O português na República Democrática de Timor-Leste: quase duas décadas depois

ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 71 Almost two decades of Portuguese language in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste / O português na República Democrática de Timor-Leste: quase duas décadas depois 1 Davi Borges de Albuquerque * PhD in Linguistics, has experience in Applied Linguistics, with an emphasis on Teaching Portuguese as a NonNative Language (PLNM), Languages in Contact, with an emphasis on Portuguese spoken in Timor-Leste, and Ecolinguistics. He is the author of several articles, chapters and books in these topics. Member of the following research groups: NELIM (Center for Ecolinguistic and Imaginary Studies) at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG) and GEPLE (Group for the Study of Ecosystem Linguistics) at the University of Brasília (UnB). https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1941-6925 Rui Ramos * PhD in Linguistics, is a professor at the Institute of Education and a researcher at the Research Centre on Child Studies and the Centre for Humanistic Studies at the University of Minho, Portugal. He develops research in Linguistics (Discourse Analysis) and in Language Teaching. He is the author of articles, chapters and books; he is deputy editor of a scientific journal of Linguistics; and he is part of research groups in Brazil. He has experience in research projects related to language and children, and intervention projects, especially in Timor-Leste and Guinea-Bissau, related to language teaching and the education system. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8700-8301 Received: November, 18th, 2020. Approved: December, 20th, 2020. 1 This work was financially supported by Portuguese national funds through the FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology) within the framework of the CIEC (Research Center for Child Studies of the University of Minho) project under the reference UIDB/00317/2020. * albuquerque0[email protected] * [email protected].pt ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 72 How to cite this article: ALBUQUERQUE, Davi Borges; RAMOS, RUI. Almost two decades of Portuguese language in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. Revista Letras Raras. Campina Grande, v. 9, n. 4, p. 71-100, dez. 2020. ABSTRACT The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste was the first nation of the 21st century. The island of Timor was a Portuguese colony in Southeast Asia from the 16th century until 1974. After that, it was under Indonesian domination which lasted until 1999. Timor-Leste became an independent nation in 2002. In this year, the country elected the Portuguese language as one of the official languages, together with Tetum, the national language spoken by most of the population. Since its independence, there has been broad international support and various cooperation actions in Timor-Leste, with education as one of the main areas. Portugal and Brazil also take part in this educational cooperation as leading actors. Thus, this article aims to reflect on the Portuguese language in Timor-Leste in order to verify the current state in which this language is found in the country, after almost twenty years’ official existence. After the introduction in (1), we provide some social, historical and linguistic information about Timor island, in (2); we explain Portuguese cooperation in teaching and projects in Timor-Leste in (3); we describe the research and properties of the Portuguese spoken by Timorese, in (4); and this is followed by our final remarks. KEYWORDS: Portuguese language; Timor-Leste; Language Teaching; Portuguese as Second Language; Portuguese in Asia. RESUMO A República Democrática de Timor-Leste foi a primeira nação se tornar independente no século XXI. Localizada no Sudeste Asiático, a ilha de Timor foi colônia portuguesa desde o século XVI até 1974. Após esse período, sofreu uma dominação indonésia que durou até 1999. Em 2002, tornou-se uma nação independente e elegeu a língua portuguesa como uma das línguas oficiais, sendo a outra a língua tétum, língua nacional falada pela maior parte da população. Desde que se tornou independente, foram várias as ações de apoio e cooperação internacionais, destacando-se, entre outras áreas, o Ensino, com a forte presença de Brasil e Portugal nesse processo. Dessa maneira, o presente artigo tem o objetivo de refletir sobre a língua portuguesa em Timor-Leste a fim de verificar o estado atual em que essa língua se encontra no país, após quase vinte anos de existência. Para tanto, após a introdução, em (1), fornecemos algumas informações sociais, históricas e linguísticas sobre a ilha de Timor, em (2); explicamos os projetos e as cooperações de ensino de português em TimorLeste, em (3); descrevemos as pesquisas e as propriedades do português falado pelos leste-timorenses, em (4); e, por fim, apresentamos nossas considerações finais. