From the procedures and techniques point of view, this work is configured on bibliographical or documental research, combined with a case study approach. The exploratory research approach consisted of the use of surveys. 135 students of Escola Superior Pedagógica do Bié, in the 2018 academic year, were chosen as our sample group. The objective was to determine the percentages of L1 and L2 speakers of Umbundu and Portuguese.
The present article discusses the current sociolinguistic situation of the city of Kuito, the capital of Bié province, from a historical perspective. Specifically, it examines the use of the Umbundu language among the inhabitants of Kuito. In addition to presenting historical information of the linguistic contact between the Portuguese and the Umbundu languages, this article also presents the linguistic situation surveyed at the time of the 2014 population census, as well as data from another study that show the diminishing use of Umbundu as a communication language. This AL has gone from L1, for the older generation, to LØ for more recent generations.