ERIC ED357632: The Sindhis in Malaysia--Language Maintenance, Language Loss or Language Death?

14 Pages·1991·0.23 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
FL 021 217
ED 357 632
Khemlani-David, Maya
AUTHOR
The Sindhis in Malaysia--Language Maintenance,
TITLE
Language Loss or Language Death?
PUB DATE
91
14p.; Paper presented at the International Conference
NOTE
on Bilingualism and National Development (Bandor Seri
Bagawan, Brunei, December 9-12, 1991).
PUB TYPE Research/Technical (143)
Reports
Speeches /Conference Papers (150)
MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Ethnic Groups; Foreign Countries; *Indonesian
DESCRIPTORS
Languages; *Language Maintenance; *Language Skill
Attrition; Uncommonly Taught Languages
*Malaysia; *Sindhi
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
Language used in the home domain of Sindhis in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, was studied. Migration patterns have resulted in
the Sindhis becoming a linguistic minority in many parts of the world
as well as in India. In this study actual speech patterns of parents
toward their children and between spouses was observed, and a
questionnaire was distributed to each family. The language use data
of the case study confirmed that a language shift to English is
occurring in the home domain; on an intergenerational level the use
of Sindhi was observed only among the 50-year-olds. It is noted that
sociolinguistically the Sindhi community is in a situation of
language shift and language loss as people use English more and more
in the social lives, to the near exclusion of Sindhi except in
communication with elders. Contains 6 references. (LB)
***********************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EARS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
******************************************************************k****
Maintenance,
The Sindhis In Malaysia- Language
Language Loss Or Language Death?
Organized
International Conference on Bilingualism
Brunei, December 1991
by University Brunei Darussalam
Maya Khemlani-David
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Of Ice of Ectucanonat Rserch Am Impeovement
"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS
RESOURCES INFORMATION
MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
CENTER (ERIC)
This PoCument has been repro:fixed as
ofganaatton
reCerve0 from the person or
cw.gtnahng A
IMINOVO
0 IArn Or changes have been mule to
OUS/111/
.itOr OdUCPOn
MIS dOCV
Points at volt* or op mons stated
("Moat
mint to not ncostarof represent
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
OE RI positron or polity
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)."
Language Maintenance,
The Sindhis in Malaysia
Language Loss Or Language Death?
International Conference on Bilingualism
Organized by University Brunei Darussalam, Brunei
December 1991
part of Pakistan and
todM'
Sindhi
forms
is
'Sind
a
community
The Hindu and Sindhi
Indo-Aryan language.
North-west
Kuala
in Pakistan is now dispersed
only
now not
Sind
in
of
Martin
but in Hong Kong, Lagos, London, Singapore,
Lumpur,
St.
from
their
Sindhis
migration of
the
This
and Thomas.
St.
which
homeland is partly due to the creation of Pakistan in 1947
resulted in riots and migrations. Historically, the rudiments
of
culture can be found in the civilization
represented
by
Sindhi
the ancient site Mohen-jo-Daro dating back to the third millennum
B.C.
there were two million Sindhis in
India
and
1988
In
Indians, a large
451,800
In Hong Kong of the
350,000 overseas.
linguistic
are Sindhis. The Sindhis are
350,000
proportion
a
not only in many parts of the world but also in
India.
minority
did a study of usage
patterns
A Sindhi linguist, Daswani,
1983
of Sindhis in India and comes to the conclusion that Sindhi is
a
social
domains
very
limited
restricted
for
code used
in
communication.
younger
because
many
homes
that
says
He
'In
of
generation pressure the home language Sindhi is being replaced by
or another international language'. The decline
the
English
in
process
India makes one wonder
the
Sindhi
of
of
use
of
in
If this was the case in India
extinction has not already set in.
Malaysia
what could be the situation in which the Sindhis
in
find themselves?
A Kuala Lumpur Case Studv
In Kuala Lumpur the Sindhi community which numbers
250
(about half of the total Sindhi population of Malaya) consists of
80 families.
