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Social networks and maintenance of an endangered language: The Kejaman of Malaysia

Purpose This study examined how social network influences maintenance of the indigenous language of the Kejaman, a small indigenous group living in Sarawak, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The participants were 123 Kejaman speakers from three generations living in two longhouses in Belaga...

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Main Authors: Amee, Joan, Ting, Su Hie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Emerald Publishing Limited 2024
Subjects:
P Philology. Linguistics
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/47186/1/Social%20networks.pdf
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/47186/
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/seamj-09-2024-0069/full/html
https://doi.org/10.1108/SEAMJ-09-2024-0069
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spelling my.unimas.ir-471862025-01-02T03:10:52Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/47186/ Social networks and maintenance of an endangered language: The Kejaman of Malaysia Amee, Joan Ting, Su Hie P Philology. Linguistics Purpose This study examined how social network influences maintenance of the indigenous language of the Kejaman, a small indigenous group living in Sarawak, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The participants were 123 Kejaman speakers from three generations living in two longhouses in Belaga, Sarawak. Participants were presented with 20 situations relevant to the lives of Kejaman people to find out the people they interact with. Findings The grandparents, parents and children’s generations all had more exchange networks (M = 131.7) than interactive networks (M = 110.3). They consulted kin on matters related to family, money, culture, death and taboos, providing the avenue for the use of the Kejaman language. Generation 2 had more interactive networks and Generation 3 consulted non-kin on more matters, and the communication takes place in languages other than Kejaman. Chi-Square tests of independence showed no significant differences in the number of exchange and interactive networks across generations. The three generations were not significantly different in uniplexity (M = 29.5%) and multiplexity scores (M = 20.6%). The Kejamans belong to a low-density, uniplex social network community. Research limitations/implications There is a limitation in using social network analysis as a reliable predictor of future language use. This is because social networks are not fixed. They can expand, shrink and change over lifetime, and the fact that the generation of children does not talk about family matters in their mother tongue does not mean that they will not do so in future. Practical implications As interactive networks comprise non-Kejaman people, there will be inadequate close ethnic ties to support transmission and maintenance of Kejaman linguistic and cultural norms. Therefore, their language fluency may decline to the extent that they experience language anxiety and feel uncomfortable using it. Social implications The quantity and quality of interactive networks for the Kejaman are not conducive for upward mobility. What this means in the sociopolitical context of Sarawak is that, this small indigenous group is still family-centred and does not have adequate social contacts in the wider society, indicating lack of social standing. Originality/value The study suggests that in future the Kejaman will rely on interactive networks to talk about life-choices, and the lessened contact with Kejaman people will affect maintenance of Kejaman linguistic and cultural norms. Emerald Publishing Limited 2024 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/47186/1/Social%20networks.pdf Amee, Joan and Ting, Su Hie (2024) Social networks and maintenance of an endangered language: The Kejaman of Malaysia. SEAMJ - Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal.. pp. 1-16. ISSN 2948-0426 https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/seamj-09-2024-0069/full/html https://doi.org/10.1108/SEAMJ-09-2024-0069
institution Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
building Centre for Academic Information Services (CAIS)
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
content_source UNIMAS Institutional Repository
url_provider http://ir.unimas.my/
language English
topic P Philology. Linguistics
spellingShingle P Philology. Linguistics
Amee, Joan
Ting, Su Hie
Social networks and maintenance of an endangered language: The Kejaman of Malaysia
description Purpose This study examined how social network influences maintenance of the indigenous language of the Kejaman, a small indigenous group living in Sarawak, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The participants were 123 Kejaman speakers from three generations living in two longhouses in Belaga, Sarawak. Participants were presented with 20 situations relevant to the lives of Kejaman people to find out the people they interact with. Findings The grandparents, parents and children’s generations all had more exchange networks (M = 131.7) than interactive networks (M = 110.3). They consulted kin on matters related to family, money, culture, death and taboos, providing the avenue for the use of the Kejaman language. Generation 2 had more interactive networks and Generation 3 consulted non-kin on more matters, and the communication takes place in languages other than Kejaman. Chi-Square tests of independence showed no significant differences in the number of exchange and interactive networks across generations. The three generations were not significantly different in uniplexity (M = 29.5%) and multiplexity scores (M = 20.6%). The Kejamans belong to a low-density, uniplex social network community. Research limitations/implications There is a limitation in using social network analysis as a reliable predictor of future language use. This is because social networks are not fixed. They can expand, shrink and change over lifetime, and the fact that the generation of children does not talk about family matters in their mother tongue does not mean that they will not do so in future. Practical implications As interactive networks comprise non-Kejaman people, there will be inadequate close ethnic ties to support transmission and maintenance of Kejaman linguistic and cultural norms. Therefore, their language fluency may decline to the extent that they experience language anxiety and feel uncomfortable using it. Social implications The quantity and quality of interactive networks for the Kejaman are not conducive for upward mobility. What this means in the sociopolitical context of Sarawak is that, this small indigenous group is still family-centred and does not have adequate social contacts in the wider society, indicating lack of social standing. Originality/value The study suggests that in future the Kejaman will rely on interactive networks to talk about life-choices, and the lessened contact with Kejaman people will affect maintenance of Kejaman linguistic and cultural norms.
format Article
author Amee, Joan
Ting, Su Hie
author_facet Amee, Joan
Ting, Su Hie
author_sort Amee, Joan
title Social networks and maintenance of an endangered language: The Kejaman of Malaysia
title_short Social networks and maintenance of an endangered language: The Kejaman of Malaysia
title_full Social networks and maintenance of an endangered language: The Kejaman of Malaysia
title_fullStr Social networks and maintenance of an endangered language: The Kejaman of Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Social networks and maintenance of an endangered language: The Kejaman of Malaysia
title_sort social networks and maintenance of an endangered language: the kejaman of malaysia
publisher Emerald Publishing Limited
publishDate 2024
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/47186/1/Social%20networks.pdf
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/47186/
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/seamj-09-2024-0069/full/html
https://doi.org/10.1108/SEAMJ-09-2024-0069
_version_ 1821007921341792256
score 13.226497

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