Selective Language Maintenance in Multilingual Malaysia

2022 ◽  
pp. 558-579
Author(s):  
Teresa Wai See Ong ◽  
Selim Ben Said
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Chinese Community ◽  
Chinese Families ◽  
Language Maintenance And Shift ◽  
Malaysian Chinese ◽  
Malaysian Government

Aiming to understand the phenomena of language maintenance and shift in Malaysia, this chapter focuses on efforts by Penang's Chinese community to maintain Penang Hokkien alongside other Chinese community languages. The Malaysian Government has explicitly allowed the teaching of Mandarin Chinese in Chinese-medium schools, which resulted in the reduced use of Penang Hokkien and other Chinese community languages among the Malaysian Chinese community. Such a situation has caused sociolinguistic realignment in many Malaysian Chinese families, including in Penang, and raised questions about the survival of these languages in Malaysian society. Based on interviews with participants from Penang's Chinese community, the findings reveal that although past studies have demonstrated a decline in the use of Chinese community languages, the participants expressed their willingness to regularly use them in their daily life in various domains. Despite the announced desuetude of these languages, participants consistently used them and indicated their determination to pass on to the next generation.

Selective Language Maintenance in Multilingual Malaysia

2021 ◽  
pp. 207-228
Author(s):  
Teresa Wai See Ong ◽  
Selim Ben Said
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Chinese Community ◽  
Chinese Families ◽  
Language Maintenance And Shift ◽  
Malaysian Chinese ◽  
Malaysian Government

Aiming to understand the phenomena of language maintenance and shift in Malaysia, this chapter focuses on efforts by Penang's Chinese community to maintain Penang Hokkien alongside other Chinese community languages. The Malaysian Government has explicitly allowed the teaching of Mandarin Chinese in Chinese-medium schools, which resulted in the reduced use of Penang Hokkien and other Chinese community languages among the Malaysian Chinese community. Such a situation has caused sociolinguistic realignment in many Malaysian Chinese families, including in Penang, and raised questions about the survival of these languages in Malaysian society. Based on interviews with participants from Penang's Chinese community, the findings reveal that although past studies have demonstrated a decline in the use of Chinese community languages, the participants expressed their willingness to regularly use them in their daily life in various domains. Despite the announced desuetude of these languages, participants consistently used them and indicated their determination to pass on to the next generation.

The Maintenance of Siladang Language

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Horia Siregar ◽  
Busmin Gurning
Keyword(s):  
Random Sampling ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Cultural Activity ◽  
Family Language Policy ◽  
Ethnolinguistic Vitality ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Living Together ◽  
Family Language ◽  
Wedding Ceremony

This study observed Siladang language maintenance in Desa Sipapaga. The objectives of the study are (1) to examine the factors affecting language maintenance (2) to find out the strategies in maintaining the Siladang language and (3) to find out the reasons of the Siladang people in maintaining their language. The method of this study was descriptive qualitative research. The participants were 20 Siladang people who live in Desa Sipapaga were taken by purposive random sampling. The research results are as follows (1) There are seven factors affecting Siladang language maintenance in Desa Sipapaga such as, Ethnolinguistic vitality, living together and see each other frequently, use of language in family domain (intra and inter marriage family, use of language in neighbor domain, use of language in religion domain, use of language in workplace domain, and practice traditional ceremony, (2) In maintaining the Siladang language, the Siladang people conducted some strategies such as; family language policy, using Siladang language in their daily life frequently, the using of Siladang language in cultural activity like in wedding ceremony. (3) The reasons of the Siladang people maintain their language are; they were proud of being Siladang people and speak Siladang language, and speak Siladang language shows their identity as Siladang people.   Keywords: language maintenance, Siladang

scholarly journals Language maintenance and shift under pressure: Three generations of the Turkish immigrant community in the Netherlands

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (242) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeşim Sevinç
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Third Generation ◽  
Immigrant Community ◽  
Three Generations ◽  
Turkish Immigrant ◽  
Language Maintenance And Shift ◽  
Turkish Language

AbstractDrawing on questionnaire and interview data, this study explores the process of language maintenance and shift across three generations of Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands. It compares three generations of Turkish-Dutch bilinguals by examining age and place of language learning, self-rated language proficiency, and language choices in six domains (home, school, work, friends, media and leisure time activities, and cognitive activities). Furthermore, it investigates bilinguals’ experiences, motivations for learning languages and attitudes towards bilingualism. Findings suggest that following the typical pattern of language shift described by Mario Saltarelli and Susan Gonzo in 1977, language history, self-rated language proficiency and current language practices of third-generation children differ from those of first- and second-generation bilinguals. Consequently, possible language shift among third-generation bilinguals causes socioemotional pressure about maintaining the Turkish language, triggering intergenerational tensions in Turkish immigrant families. At the same time, the perceived need to shift to Dutch for social and economic reasons causes immigrant children to experience tensions and ambiguities in the linguistic connections between the family and other social domains (e. g. school, friendship). The findings evidence that the Turkish immigrant community in the Netherlands may no longer be as linguistically homogeneous as once observed. The dissolution of homogeneity can be a sign of social change in which maintaining the Turkish language has become a challenge, whereas speaking Dutch is a necessity of life in the Netherlands.

scholarly journals Strategi Pemertahanan Bahasa Daerah Pada Ranah Pendidikan

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 40-46
Author(s):  
Ida Zulaeha ◽  
M. Hum
Keyword(s):  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Maintenance And Shift

Pemertahanan dan pergeseran bahasa (language maintenance and shift) bagaikan dua sisi mata wang. Pemertahanan bahasa dapat terjadi manakala secara kolektif masyarakat tutur bahasa memutuskan tetap menggunakan bahasa yang digunakan sebelumnya meskipun ada desakan berganti menggunakan bahasa lain. Keduanya hadir secara bersamaan. Pemertahanan bahasa daerah dapat dilakukan pada ranah pendidikan. Pendidikan menjadi salah satu elemen penting dalam mempersiapkan generasi masa depan. Pemertahanan bahasa daerah pada ranah pendidikan dapat dilakukan dengan strategi formal dan informal. Strategi formal dilakukan melalui pembelajaran, sedangkan strategi informal dilakukan melalui komunitas/ekstrakurikuler, dan sebagai alat komunikasi yang wajib digunakan pada hari spesial. Pemertahanan bahasa daerah ini berfungsi mencegah pergeseran dan kepunahan bahasa daerah, mempersiapkan penutur bahasa daerah di masa depan, dan melestarikan bahasa dan budaya bangsa.

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