LANGUAGE POLICY MANAGEMENT FOR MULTILINGUALISM IN PORTUGUESE-SPEAKING AFRICAN COUNTRIES: DISCUSSIONS FROM ANGOLA AND MOZAMBIQUE

Authors

  • JEFFERSON EVARISTO https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7561-5400
  • ALEXANDRE ANTÓNIO TIMBANE http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2061-9391
  • DANIEL PERES SASSUCO https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0965-0483

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.DT0726.2

Keywords:

Language Policies, Multilingualism, African Languages, Angola, Mozambique

Abstract

Language policy management is a significant challenge in the African Portuguese-speaking Countries (APSC). It stems from the idea that poorly constructed language policies threaten the existence of languages, reducing their preservation, and can contribute to their obliteration. In this sense, Angola and Mozambique share a common historical and linguistic past: the existence of Bantu and Khoisan African languages and their coexistence with Portuguese, a language inherited from Portugal and also the only language established for administrative services, which puts multilingualism in check. Our research aims to analyse the sociolinguistic situation of Angola and Mozambique, describing the established policies and the challenges that can contribute to the revitalization of endangered languages. This is bibliographic research (also supported by interviews) that seeks to understand how language policies can be established that effectively contribute to the safeguarding, revitalization, and preservation of Bantu and Khoisan African languages in both contexts. In conclusion, our discussion points to the need to rethink the place of African native languages in the APSC countries and to debate the need to implement multilingual education, as well as the creation of grammars for the African varieties of Portuguese.

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Author Biographies

JEFFERSON EVARISTO, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7561-5400

Professor of Portuguese at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), where he teaches on the postgraduate programmes PPGLILP and PPLIN/FFP. He is currently undertaking postdoctoral research in Linguistic Studies and has previously completed postdoctoral research in Linguistics and Portuguese Language. He holds a PhD in Portuguese Language from UERJ, as well as a PhD and an MA in Neo-Latin Studies (Italian Language) from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). A recipient of the Young Scientist of Our State fellowship awarded by FAPERJ and the Procientista scholarship granted by UERJ, he is an elected member of the Brazilian Academy of Philology, where he occupies Chair 18.

ALEXANDRE ANTÓNIO TIMBANE, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2061-9391

Linguist whose academic career spans Brazil and Mozambique. He holds postdoctoral qualifications in Philology and Portuguese Language from the University of São Paulo (USP), in Letters from the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), and in Forensic Linguistics from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). He also completed both a postdoctoral degree and a doctorate in Linguistics and Portuguese Language at São Paulo State University (UNESP). He holds an MA in Linguistics from Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique, and a Licentiate and Bachelor’s degree in French Language Teaching from the Pedagogical University of Mozambique. He serves as a faculty member at the University for International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (UNILAB) and the Graduate Programme in Linguistic Studies at the State University of Feira de Santana (Brazil).

DANIEL PERES SASSUCO, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0965-0483

Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at Agostinho Neto University (Angola). He holds a PhD in General Linguistics from Atlantic International University (USA) and a PhD in Language, Culture and Society from Zambeze University, Mozambique. He earned a Master’s degree in Multilingual Information and Communication Processing from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, and a Licentiate and Bachelor’s degree in Applied Pedagogy, specialising in French and African Linguistics, from the Higher Pedagogical Institute of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His teaching and research interests encompass linguistics, multilingualism, language policy, and intercultural communication.

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Published

2026-10-19

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1, TD4 (2026): From Colonial Rule to Nationhood: Amílcar Cabral and the Birth of Lusophone Africa

Section

ARTICLES