The language situation in Timor-Leste

Edited book (chapter)

Taylor-Leech, Kerry. 2011. "The language situation in Timor-Leste." Kaplan, Robert B. and Baldauf Jr., Richard B. (ed.) Language planning in the Asia Pacific: Hong Kong, Timor-Leste and Sri Lanka. Oxford, United Kingdom. Routledge. pp. 92-159
Chapter Title

The language situation in Timor-Leste

Book Chapter CategoryEdited book (chapter)
ERA Publisher ID3137
Book TitleLanguage planning in the Asia Pacific: Hong Kong, Timor-Leste and Sri Lanka
Authors
AuthorTaylor-Leech, Kerry
EditorsKaplan, Robert B. and Baldauf Jr., Richard B.
Page Range92-159
Chapter Number3
Number of Pages68
Year2011
PublisherRoutledge
Place of PublicationOxford, United Kingdom
ISBN9780415618519
Abstract

Timor-Leste celebrated its formal political independence on 20th May 2002. The National Constitution of the new nation declared the endogenous lingua franca (Tetum) and the
former colonial language (Portuguese) to be co-official. The remaining local languages were given the status of national languages. Indonesian and English were designated as working languages ‘for as long as is deemed necessary’. In this monograph, I consider the origins and implications of these constitutional provisions. The paper consists of five parts.

1. A social and economic profile of the polity. This section also discusses migration, communications and the media in relation to language policy and practice.
2. A language profile of the country, followed by a discussion of diglossia, multilingualism,literacy and official language choice.
3. An account of the sociolinguistic consequences of language contact and an historical analysis of social policies and practices that have shaped the habitus.
4. A discussion and analysis of current language policy development in terms of goals, motives and orientations.
5. An assessment of the prospects for language maintenance with special reference to policy outcomes and options.

I advocate a rights-oriented approach to language management, arguing that in the absence of such an approach, ad hoc power relationships between languages will
continue to dominate social discourse and language politics.

KeywordsTimor Leste; language policy; language practices; literacy; multilingualism; diglossia; official languages; national languages
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020440709. Public policy
470401. Applied linguistics and educational linguistics
440105. Linguistic anthropology
Public Notes

This book is a reproduction of two special issues of Current Issues in Language Planning: vol. 10 (1)and vol.l1(1). The Publisher requests to those authors who may be citing this book to state, also, the bibliographical details of the special issue on which the book was based. This chapter has already been published in 'Current Issues in Language Planning' (2009) 10(1), 1-68. (eP7040).

Byline AffiliationsFaculty of Education
University of Queensland
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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