Language policy and national identity evolution in a new nation

Previous studies of the Linguistic Landscape in Timor-Leste conducted over a decade ago found Portuguese language use dominated official signage, although English dominated overall through its presence on commercial signs, especially those targeting the more affluent parts of society. This innovative study revisits a previously examined LL in order to investigate changes in language practice over time, with particular attention to how the recently independent nation expresses its national identity in public spaces and how language policy decisions have taken effect. The findings show that the visibility of Portuguese has increased while that of English has reduced. This suggests that being Portuguese-speaking may be aligned with expressions of Timorese identity. Further, while multiple languages are found in the LL, of the indigenous languages only Tetun, one of the two official languages of Timor-Leste, has a presence. This may raise concerns about the vitality of those other indigenous languages. Estudu kona ba paizajen linguistika iha Timor-Leste ne'ebe halo iha dekada ida liu ba deskobre lingua Portuges domina sinalizasaun ofisial, maski jeralmente lingua Ingles mak domina liu hosi ninia prezensa iha sinal komersial, liuliu sira ne'ebe foka ba parte sosiedade riku. Estudu inovativu ne'e hare fila fali estudu ida antes kona ba paizajen linguistika hodi investiga mudansa iha pratika lingua loron ba loron, ho atensaun espesifiku ba oinsa nasaun ne'ebe foin ukun an hato'o nia identidade nasional iha fatin publiku no oinsa efeitu hosi desizaun politika kona ba lingua. Rezultadu hatudu katak vizibilidade Portuges aumenta maski Ingles redus. Ne'e sujere katak hatene ko'alia lingua Portuges bele alina ho espresaun identidade timoroan. Aleinde ne'e, maski lingua oin-oin mak deskobre iha paizajen linguistika, lingua rai-na'in hotu laiha ne'eba, so Tetun de'it, ne'ebe hanesan mos Timor-Leste nia lingua ofisial ida. Ne'e bele hamosu preokupasaun kona ba forsa hosi lingua rai-na'in sira seluk.