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

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorTing, Su-Hie
dc.contributor.authorTinggang, Andyson
dc.contributor.authorMetom, Lilly
dc.date.accessioned2021-03-09T22:35:27Z
dc.date.available2021-03-09T22:35:27Z
dc.date.issued2021-03
dc.description.abstractThe 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 the Song district was conducted. To determine the objective ethnolinguistic vitality, a structural analysis was performed on their sociolinguistic backgrounds. 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.
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Foreign Language Resource Center
dc.format.extent29 pages
dc.identifier.citationTing, Su-Hie, Andyson Tinggang, & Lilly Metom. 2021. Language use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia. Language Documentation & Conservation 15: 190-218. (http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24973)
dc.identifier.issn1934-5275
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10125/24973
dc.language.isoen-US
dc.publisherUniversity of Hawaii Press
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/*
dc.subjectlanguage use
dc.subjectlanguage attitudes
dc.subjectlanguage shift
dc.subjectethnolinguistic vitality
dc.subjectIban
dc.subjectSarawak
dc.subjectMalaysia
dc.titleLanguage use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia
dc.typeArticle
dc.type.dcmiText
prism.endingpage218
prism.publicationnameLanguage Documentation & Conservation
prism.startingpage189
prism.volume15

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
ting_et_al.pdf
Size:
652.89 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.73 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Volume 15 : Language Documentation & Conservation