In this article I examine lecturers’ beliefs about the use of Tetum for academic, scientific and vocational communication at university in Timor-Leste and discuss the discursive and performative language planning roles that they play in the intellectualisation of the language. Drawing on analysis of recorded discussions among university lecturers from different disciplinary areas and distinct institutional settings, I identify a range of discursive and ideological forces being brought to bear on the use of Tetum to communicate disciplinary and professional knowledge. I focus especially on lecturers’ value-laden explanations for how and why they ‘mix’ Tetum with Portuguese, English and Indonesian in particular contexts of classroom communication. Lecturers’ statements about the limitations of Tetum for academic and scientific communication, while grounded in the real need for coordinated intellectualisation of the language, also mask lecturers’ individual preferences for (and greater confidence in) the use of more established ‘academic languages’, stemming from their own past experiences of language socialisation. I argue that these negative beliefs about the potential reach of Tetum reinforce hegemonic discourses that work against its coordinated intellectualisation. Meanwhile, significant individual efforts towards the intellectualisation of Tetum endure in the form of innovative translation and translanguaging work; efforts that I argue require greater attention and support. I conclude with a discussion about the need to recognise and value the expertise and contributions of multiple stakeholders in the development and intellectualisation of the Tetum language, including those who are not traditionally understood as ‘language experts’.

在本文中，我探讨了讲师关于在东帝汶大学中使用Tetum进行学术，科学和职业交流的信念，并讨论了他们在语言智能化过程中发挥的话语性和表演性语言规划作用。通过对来自不同学科领域和不同机构设置的大学讲师之间的讨论进行记录分析，我确定了使用Tetum交流学科知识和专业知识所产生的一系列讨论和思想力量。我特别关注讲师的高价值解释，以了解他们如何以及为什么在教室交流的特定情况下将Tetum与葡萄牙语，英语和印度尼西亚语“混合”。讲师关于Tetum在学术和科学交流中的局限性的陈述，虽然真正需要协调语言的智能化，但同时也掩盖了讲师的个人偏好（基于他们过去的语言社会化经验，他们对使用更成熟的“学术语言”的使用（以及更大的信心））。我认为，这些对Tetum潜在影响力的负面信念加强了霸权主义话语，不利于其协调一致的知识化。同时，为实现Tetum智能化所做的大量个人努力以创新的翻译和翻译工作形式得以维持；我认为需要付出更多的努力和支持。最后，我讨论了在Tetum语言的开发和智能化过程中需要承认和重视多个利益相关者的专业知识和贡献，