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In:Education in Languages of Lesser Power: Asia-Pacific Perspectives
Edited by Craig Alan Volker and Fred E. Anderson
[IMPACT: Studies in Language, Culture and Society 35] 2015
► pp. 111–130

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Language in schooling in Timor-Leste

 | Australian Catholic University, Sydney
Published online: 5 February 2015
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https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.35.07qui
Through its history of colonisation, occupation and independence, Timor-Leste has developed a unique linguistic ecology where official and other languages represent particular status and power in various domains. In the education system, Portuguese maintains a higher status and teachers aim to teach it, yet Tetum is used to enact vital roles that give students access to curriculum content. This paper looks at how the language policy in Timor-Leste has developed around the goals of a newly independent nation and contrasts this with how teachers have attempted to teach students within this policy. It suggests a re-focus on both languages as pedagogic aids, to develop the power of both languages to assist students in learning content and language.
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Cited by four other publications

Quinn, Marie
2022. Learning about Timor-Leste: tracing the “Timorisation” of curriculum reform. Diálogos 7 ► pp. 105 ff. DOI logo
Quinn, Marie
2022. Who’s reading who?. Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes 3:2 ► pp. 198 ff. DOI logo
Quinn, Marie & John Buchanan
2022. “A contribution to my country”: professional lives of teachers in Timor-Leste. Asia Pacific Journal of Education 42:3 ► pp. 497 ff. DOI logo
Spolsky, Bernard
2018. Language policy in Portuguese colonies and successor states. Current Issues in Language Planning 19:1 ► pp. 62 ff. DOI logo

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