Date of Award

4-2010

Thesis Type

PhD

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

Faculty of Languages and Linguistics

Department

Department of Malaysian Languages and Applied Linguistics

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

This dissertation describes the language choice patterns of Bidayuh graduates in an urban setting. It demonstrates the interaction between macro-sociological modifications with changes in language choice patterns of the Bidayuh community, an ethnic minority located in East Malaysia. The motivation for the study is driven by the need to ascertain the direction of the changing language choice patterns of its community members, and the extent to which it is threatening the position of the mother tongue. Despite having a population of approximately 170,000 speakers, the Bidayuh language displays characteristics of a “threatened” language. The proximity of the Bidayuh speech community to the capital city, Kuching increases its susceptibility to language shift. The setting of the study, and the complexity of the Bidayuh language situation is in itself have given greater insights into the factors that motivate changes in language choice patterns of multilingual communities. Data for the study was collected through in-depth interviews with 61 respondents and community leaders, and “participant observation” of their language behavior in daily interactions. Inter-speaker variations in “patterns of choice” at individual and group level show that urban educated Bidayuh are moving away from the mother tongue. The shift to Malay and English correlates with the following speaker variables: mixed parentage, educated parents, and urban upbringing. School experience, socialisation process and language experience in formative years of the educated Bidayuh speakers are contributing factors that have influenced acquisition of various languages and degree of bilingualism among speakers, which in turn have also dictated their patterns of choice in various domains of language use. The shift has been motivated by socio-economic reasons, and also by the hegemony of Malay and English in the main domains of language use and various functions these languages fulfill in daily interaction of urban Bidayuh. Shift to major languages is seen as a response to the gradual social cultural transformation of the Bidayuh community which begun with the introduction of school in the mid-20th century. Nonetheless, group members have shown to vary in their responses to these changes. Some Bidayuh have retained its use as main language for communication in the family domain but others have also shifted to major languages. The differences in bilingual practice among speakers primarily reflect differences in attitudes towards languages and differences in value orientation among the speakers. Above all, the changing norm of language use in the family domain is due to the rather ambivalent attitude of some speakers towards mother tongue as a symbol of ethnic identity.

Initial

khm

Additional Information

Thesis (PhD) – Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, 2010.

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