Linguistic identity in the Portuguese language program at the University of São Tomé and Príncipe

Abstract This paper discusses issues of linguistic identity regarding the creole languages spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe: Forro (or Santome), Lung’Ie (or Principense), Angolar, and Kabuverdianu. The research is based on a qualitative-quantitative methodology, using questionnaires answered by undergraduate students of the Portuguese Language Program at the University of São Tomé and Príncipe, during a fieldwork trip conducted by the first author in 2016. The survey included 19 participants (men and women) aged between 22 and 45. The questionnaire was designed with questions related to the linguistic identity of the speakers and their use of creole languages, the diglossic relationship with Portuguese, and the presence of the State in supporting and maintaining these languages. We concluded that university students are aware of the urgent need to maintain, promote and use creole languages in formal domains of society, even though most were not speakers of these languages. Their discourse emphasizes the minoritized status of the creole languages relative to Portuguese, the official and majority language of São Tomé and Príncipe.