Language choice between younger and older generations of the Narum community

Abstract

The Narum people live in Baram – an area in the Marudi district of Sarawak in East Malaysia. They are an indigenous ethnic minority group who live mostly in villages and Narum language is spoken only among this community. As a minority ethnic group, they are influenced by the dominant majority language. Study of minority languages is important to make sure that the languages of the cultural minorities will not be undervalued and ignored. This paper is concerned with the sociolinguistic situation of this community, which deals with the language choice among the two generations in connection with the family and social domains. The respondents’ self-evaluation of language proficiency is also touched upon. The data used to compile it were drawn from the fieldwork, interviews and questionnaires. The data reveal that assimilation is apparently the result of a broader phenomenon. The main language spoken in the communities and their cultural adaptation to the values to gain a better opportunity seems to be the cause of the language choice and language use. The finding shows when it comes to intergeneration and intergroup communication, the Narum community choose to use more Sarawak Malay language and Narum language.