The focus of this study is on the Kuala Lumpur
Sindhis
largest
the number of Sindhi families in Kuala Lumpur is the
as
Lumpur
other parts of Malaysia.
(Kuala
compared
80
to
as
4 families, Malacca
29 families, Ipoh
Penang
families,
4
1 family, Kota Bharu
1 family).
families, Kuala Terengganu
mainly
merchants
Kuala
Lumpur
are
Sindhis
The
in
younger
though
textile
industry,
the
especially
the
in
there
is moving more towards professional fields and
generation
market
future
about seven lawyers, four doctors,
one
now
are
speculater, two lecturers, two beauticians etc amongst the Sindhi
community.
'3
2
constant source
are
marriages
of
Mixed
a
and it is noted that about 20% of
odd
the
80
shift
language
community.
the
Lumpur have married out
Kuala
of
families
in
rapidly
constantly,
not
marriages
Inter-community
if
is
contacts
because of the countless possibilities for
increasing,
the
high
members of other communities and also because of
with
community
dowry system more Sindhi girls are marrying out of the
Language use in such households was not the
than are Sindhi men.
initial preliminary study as it
felt
that
was
this
focus
of
either
a common language between the spouses inevitably
without
Englih or Malay would be used in the home domain.
language
rate in the loss of the
to
attribution
The
caused by such mixed marriages is inevitable
a
extent
in
some
minority community.
"Domains are a powerful tool for analyzing language and
was
shift " (Fishman, 1972) The focus of the study
on
language
language
used
by
in the home domain
the
language
used
the
mothers to their children. Language used between spouses was also
grandparents-
between
the language
used
investigated
was
as
which
still
family
system,
joint
grandchildren
the
is
in
prevalent amongst some Sindhi families.
In short, the language used in the home domain was
the
group's
focus of this study since any maintainence of a minority
language must be the use of the mother tongue in the home domain.
towards
their
parents
patterns
speech
Actual
of
English
If only
and between spouses was observed.
children
is
by
by parents, then a clear case of shift is observed
the
used
generations.
poses
tongue
to use one's own mother
a
failure
The
the
danger to mother tongue shift if the language used in
great
the
home domain itself between mother/child, husband/wife is NOT
A child learns his language from the behaviour of
mother tongue.
parent
between
and
peers. There cannot be a shift
adults
and
child unless the parents are first bilingual.
Methodology
researcher visited houses where the children
were
The
still young to observe the language used in the home domain.
visit'
inforwal
the unstructured
addition
a
to
In
the
was also distributed to each family
1990
at
questionnaire
annual get together of the Sindhis in Kuala Lumpur.
4
3
the researcher,
During the informal social visit which
as a member of the community could make with no questions
asked,
the researcher did not really use elicitation techniques but just
use in the home domain. There was a
need
observed
language
to
observation survey
the questionnaire findings with an
back
up
since what people do with speech (language usage) and what people
people
what
do with language (language image)
and
they
think
always
they do with speech (language posture) is not
claim
the
same.
Findings
If Sindhi parents only use Sindhi in speaking to
their
generations.
shift has occured
between
children
then
the
no
bilingual
Parents can only use a non-native language if they are
themselves. In fact about 60% of the respondents between the
age
of 20-50 said that English was the language first spoken by
them
compared to the respondents in the 51-75 age group all-
who
as
important
Sindhi as their first language. It is
cited
100%
to
three-
recognize the implications of this finding. Moreover over
said
the respondents in the 20-50 age
group
that
quarters
of
English was the language they spoke best though again all of
the
Sindhi
in the older age group i.e. 51-75 said
that
respondents
the
37.5%
spoke
they
language
best.
fact
was the
of
In
speaking
20-30 age group
respondents
admitted
Sindhi
the
in
findings
as compared to 25% in the 31-50 age group.
poorly
The
that a substantial number of parents cited English as their first
language would obviously have ramifications on the language
they
themselves used in interaction with their spouses, and children.
