The Influence of Age Cohorts and Social Networks on the Language Choices of the Non-Indigenous Tamil Minority in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Abstract
This paper reports on the application of age cohorts to the theory of social networks in a study of language choices of Tamil city dwellers in Kuching, Sarawak located on the island of Borneo. This study, which adopts Milroy’s (1980) social networks, focuses mainly on code choices made in the spoken discourse of multilingual Tamils of different age cohorts. Our analysis of data gathered from a one-shot survey and supported by face-to-face interviews shows variations in code choices by age cohort. Code selections within and across the different age cohorts in the home and friendship domains denote the influence of age and social networks among minority Tamils.
Keywords
Age cohorts, Code choice, Language choices, Social networks, Tamils of Kuching
Divisions
FLL,citra
Funders
University of Malaya Research Grant (UMRG) under grant number RG091/11SBS
Publication Title
Kemanusiaan
Volume
25
Issue
1
Publisher
Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia