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Language use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia

The study examined the subjective ethnolinguistic vitality of an Iban community in Sarawak, Malaysia based on their language use and attitudes. A survey of 200 respondents in Song district was conducted. To determine the objective ethnolinguistic vitality, a structural analysis was performed on thei...

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Main Authors: Ting, Su Hie, Tinggang, Andyson, Mertom, Lilly
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2020
Subjects:
H Social Sciences (General)
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/31542/1/Language1.pdf
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/31542/
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spelling my.unimas.ir.315422023-10-24T01:30:11Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/31542/ Language use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia Ting, Su Hie Tinggang, Andyson Mertom, Lilly H Social Sciences (General) The study examined the subjective ethnolinguistic vitality of an Iban community in Sarawak, Malaysia based on their language use and attitudes. A survey of 200 respondents in Song district was conducted. To determine the objective ethnolinguistic vitality, a structural analysis was performed on their sociolinguistic background. The results show the Iban language dominates in family, friendship, transactions, religious, employment, and education domains. The language use patterns show functional differentiation into the Iban language as the “low language” and Malay as the “high language”. The respondents have positive attitudes towards the Iban language. The dimensions of language attitudes that are strongly positive are use of the Iban language, Iban identity, and intergenerational transmission of the Iban language. The marginally positive dimensions are instrumental use of the Iban language, social status of Iban speakers, and prestige value of the Iban language. Inferential statistical tests show that language attitudes are influenced by education level. However, language attitudes and use of the Iban language are not significantly correlated. By viewing language use and attitudes from the perspective of ethnolinguistic vitality, this study has revealed that a numerically dominant group assumed to be safe from language shift has only medium vitality, based on both objective and subjective evaluation. 2020 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/31542/1/Language1.pdf Ting, Su Hie and Tinggang, Andyson and Mertom, Lilly (2020) Language use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia. Language Documentation and Conservation. (In Press)
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 H Social Sciences (General)
spellingShingle H Social Sciences (General)
Ting, Su Hie
Tinggang, Andyson
Mertom, Lilly
Language use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia
description The study examined the subjective ethnolinguistic vitality of an Iban community in Sarawak, Malaysia based on their language use and attitudes. A survey of 200 respondents in Song district was conducted. To determine the objective ethnolinguistic vitality, a structural analysis was performed on their sociolinguistic background. The results show the Iban language dominates in family, friendship, transactions, religious, employment, and education domains. The language use patterns show functional differentiation into the Iban language as the “low language” and Malay as the “high language”. The respondents have positive attitudes towards the Iban language. The dimensions of language attitudes that are strongly positive are use of the Iban language, Iban identity, and intergenerational transmission of the Iban language. The marginally positive dimensions are instrumental use of the Iban language, social status of Iban speakers, and prestige value of the Iban language. Inferential statistical tests show that language attitudes are influenced by education level. However, language attitudes and use of the Iban language are not significantly correlated. By viewing language use and attitudes from the perspective of ethnolinguistic vitality, this study has revealed that a numerically dominant group assumed to be safe from language shift has only medium vitality, based on both objective and subjective evaluation.
format Article
author Ting, Su Hie
Tinggang, Andyson
Mertom, Lilly
author_facet Ting, Su Hie
Tinggang, Andyson
Mertom, Lilly
author_sort Ting, Su Hie
title Language use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia
title_short Language use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia
title_full Language use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia
title_fullStr Language use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Language use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia
title_sort language use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: the iban of sarawak, malaysia
publishDate 2020
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/31542/1/Language1.pdf
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/31542/
_version_ 1781710302851629056
score 13.211869

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