This International Research Network grant, funded by The Leverhulme Trust brings together for the first time experts who have worked on Timorese-Leste language issues from different perspectives (contact linguistics, second language acquisition, linguistic ethnography, psycholinguistics, education, language policy, diaspora and immigration studies).
Formed as an independent nation in 2002, Timor-Leste and its Diasporas are ideal loci to study on-going issues of societal multilingualism, otherwise unobservable in long-established nations.
The project will include a series of workshops focusing on questions within key areas of current research including:
- The mother tongue in multilingual education within the context of Timor-Leste
- Disapora and language contact particularly between Portuguese (and other international languages) and the languages of Timor-Leste
- Adult literacy education in Timor-Leste
- Language contact and the formation of a East Timorese variety of Portuguese