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Língua Portuguesa; Timor-Leste; Ensino; Português L2; Português na Ásia. 1 Introduction The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste is a recent country located in Southeast Asia, close to northern Australia. Its territory consists of the eastern part of a small island, of which the western part is Indonesian, the only physical border being with Timor-Leste. Timor was under Indonesian domination for two decades, which began in 1975 and ended in 1999, after a plebiscite decision. Between 1999 and 2002, the country was under provisional ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 73 administration by the United Nations (UN) within the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). The country only had its independence recognized internationally on May 20, 2002. The title of this paper mentions almost twenty years in reference to Timor-Leste’s independence and to the period in which the Portuguese language has been recognized as an official language, both dating from 2002. 2 If we count the Portuguese presence, the varieties spoken in Asia and the teaching of Portuguese in this former colony (BAXTER, 1996; BATORÉO, 2016), this language dates back more than four centuries on the island. Our research is question is: what is the impact of educational policies and linguistic research in promoting the Portuguese in Timor-Leste? We consider this an important question in order to verify the current situation of Portuguese language and the status of Portuguese spoken by Timorese. Our hypothesis is that foreign cooperation actions are significant for Timor-Leste development, but it must be conducted together with Timorese government and citizens for local professional qualification. Regarding Portuguese spoken by Timorese, our work hypothesis is that this Portuguese is non-dominant variety (AFONSO; GOGLIA, 2015a; BATORÉO, 2016) in its initial stage, which can stabilize itself to become a national Timorese variety. The objective of this article is to reflect on the current situation of Portuguese in Timor-Leste through the description of actions, policies and investigations that have already been carried out. Therefore, after this introduction, we discuss the history of peoples, their linguistic contacts, and the Portuguese language on the island of Timor in (2); then, we point out some actions of international cooperation and Portuguese teaching in Timor-Leste in (3); after that, we describe the Portuguese spoken by the Timorese and its specific features in (4); and finally, we present the final remarks. 2 Timor’s socio-historical background: languages, people and languages in contact 2 Although short and time-limited, the first Portuguese cooperative action in Timor-Leste was called ‘1.ª Ação de Cooperação da Fundação das Universidades Portuguesas’ (FUP) in partnership with the ‘Conselho Nacional de Resistência Timorense’. This bilateral act occurred during the April to September, 2000, before Portuguese was chosen as the official language. The cooperation was formed by a few dozen Portuguese professors and other citizens, all of whom were volunteers coordinated by FUP. ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 74 The island of Timor presents archaeological and historical evidence of contact with different peoples during many centuries (THOMAZ, 2002; ALBUQUERQUE, 2009). Since the prehistoric period there have been migrations of Papuan people and, in one historical period, there were Austronesian invasions on the island (HULL, 2001). In the 13th and 14th centuries, Timor was in contact with Chinese traders, in the 14th and 15th centuries with the Malay people and, in the same period, with Arab navigators. This brief exposition is intended to emphasize that the island of Timor was already a mosaic of peoples and languages before the arrival of the Portuguese, which took place in the following century (THOMAZ, 2002) 3 . The Portuguese made their first contact with the inhabitants of the island of Timor in 1515, when the armada sent by Afonso de Albuquerque reached it (FIGUEIREDO, 2004). Initially, the island was of secondary interest, since the domain of Malacca (1511) enabled the control of commercial routes in the area, and this city functioned as a warehouse for two islands of great importance due to the amount of white sandalwood they offered (Solor and Flores). This situation did not change until 1702, when Lifau (currently located in Oecussi enclave, in the western part of the island) was founded. The order to build this capital came directly from the Portuguese administration of Macau, as a way to respond to the Dutch occupation of the island, that dates back from 1652 (FIGUEIREDO, 2004). Lifau was abandoned in August 1769, and the Portuguese capital of Timor was transferred to Dili in