Bilingualism and Multilingualism Communities in the Border Region of Belu and Timor Leste

Authors

  • Wati Kurniawati

    Research Center for Preservation of Language and Literature, Archaeological, Linguistic and Literary Research Organisation, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta 10340, Indonesia
  • Kristofel Bere Nahak

    Department of Indonesian Language and Literature Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Timor, Kefamenanu 85613, Indonesia
  • Joni Endardi

    Research Center for Preservation of Language and Literature, Archaeological, Linguistic and Literary Research Organisation, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta 10340, Indonesia
  • Buha Aritonang

    Research Center for Preservation of Language and Literature, Archaeological, Linguistic and Literary Research Organisation, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta 10340, Indonesia
  • Yunus Sulistyono

    Department of Indonesian Language and Literature Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University Muhammadiyah of Surakarta, Surakarta 57162, Indonesia
  • Deni Karsana

    Research Center for Preservation of Language and Literature, Archaeological, Linguistic and Literary Research Organisation, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta 10340, Indonesia
  • Aditya Wardhani

    Research Center for Preservation of Language and Literature, Archaeological, Linguistic and Literary Research Organisation, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta 10340, Indonesia
  • Nani Darheni

    Research Center for Preservation of Language and Literature, Archaeological, Linguistic and Literary Research Organisation, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta 10340, Indonesia
  • Sumadi

    Research Center for Preservation of Language and Literature, Archaeological, Linguistic and Literary Research Organisation, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta 10340, Indonesia
  • Restu Sukesti

    Research Center for Preservation of Language and Literature, Archaeological, Linguistic and Literary Research Organisation, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta 10340, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i9.10205
Received: 26 May 2025 | Revised: 24 June 2025 | Accepted: 18 July 2025 | Published Online: 16 September 2025

Abstract

The Bunak, Kemak, Tetun, and Dawan tribes are among the communities living in the border region between Belu Regency and Timor-Leste. This study aims to determine the levels of multilingualism and bilingualism among speakers of these languages. This study uses a field method that combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. Ninety-six respondents were divided into four age groups: Under 20 years old, 21–39 years old, 40–59 years old, and over 60 years old. The respondents were Bunak speakers from Dirun Village, Kemak speakers from Umklaran Village, Tetun speakers from Teun Village, and Dawan speakers from Manleten Village. The average ability of the Bunak, Kemak, Tetun, and Dawan respondents was categorized as follows: understanding and speaking Indonesian well; understanding and speaking other regional languages well or not at all; and understanding and speaking foreign languages well or not at all. Based on the four age categories, the study's results show that 41.6%–75% of speakers of the four languages have an average of 82.5% in the category of frequently using regional languages. The four language groups tend to use Indonesian frequently, with an average usage of 85.8%. Based on the four age groups, the four language speakers tend to never or rarely use other regional languages, with an average value of 46.7%. The four language speakers rarely use foreign languages (English and Portuguese), with an average of 28.3%. Based on the data from the respondents, it can be said that speakers of the four languages are bilingual and multilingual.

Keywords:

Belu Regency Community; Respondents; Regional Languages; Bilingual; Multilingual

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How to Cite

Kurniawati, W., Nahak, K. B., Endardi, J., Aritonang, B., Sulistyono, Y., Karsana, D., Wardhani, A., Darheni, N., Sumadi, & Sukesti, R. (2025). Bilingualism and Multilingualism Communities in the Border Region of Belu and Timor Leste. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(9), 920–940. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i9.10205

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 9 (September 2025)

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Article

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Copyright © 2025 Wati Kurniawati, Kristofel Bere Nahak, Joni Endardi, Buha Aritonang, Yunus Sulistyono, Deni Karsana, Aditya Wardhani, Nani Darheni, Sumadi, Restu Sukesti

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.