Governo da língua e o ensino de língua portuguesa em Timor-Leste: uma perspectiva histórico-discursiva

Abstract

This study reflects on the colonial influences on language teaching in East Timor with regard to the choices that design the "government of the language" after independence in 2002, expressing discursive relations that make the linguistic diversity that constitutes the country unfeasible, even after colonization by Portugal (from the sixteenth century) and the Indonesian occupation,  which does not disregard the significant impact on the use and relevance of Portuguese today. Today, as a democratic country situated in Southeast Asia, Timor has Portuguese as its official language, along with the Tetum language. From the notions of "colonial device" and "government of language", the present work has the general objective of analyzing this linguistic context from a discursive perspective, in order to highlight the teaching of the Portuguese language in contemporary times as a reflection of the power relations that weave the hierarchical structures between the various languages used in East Timor. For this, we highlight materialities of the textbook used in schools, as well as educational practices related to the teaching and learning of the Portuguese language, ratified by the experiences of one of the authors as a language teacher in the country.