October of the same year, where it has remained until today (OLIVEIRA, 1948). Worthy of note is that the population of European origin speaking Portuguese as their L1 has always been limited and is very small in proportion to the local population (THOMAZ, 1976). The expansion of the Portuguese language in Timor occurred in three different ways: the church, the administration and militarism (BAXTER, 1996). The church was carrying out its missionary activity as early as the 16th century, but initial attempts to convert the Timorese population were unsuccessful (HÄGERDAL, 2012). However, the priests continued their activities in the following centuries, spreading the Portuguese language through education and religion. Even with the expulsion of religious orders from the island in the first half of the 19th century, significant advances in Timorese 3 For Timor Island and Timor-Leste nation history, see the references in this text, especially Oliveira (1948), Thomaz (2002), Figueiredo (2004) and Hägerdal (2012). ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 75 education were achieved, with the foundation of several schools, the ‘Colégio de Soibada’ being prominent (THOMAZ, 1985). This was the only secondary school that existed at the time, which enabled teachers and officials for the colonial administration. Portuguese citizens dominated the colonial administration in Timor in the early centuries, but this situation changed during the 19th century with the presence of mestizos and Macanese taking administrative positions. In addition, educated Timorese people also began to work for the colonial administration (THOMAZ, 1976), all using the Portuguese language for writing official documents. As for militarism, the fact that native military leaders from different local regions ended up joining the colonial army, as well as other Portuguese administration locations, such as Flores, Macau, Mozambique and India, should be highlighted. According to what was briefly described above, the Portuguese language had a complex propagation in Asia and consequently in Timor, with many factors influencing the formation of creoles and restructured varieties of this language. According to Baxter (1996) and Baxter & Cardoso (2017), in Timor, two creole varieties coexisted (Bidau and Macau) and different Portuguese L2 models. In many cases, the input of the following generations were not models of Portuguese L1, but some of these models of Portuguese L2 or creole varieties. The framing of Timor-Leste in its geocultural context shows us that the territory is part of the so-called Wallacea (SCHAPPER, 2009), one of the scenarios with the greatest linguistic and cultural diversity in the world, a geographical area with more than 250 native languages, and whose limits can be seen in the following map: Fig. 1 – Wallacea region (Under GFDL license, via Wikimedia Commons) ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 76 (Retrievable at: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indonesia_Wallacea.svg#/media/File:Indonesia_Wallacea.svg. August 26, 2020) Timor-Leste local languages have Austronesian or Papuan origin and even nowadays are in the early stages of investigation. Even the number of languages spoken in the country is unknown, as there are linguists who consider some to be extinct or do not classify them as languages, but as part of a dialect chain. The most complete investigation based on linguistic studies was carried out by Hull (2001). Figure 2 is based on the 2010 census and taken from a recent study by Williams-van Klinken and Williams (2015). This map (Fig. 2) exemplifies the disparity of criteria in terms of the number of national languages, accounting for more than two dozen. Below is the distribution of local languages across the country on the map in Fig. 2, which also illustrates Timor-Leste’s linguistic diversity: Fig. 2 – Timor-Leste local languages ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 77 Source: Williams-van Klinken & Rob Williams (2015, p. 2) We also provide the reader by way of comparison with a ‘leaner’ map in Figure 3, taken from Albuquerque (2011), in which the author emphasizes the distribution of the Tetum language throughout Timor-Leste, as well as separating the other national languages according to their genetic affiliations. This map (Fig. 3) is based on the sixteen languages according to Hull’s (2001) hypothesis: Fig. 3 – Distribution and genetic affiliation of Timor-Leste languages ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 78 Source: Albuquerque (2011a, p. 66) The fixed distribution of these local languages with each of them associated with a geographical area, can, however, be partly questioned, at least regarding the capital, Dili. In a case study carried out in 2015, Carmo (2015) identified the mother tongues of a class of students from a secondary school in Dili and found that the scenario of linear correspondence between geographic area and mother tongue did not apply. Despite the fact that all students mastered Tetum, everyone also mastered other languages to a greater or lesser extent and considered that they had more than one mother tongue, probably because in their family situation there was the daily presence of other languages. 