Table 1: Language used with children
Language used by parents to children
Language Used
Percentage
Age group
English
31-50
75%
English/Sindhi
25%
English
51-75
50%
5
Table 2: Language First Spoken
Age Group
Language Used
Percentage
English
20-50
60%
Sindhi
51-75
100%
Overall children of migrant families speak the minority
language
home until they begin school (Clyne 1985)
at
This
is
however
of the Sindhis in Kuala Lumpur.
true
not
69% the
of
married
respondents
spoke English to their
children
and
this
almost
included
half of the respondents even in the
51-75
age
group. In the 31-50 age group 75% of the respondents of this
age
group
spoke English with their children while the remaining
25%
reported English/Sindhi use (note not Sindhi/English use.) When a
mother
"I'll speak Sindhi with you".
said,
English)
the
(in
daughter's
reply
was "That's bad news."
same
respondent
The
Malay
replied
to her grandmother
though
appeared
she
in
to
understand what was said to her in Sindhi. The grandmother, as do
a number of Sindhi grandmothers, accomadated to the language code
the grandchild, and also used Malay in their
discourse
of
with
grandchildren.
the
Sindhi grandfathers however,
most
the
for
part, used English with their grandchildren.
extended families, Sindhi children were growing
In
up
a bilingual/trilingual envircnment where English,
in
Malay
and
Sindhi were heard (Sindhi between the grandparents or between the
mother
and
the mother-in-law), Malay among
the
young
cousins
attending government schools and English between the parents
and
the children but in nuclear
families with mothers up to the
age
of fourties
and slightly, over English was used not only between
mother
and child/children but also between spouses so
that
the
children only heard Sindhi only when the older kin visited.
There is a great deal of language variety, accomadation
and convergence in the society.
Father-in laws speak in
English
with daughter-in-laws and a daughter-in law respondent from India
reported
that her father-in-law only spoke in Malay with her
as
wanted
her to learn the language as she was helping
he
the
in
family
buz!ness
had to know Malay
and
pragmatic
reasons
for
whereas her mother-in-law communicated with her in Sindhi and her
husband spoke only in English! Grandmothers speak in
6
English/Malay
with their grandchildren
depending on
their
own
proficiency
English/Malay though more appeared
in
more
be
to
proficient
Malay than in English and there was a case
in
of
a
Sindhi grandmother who appeared to be so fluent in Malay that she
codemixing
was
Malay/Sindhi in discourse even with her
own
39
year
old
daughter. One Sindhi grandmother talked to
the
elder
nine
old grandson, who
year
had started school in
Malay
(the
medium
instruction in government schools)
of
wheras
with
her
younger
grandson she conversed in English as he was attending
a
kindergarden
where
English was the medium of
instruction.
The
same grandmother spoke to her 37 year old daughter in Sindhi
but
got
replies in basically English with
a couple
culturally-
of
based lexical items in Sindhi.
Sindhi has no instumental value to the community though
many
Sindhi
mothers admitted that they had made
mistake
as
a
Sindhi
had an affective/symbolic value. Some Sindhi mothers
had
even
told
the grandmothers of the kids to
speak
Malay
to
in
their
children because Malay is
an important
school
language.
Another
grandfather and his 35 year old son told the
researcher
that
they
were
intentionally
speaking
English
with
the
in
granddaughter/daughter
as the schoolteacher had advised them
to
do
so (the child is attending a private English medium
school).
Being
a Dragmatic business-minded community this
pragmatism
is
also
reflected
in language use
where the
object
language
in
learning and use appears to be instrumental. Parents use
English
and
grandmothers
generally use Malay with the result
that
the
kids
fluent
are
in these languages but not
ancestral
the
in
language
which is undergoing language shift if not
slow
death.
