 This has led to the use of the term "Austronesian" in academic literature to refer not only to the Austronesian languages, but also the Austronesian-speaking peoples, their societies, and the geographic area of Austronesia.Serious research into the Austronesian languages and its speakers has been ongoing since the 19th century.Modern scholarship on Austronesian dispersion models is generally credited to two influential papers in the late 20th century