4 The observations made and the conclusions drawn from that study cannot be extrapolated to the entire territory uncritically, but they are yet another discrete contribution to the design of a complex linguistic reality. 4 For an updated and detailed study on this topic, see Ramos & Carmo (2020). ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 79 It is evident, from the previous maps, that the Tetum language is the most spoken language in Timor-Leste, dominating a large area as a mother tongue and having the function of L2 in other locations, where it is used as lingua franca for intercultural communication among Timorese with different L1. Furthermore, it is also noticed that there is a predominance of Austronesian languages, with the Papuan languages remaining in smaller numbers, concentrated in the Eastern part. 3 International cooperation for language: expansion and teaching The expansion of the Portuguese language and its teaching in Timor-Leste has been the subject of multiple cooperation projects and programmes, mainly from Brazil and Portugal. 5 Brazilian cooperation only worked in specific areas, with a reduced contingent and with projects that were not renewed or continued. In other words, these actions had some limitations, as will be explained later. Portuguese cooperation, on the other hand, had a greater focus on Portuguese language teaching and all related areas (e.g. at all levels of education, in politics and in various sectors of Timorese society, among others). 3.1 Brazilian cooperation The Brazilian cooperation worked in three main areas: judiciary, technical education and teacher training. In 1999, during the elections, the Brazilian government started its actions focused on electoral issues and intensified them again in 2005, in public defence. This area is linked with others, especially 5 There are other countries and NGOs organizing and taking parts in cooperation projects, but they are not mentioned in this work for several reasons, among which: some of them are only reduced assistance with low impact; some countries focus their cooperation using other languages, mainly English; and other NGOs have interests which diverge from our current research, such as religious cooperation. If we discussed these topics here, we would change our main issue: Portuguese language in Timor-Leste. ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 86 3.2.2 Portuguese Language Reintroduction Project in Timor-Leste/Portuguese Language Consolidation Project in Timor-Leste These projects under the responsibility of the Portuguese cooperation took place respectively between 2000 and 2009 and between 2010 and 2011, and required a budget of more than 50 million euros. They focused on the teaching activity of more than one hundred Portuguese teachers each year, who taught Portuguese (and other curricular areas), particularly, but not only, in teacher training. The evaluation report of the first (BARBEIRO et al., 2010) points out that, despite all the constraints, endogenous and exogenous, to which the project was subject, “the range of activities carried out in all domains (formal education is significant) and non-formal, public administration, libraries/toy libraries, media, population in general)” (BARBEIRO et al., 2010, p. 8). The report also does not fail to mention that the results were “below expectations, namely taking into account that, after a decade, only about 10% of teachers in service without a professional qualification obtained it, within the scope of programmes with PRLP intervention” (BARBEIRO et al., 2010, p. 8), among other evidence. This same report recognizes that the project “has already had visible effects and allows the continued production of positive effects to be projected in Timorese society” (BARBEIRO et al., 2010, p. 9), with regard to the professional competence of teachers and the dissemination of the Portuguese language in the territory, both in the school context and in the media, among other relevant factors. Finally, the report emphasizes that the project was complementary to other initiatives, namely those with Brazilian cooperation, but without a planned and formal coordination between the efforts of the two Portuguese-speaking countries. 3.2.3 Curricular Reform of Basic and Secondary Education Proposals for curricular guidelines for the first six years of schooling emerged after the year 2005, as a result of the cooperation that involved the Catholic University on the Portuguese side, at a time when there was still no Basic Education Law in Timor-Leste, which was enacted in 2008. ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 87 Between 2009 and 2010, the University of Minho and the Timorese Ministry of Education developed the Basic Education 3rd Cycle Curriculum Development (Timor-Leste), with UNICEF funding and the collaboration of ‘Instituto Camões’. This project led to the elaboration of curriculum and school programmes for the subjects and guides for teachers of the 3rd cycle of Timorese basic education. This curriculum was approved by Government Resolution No. 24/2011, of September 7. Between 2010 and 2013, the ‘Falar Português’ project resulted from similar cooperation, but on the Portuguese side the partners were the Development Support Institute, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the University of Aveiro, and the aim was designing the curriculum, school programmes, manuals for students and guides for general secondary school teachers. 13 The curricular plan for this level of education was approved by Decree-Law no. 47/2011, of October 19. These above mentioned projects achieved a crucial phase in the process of transition from the Indonesian model to the modern model of Timorese education, as pointed out by Ramos & Teles (2012) and Oliveira (2019), as well as the concomitant transition from the use of the Indonesian language to the Portuguese language in teaching. 3.2.4 Initial and Continuing Teacher Training Project (PFICP) (2012-2014)/Formar Mais – Continuing Teacher Training in Timor-Leste (2016-2018) The implementation of new curricula and school programmes made the need for teacher training more evident. Thus, the University of Minho and the University of Aveiro were called to assume the technical-scientific responsibility of training programmes with a view to consolidating the Timorese educational system, following protocols established between Timorese and Portuguese governments. The training in and of Portuguese language was a fundamental data a priori in these programmes, as they were developed within the scope of the Initial and Continuous Teacher Training Project (PFICP), which took place from 2012 until 2014. After that, during 2016 and 2018, the PFICP was replaced by the ‘Formar Mais’ – Continuing Teacher Education project, which was under the technical-scientific responsibility of the University of Aveiro. 13 Oliveira (2019) offers a description and some thoughts on this project. ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 88 3.2.5 Dili Ruy Cinatti Portuguese School and Reference Schools/Learning and Training Centres (CAFE) A final note for the multiple activities and projects of Portuguese cooperation with Timor-Leste in the context of Portuguese language teaching and expansion in this country must mention the quality of a project to highlight in the Timorese scenario: Escola Portuguesa de Díli – Centro de Ensino e Língua Portuguesa – Ruy Cinatti (EPRC). This institution started its activities in 2002 in provisional arrangements , but it was only formally created in 2009 – Decree-Law No. 48/2009, February 23. It results from a cooperation agreement between Portugal and Timor-Leste in May 2002. Its teaching staff is mainly made up of Portuguese teachers. It welcomes more than a thousand national and international students, distributed from preschool education to secondary education. The school adopts the Portuguese curriculum with slight adaptations. After completing the training course, students can apply to attend Portuguese universities in the general contingent or in a specially dedicated contingent. It is an institution of excellence within the Timorese scenario, and assumes the role of a model to be followed by other institutions. The recognition of this high-quality school led to the signature between Timorese and Portuguese governments, on April 16, 2010, of a protocol for the constitution of EPRC hubs. Four of them started work in the 2010/2011 school year and one in the following year. A new protocol, signed on September 28, 2011, changed the status of these centres to the designated ‘Escola de Referência’ (Reference School), to be integrated into the Timorese education network on January 1, 2013, with the existence of one per district (thirteen in total). Contrary to what happens with the EPRC, the Timorese curriculum was adopted in these schools, but the language of instruction was guaranteed to be Portuguese. The teaching staff was made up almost exclusively of Portuguese teachers. These schools started to receive students from the 1st cycle of basic education, but expanded their scope of training to new cycles and levels of education as students progressed. They also hosted kindergarten/preschool education rooms. The reference schools also served as spaces for carrying out curricular internships for Timorese students on continuing teacher education courses and, progressively, some new graduates ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 89 were admitted to their teaching staff, providing professional integration under the tutelage of Portuguese teachers. At the end of 2014, a new cooperation protocol embodied the transformation of these schools into Centres for Learning and School Training in Timor-Leste (CAFE), essentially maintaining the philosophy, objectives and practices of the previous model. These student and teacher training programmes remain active. 