What I want to do I do not do : On bi-and multilingual repertoires and linguistic dislocation in a border town
Language problems and language barriers are challenges facing not only immigrants but also minorities and people in rural/semirural areas. This study examines individuals' bi- and multilingual repertoires, language practices and attitudes in a Hokkien-speaking community in Kangar, a semirural t...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
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De Gruyter
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/39610/ |
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| Summary: | Language problems and language barriers are challenges facing not only immigrants but also minorities and people in rural/semirural areas. This study examines individuals' bi- and multilingual repertoires, language practices and attitudes in a Hokkien-speaking community in Kangar, a semirural town of northern Malaysia bordering Thailand. Through questionnaire surveys and interviews, we investigate how these notions can be used as a means to understand/reflect bilingualism and multilingualism and, more importantly, the potential disparity between what people want to do/say and what people eventually manage to do/say. While there is a shift in language practice from a local- and ancestral origin-induced pattern towards a more ``global'' and ``pan-Chinese'' paradigm, the findings also reveal the linguistic ``dislocations'' of the Hokkien-speaking community across ALL generations regardless of ethnicity. The language issues in the community reflect-and are likely to be reflections of-society at large. The vast contrast between individual/societal linguistic aspirations and the actual linguistic repertoire/communicative competence among the locals indicates the need to redress an absence of major efforts to close urban-rural/city-town/dominant-dominated social divides across the (language) education landscape at the national level. |
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