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Towards homogeneity in home languages Malay, Chinese Foochow and Indian Tamil families in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

This preliminary study examines the languages used by parents with their children in Malay, Chinese Foochow and Indian Tamil families to find out how the similarity or dissimilarity in parents' ethnic language influenced the choice of language transmitted to children and how far standard langua...

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Main Authors: Ting, S.-H., Mahadhir, M.
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: 2017
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spelling my.uniten.dspace-58812018-01-16T08:04:29Z Towards homogeneity in home languages Malay, Chinese Foochow and Indian Tamil families in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia Ting, S.-H. Mahadhir, M. This preliminary study examines the languages used by parents with their children in Malay, Chinese Foochow and Indian Tamil families to find out how the similarity or dissimilarity in parents' ethnic language influenced the choice of language transmitted to children and how far standard languages have permeated the family domain in Kuching City in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Standard languages refer to the three main written languages taught in the school system, namely, English, Bahasa Malaysia (Malay language) and Chinese Mandarin. Interviews were conducted with 17 families (6 Malay, 6 Chinese Foochow, 5 Indian Tamil). The results showed that the ethnic language is mostly still retained in the Malay and Indian Tamil families but has been pushed out by English and Mandarin Chinese in Chinese Foochow families. English has emerged in parental communication with children to different extents across ethnic group. Bahasa Malaysia, on the other hand, is spoken in Malay families with parents from West Malaysia. Factors found to be influencing the parental decision on language to use with their children include similarity/dissimilarity of the couple's ethnic languages, their educational background, family and social linguistic environment, instrumental value of languages and ethnic identity. 2017-12-08T07:33:27Z 2017-12-08T07:33:27Z 2009 Article 10.2104/aral0911 en_US Volume 32, Issue 2, October 2009, Page 3
institution Universiti Tenaga Nasional
building UNITEN Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Tenaga Nasional
content_source UNITEN Institutional Repository
url_provider http://dspace.uniten.edu.my/
language en_US
description This preliminary study examines the languages used by parents with their children in Malay, Chinese Foochow and Indian Tamil families to find out how the similarity or dissimilarity in parents' ethnic language influenced the choice of language transmitted to children and how far standard languages have permeated the family domain in Kuching City in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Standard languages refer to the three main written languages taught in the school system, namely, English, Bahasa Malaysia (Malay language) and Chinese Mandarin. Interviews were conducted with 17 families (6 Malay, 6 Chinese Foochow, 5 Indian Tamil). The results showed that the ethnic language is mostly still retained in the Malay and Indian Tamil families but has been pushed out by English and Mandarin Chinese in Chinese Foochow families. English has emerged in parental communication with children to different extents across ethnic group. Bahasa Malaysia, on the other hand, is spoken in Malay families with parents from West Malaysia. Factors found to be influencing the parental decision on language to use with their children include similarity/dissimilarity of the couple's ethnic languages, their educational background, family and social linguistic environment, instrumental value of languages and ethnic identity.
format Article
author Ting, S.-H.
Mahadhir, M.
spellingShingle Ting, S.-H.
Mahadhir, M.
Towards homogeneity in home languages Malay, Chinese Foochow and Indian Tamil families in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
author_facet Ting, S.-H.
Mahadhir, M.
author_sort Ting, S.-H.
title Towards homogeneity in home languages Malay, Chinese Foochow and Indian Tamil families in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
title_short Towards homogeneity in home languages Malay, Chinese Foochow and Indian Tamil families in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
title_full Towards homogeneity in home languages Malay, Chinese Foochow and Indian Tamil families in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
title_fullStr Towards homogeneity in home languages Malay, Chinese Foochow and Indian Tamil families in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Towards homogeneity in home languages Malay, Chinese Foochow and Indian Tamil families in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
title_sort towards homogeneity in home languages malay, chinese foochow and indian tamil families in kuching, sarawak, malaysia
publishDate 2017
_version_ 1644493797641420800
score 13.211869

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