4 Portuguese spoken in Timor-Leste The Portuguese language spoken by the Timorese has received little attention from researchers and remains understudied, therefore not much can be said about this theme. However, in this section, we discuss what is known so far, review the existing bibliography and present the main results and contributions achieved. 4.1 Research on the Portuguese spoken by the Timorese The studies that had dealt with the Portuguese spoken by the Timorese before the independence of Timor, although pioneering, were few and brought only preliminary information. The analysis in Thomaz (1974) is brilliant, bringing historical, social and linguistic information on the extent to which the so-called “Dili square Portuguese” (a recurring term to refer to the Portuguese language spoken in Timor) referred to a creole variety of Portuguese or simply to the Portuguese spoken by the Timorese. 14 Thomaz (1985) is dedicated to historical and sociolinguistic issues, and Thomaz (1995) is concerned with some notable aspects of the Portuguese lexicon spoken by Timorese. Costa (1995) produces a note which recognizes the Portuguese spoken in Timor as a distinct variety and differentiates it from European Portuguese, taught and spoken in Timor-Leste by the Portuguese. In Baxter (1996) there is an extensive study on the Portuguese language in Asia, with an entire section 14 The creole variety spoken in Timor is currently extinct and is known as Bidau Creole Portuguese, named after the neighborhood in Dili outskirts (Timor-Leste capital). Bidau was the location in which the creole was spoken. Baxter (1990) remains the most complete linguistic study on this creole variety. ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 90 dedicated to Portuguese in Timor, with analysis of both the creole and the Portuguese varieties and there is also some information on history, acquisition and teaching Portuguese on the island. This scenario, however, has not improved much in the beginning of the 21st century. There are some authors, such as Brito & Bastos (2007) and Brito & Corte-Real (2006), who, despite commenting on some features of Portuguese spoken in Timor-Leste, end up considering them only as errors or norm deviations. Carvalho (2002/2003) presents the first investigation of that period in which she sees linguistic data as a variety, as she dedicated herself to an investigation of the lexicon, producing a corpus on which she based her conclusions. She even points out common features with Asian Portuguese creoles (such as Malacca, Macao and Indo-Portuguese) and other restructured varieties of the Portuguese language in Asia, such as Portuguese from Singapore, Flores and Jakarta. The next significant investigation came only with Busquets’ dissertation (2007), in which the author analyses a series of structures found in different textual productions, separating them into lexical cohesion, grammatical cohesion and referencing. There is also conversation analysis based on a corpus produced by the author, in which she highlights characteristics such as hetero-repetition, selfrepetition, hesitant repetition, filled pauses and unfilled pauses. Santos (2009) dedicates a chapter in her dissertation to the study of the null subject parameter and verbal inflection in Portuguese in Timor-Leste. The author separated the data collected into two groups: group 1 (speakers between 18 and 20 years old who started learning Portuguese in their teens) and group 2 (speakers between 40 and 55 years old, who had been in contact with Portuguese since childhood). Thus, for group 1, the Portuguese language has the nature of a foreign language, while for group 2 it is characterized as L2. The results showed that, in group 1, the null subject was only 15% employed, while in group 2, the percentage is higher, reaching 31%. In Albuquerque (2010), the author conducts an introductory study on the prosody of Portuguese spoken in Timor-Leste, but still considers certain aspects as ‘peculiarities’ spoken by the Timorese. Modifying his analysis in Albuquerque (2011), the author argued the hypothesis of the Portuguese spoken in Timor-Leste being an emerging variety of the Portuguese language. This author also has a series of descriptive studies, of which we will mention only the main ones: a study dedicated to the lexicon (ALBUQUERQUE, 2012a), in which he resumes the previous contributions from Thomaz ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 