Language choice in the newly independent Republic of East Timor can be usefully
examined in the wider context of language policy in multilingual states.
The present article reports on ethnographic research investigating official and
popular discourses of language and identity in East Timor and the role of past
and present language policies and practices in shaping national and social identity.
It focuses on the discursive reconstruction of identity through five official
instruments of language policy development. Hostile discourses in the Australian
and Indonesian press towards the choice of Portuguese (the former colonial
language) and Tetum (the endogenous lingua franca) as official languages
provided the context for the investigation. A persistent theme in these discourses
is that English and/or Indonesian would be preferable choices. The article puts
these discourses into perspective by presenting findings from two data sets: (i)
the 2004 National Census and (ii) analysis of the discourses of 78 participants
in semi-structured interviews and student focus groups. The census shows clear
signs of the revival of Portuguese and the reinvigoration of Tetum. It also shows
how diverse linguistic identities have become in East Timor. The research findings
show that there is less hostility to official language policy than claimed in
the Australian and Indonesian press. However, the findings also emphasise the
urgent need to reconstruct an inclusive, plurilingual national identity that can
encompass diversity