Language choice considerations of Kadazandusun teenagers in Kota Belud, Sabah
This study is undertaken to investigate the language choice considerations among the Kadazandusun teenagers in Kota Belud, Sabah. Specifically, it aims to iden tify the teenagers’ proficiency level in their ethnic language as well as their language choice patterns in daily li...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Final Year Project Report / IMRAD |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, UNIMAS
2008
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/6758/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/6758/7/tham%20fung%20ling%40sharen.pdf |
| Summary: | This
study is undertaken
to investigate the language choice considerations among
the Kadazandusun teenagers in Kota Belud, Sabah. Specifically, it aims to iden
tify
the
teenagers’ proficiency level in their ethnic language as well as their language
choice patterns in daily life communication across the domains of family, education,
friendship and religion.
In addition
, the teenagers’ attitudes toward
s
their ethni
c
language are also investigated in shedding light on possible factors that lead to their
language choice considerations. To address these objectives, a survey research design
utilising questionnaires was employed, covering a total number of 205 Kadazandus
un
teenagers who
were
selected from eight secondary schools in Kota Belud.
The
findings from the study revealed that the Kadazandusun proficiency level among the
respondents in four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) is
restricted t
o performing daily life interactions such as chatting with their siblings and
using common expressions in greetings or salutations,
in which
40% of the
respondents rated their proficiency level as average and another 37% rated
themselves at the beginner le
vel. In terms of language choice across domains, the
findings showed that Kadazandusun is widely used only in the family domain
especially when the respondents are communicating with their grandparents (83.4%)
and parents (60.5%). In other domains (friends
hip, education and religion), the Sabah
Malay dialect is the preferred choice as opposed to oth
er language or language
variety.
In the education and religion domain
s
, the Sabah Malay dialect is chosen
mainly due to formality and age difference
between resp
ondents and their
interlocutors
. As for language attitudes, the findings from this study showed that the
respondents have very positive attitudes toward
s
Kadazandusun and a majority of the
respondents (96.6%) agreed to the importance of preserving the lang
uage.
This study
noted that though the respondents have positive attitudes
towards
their ethnic
language, their use of Kadazandusun in daily life is somewhat limited, which suggest
the need for further research to look into this situation. |
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