91 (1995) and Carvalho (2002/2003), a preliminary investigation of the morphosyntax (ALBUQUERQUE, 2012b); and an analysis of verbal markers in the light of language acquisition and languages in contact (ALBUQUERQUE, 2014). Batoréo (2010, 2011), as the previous author, also carried out several studies, among which we will mention the most important ones. Applying cognitive and textual linguistics, the author approaches and analyses the use of ‘already’ (Pt. já) as a marker of perfective aspect by the influence of the L1 of Timorese speakers, who present such a structure, such as Tétum tiha ‘already, perfective marker' (BATORÉO, 2010) and the construction ‘é que’ used in Timor-Leste Portuguese (TLP) in a different way from European Portuguese (EP), as a discursive marker of emphasis (BATORÉO, 2011), and also by the influence of local languages from Timor-Leste, in which the speaker has a local language as L1 and transfers its characteristics to Portuguese. Albuquerque’s (2014) analysis was based on such results. In recent years, most investigations into TLP have focused on discussing whether it is a variety of the Portuguese language, or has traits of the process of L2 acquisition/learning, or just deviations from standard EP. Afonso & Goglia (2015a, 2015b) study some sentences of Portuguese spoken by Timorese immigrants residing in Europe, attesting that these are innovations of a non-dominant variety still under construction, therefore unstable. Other authors, such as Holm, Greksakova & Albuquerque (2015) and Batoréo (2016), describe TLP linguistic structures and it as an emerging variety in the process of stabilization and presenting some variable structures as well. Based on the results cited above, it is possible to attest that TLP is a new and specific variety that is still in formation, and therefore the character of certain structures is variable, as we point out below. Thus, the linguistic traits found, sometimes considered errors, peculiarities or aspects of the acquisition of L2, are actually properties of this recent variety, which some authors call ‘Timor-Leste Portuguese’ (TLP) 15 . According to the results of Lusophone cooperation and of the linguistic researches carried out, what can be observed until the present is that there seems to be no dialogue between the different 15 Gonçalves (2004) argues the same for Mozambican Portuguese. The author affirms that such linguistic characteristics are specific and evidences from a new African Portuguese variety. This linguistic situation is also investigated in other languages in contact spaces for other former colonies, as Platt, Weber & Ho (1984) called ‘the new Englishes’. ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 92 parties involved, even with all the material and human efforts. Linguists are centred on their object of study, disregarding educational issues. In addition, teachers and other professionals in teaching projects and cooperation also focus on teaching the Portuguese language, or they have pedagogical concerns, disregarding the advances and results from linguistic research. In addition to being negative for both sides that would only benefit from working together, this lack of dialogue is even more harmful for linguistic research, because it is in an initial stage and depends on resources and qualified labour to move forward. This scenario must be different, since both sides have the common goals of acting on Portuguese language teaching and expansion. 4.2 Timor-Leste Portuguese: specific characteristics TLP has specific properties, that is, characteristics that are remarkable for this variety. We highlight below the main ones at the different levels of linguistic analysis. At the phonetic-phonological level, TLP is characterized by variation in palatal segments (1) and a series of metric restrictions, mainly affecting accentuation and syllable (2) 16 : 1. Palatal consonants: > s, s chegar [se.‘ga.a] ~ [‘s e.ga] ‘to arrive’; chá [s a] ‘tea’; bicho [‘bi.su] ‘pet’; > , l, l velho [‘ve.l u] ~ [‘be.l i] ‘old’; olho [‘o.liu] ~ [‘oi.lu] ‘eye’; espelho [es.‘pe.lu] ~ [es.‘pe.liu] ‘mirror’; > , n, n vinho [‘bi.niu] ~ [‘vi.n u] ‘wine’; rascunho [ras.‘ku.niu] ~ [ras.‘ku.n u] ‘draft’; bonitinho [bo.ni.‘ti.iu] ~ [bo.ni.‘ti.n u] ‘beauty’; > , z, d , z , d 16 TLP transcriptions and data are from Albuquerque (2010, 2011, 2012a). We have kept the author’s phonetic interpretation and spelling. ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 93 ajuda [a.‘zu.da] ~ [a.‘d u.da] ‘[to] help’; João [‘z u.an] ~ [‘du.an]; já [z a] ~ [d a] ~ [da]; hoje [‘o.ze] ~ [‘o.d i] ‘today’. 2. alicate > [al.‘ka.ti] ‘pliers’, telefone > [‘tel.fon] ‘telephone’, chave de fenda > [xa.‘fen.da] ‘screwdriver’, correr > corre [‘k .re] ‘to run’, fumar > fuma [‘fu.ma] ‘to smoke’, dormir > dormi [‘d r.mi] ‘to sleep’, distrital > [dis.tri.‘ta.al] ‘district’, animal > [a.ni.‘ma.al] ‘animal’, doutor > [do.