evaluative and qualifying nature, the OPLH serve not only as an instrument to measure knowledge, but also as a process that fosters new learning opportunities for the participants, validates their knowledge and has the potential to build a sense of belonging to the Brazilian diaspora universe. ; O presente artigo busca contextualizar as I e II Olimpíadas do Português como Língua de Herança (OPLH), um concurso cultural promovido pelo governo brasileiro em 2021 e 2022 para crianças e adolescentes de origem brasileira de até 15 anos de idade em vários pontos do mundo, como parte das políticas públicas para o Português como Língua de Herança (PLH) recentemente impulsionadas pelo Brasil. Apresenta-se um relato das experiências, o qual discorre sobre: (i) o engajamento da comunidade em participar; (ii) os desafios de elaborar as provas diante das heterogeneidades características do PLH; ...