‘t .r] ‘doctor’, senhor > [se.‘n .r] ‘mister’. TLP morphosyntax traces are variable in number and gender agreement (3), verbal paradigm reduction (4) and variable copula use (5): 3. a) Muito pessoas que não pode fala português. ‘Very person that could not speaks Portuguese’ b) Os cidadão português é também vivem em timor para ajudar os professor. ‘Portuguese citizens is also they live in Timor to help teacher.’ 4. c) Agora colega pode sai. ‘Now colleague can leave.’ d) Ele za sega muitu sedu. ‘He already come very early.’ 5. e) Eu também (é) muito contente ‘I (am) also very happy’ f) A língua português é uma língua que (é) mais importante Timor ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 94 ‘Portuguese language is a language that (is) more important Timor.’ There are notable characteristics in TLP lexicon and semantics such as loans from local languages (6), Malay, Indonesian and Asia Creoles Portuguese (7), semantic changes (8) and 16thcentury Portuguese retentions (9): 6. tais ‘traditional vest’; liurai ‘local chief’; suco ‘hamlet’; tua ‘palm wine’; dató ‘noble’; bua ‘chewing material’; 7. saugate ‘to give’; mainato ‘domestic employee’; surat ‘document, letter, paper sheet’; barlaque ‘dowry’; katuas ‘elder’; jambua ‘grapefruit’; 8. amo ‘priest’; morador ‘native militia’; topaz(es) ‘mestizo’; serviço ‘work, job’; estilo ‘traditional ceremony for killing animals’; colega ‘form of address among friends of the same age’; mestre ‘teacher’ and docente ‘professor’; aluno(a) ‘student in school’, and estudante ‘university student’; valor ‘school exam results’; 9. carreta ‘car’; formosura ‘beautiful’; gentio ‘non-Catholic Timorese’; açafate ‘a type of round basket’; chumaço ‘pillow’; tacho ‘Chinese pot’. We emphasize that TLP, with its specific properties mentioned above, coexists with EP, mainly in teaching and daily contact 17 . Furthermore, the Portuguese language, as well as the local Portuguese variety is acquired as L2, since Timorese citizens have the native language spoken in the place where they are born as their mother tongue. Portuguese is acquired only with parents who speak that language or when taught in school. 17 This contact occurred in different ways, mainly between Portuguese and Timorese citizens and with Portuguese material culture (e.g. television shows, radio/ music, websites in Portuguese, books, newspaper). ISSN: 2317-2347 – v. 9, n. 4 (2020) Todo o conteúdo da RLR está licenciado sob Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional http://dx.doi.org/10.35572/rlr.v9i4.1929. 95 This complex scenario of multilingualism with several languages belonging to different genetic affiliations on the island of Timor, the history of contact with different peoples and languages, and the different projects for teaching and expanding Portuguese language in Timorese territory have contributed both to the current linguistic situation in Timor-Leste and to the configuration in which the Portuguese is found. In our view, further investigations should be conducted for a better evaluation of TLP, expanding the existing data, making more detailed descriptions, carrying out analyses about the acquisition processes of this variety, comparing it with other language acquisition processes already known and also with specific acquisition processes of Portuguese as L1, and verifying whether TLP is acquired as L2 or as L3 – this is an important task – in the same way that Timorese speakers acquire Portuguese in its European standard. Only with reliable data and scientific results can it be assessed whether the TLP variety is in conflict or presents any problem in the language acquisition process and/or Portuguese teaching for Timorese citizens. While we do not have such results, we have adopted a scientific and ecological attitude of preservation, seeing linguistic (and dialectal) diversity as positive. Furthermore, only time will tell if certain properties will stabilize, if they appear as variable rules, thus leading to the two coexisting norms, or if there will be a convergence between them, with TLP approaching EP after years of contact and formal education. The results of extensive investigations may help to configure cooperation actions in the context of Portuguese speaking. Scientific knowledge about the Portuguese L2 acquisition by the Timorese, language variation by these learners, the differentiation of ungrammatical constructions, variable rules or TLP stabilized features and the influence of the mother tongue, among other themes, would contribute greatly to teaching actions at different levels, and in Timorese continuing teacher education. In addition, linguists could also bring greater knowledge to such projects, especially those aimed at applied linguistics and Portuguese as a non-native language in order to formulate better materials, teaching tasks and assessments for teaching Portuguese in Timor-Leste. Final remarks