Sindhi
will be lost because even those who know it do not use it
(with the exception of the 60s who use it amongst that age
group
even though they will switch to English when speaking to
younger
Sindhi
When asked why Sindhis use
interlocuters)
English
when
they
know
a 54 year old respondent said "They
Sindhi
want
to
show off they are modern"
and a 40 year old respondent said
"My
husband
me to be 'Anggeris' (English)
wants
use
pants,
speak
English."
meeting
At
Wing
Ladies
the
Sindhi
of
a
of
the
Association of Malaysia, which was inaugrated earlier this
year,
and
whose
chief
objective
was to encourage
the
use
the
of
language
by organising Sindhi classes ,a 40 year
committee
old
member said very openly, "I'm sorry I c'ant speak in Sindhi," and
althoh
the committee had the best of intentions to
use
Sindhi
the switch to English came very soon after the initial address in
Sindhi.It
therefore
appears
even
that
intracommunity
in
gatherings English is the preferred mode of communication.
two-hour
long Ladies Wing
In
meeting
entire
a
the
discourse was in English except:
6
when quoting somebody older who had used
Sindhi
a.
lexical
some
especially
items
food
items
b.
example
for
"chutney, pokoro"
linkers example, "maana tha "
(that is)
c.
scolding example, "chari ai (she's mad), "mathe mae sur dindi
d.
ai (she gives me a headache)
Thus
be seen that
can
certain
lexical
it
especially,
items
food/curse items are retained as the languge changes function and
is being replaced by another.
Peer group activity is in English except among the late
and upwards and even the older respondents converge
50s
towards
the
language of their younger interlocuters. The
emcee (in
her
late thirties) in the 1990 annual Sindhi get together spoke
only
English
President,(late
did
in
the
as
did
40s) as
the
chairman(mid- fourties)
of the organising
committee.
Sindhi
A
drama
performed at the gathering
clearly depicts
language
the
situation in the home
domain where the mother
speaks to her son
Sindhi
replies
and
English
in
he
many
and
the
girls
in
"displayed"
him
for marriage
also speak
to
English.
in
If
intergenerational language transmission is no longer done in
the
home
setting
then the mother-tongue will become reduced
to
a
pidgin.
At present pidgin Sindhi (admittedly an
impressionistic
view) is being spoken by some 30 year olds.
replacive
situation
the
In
second
language
the
eventually
fulfills all of the individual's communicative
needs
doesn't use his native tongue nor
so
that
he
pan
his
to
it
descendents. (Fishman, 1972) Sindhis see the benifit of
speaking
the dominant business language- English/Malay but even in
intra-
group
encounters Sindhis in their 40s do not use much
their
of
mother-tongue
and the conversation is predominantly in
English.
At the ladies monthly high-tea get-together English is much
more
used
than
Sindhi.
Among the educated
cosmopolitan
Kuala
and
Lumpur
Sindhis
Sindhi is used only for communication
with
the
generation
older
then some of
and
even
the
tend
latter
to
accomodate
converge to the language used by
and
younger
their
interlocuter. One of the olders in the community,
a seventy year
old widower, said that he hardily used Sindhi in the home
domain
his son (late 30s) did not know Sindhi and that he only
as
used
Sindhi
in interactions with his own age group. Another
year
70
old lady started replying in English when the researcher spoke to
her in Sindhi.
The functional dominance of English in the home
domain
been
established
has
simultaneously
accompanied
and
by
is
reduced
language competence across the generations to the
point
8
7
has
English
that
fair to say
think it would be quite
where
I
Sindhi
the
of
majority
for the great
vernacular
the
become
longer
any
speakers of Sindhi
There are no monolingual
people.
only
their
as
Sindhi
with
growing up
are
children
no
and
competent
fully
are generally
(over 50s
language. Older people
)
for
(sufficient
good
have fairly
many of them
and
Sindhi
in
the
with
proficiency
of Malay/English
levels
communication),
men
older
in Malay and the
being more proficient
ladies
older
maintenance
for language
in English.The argument
more proficient
(a
generation
older
communication with the
facilitate
to
is
this
that
but the reality is
given by most respondents)
reason
as
neccessary
language is not really
to maintain the
objective
or
English
Malay
or
folk can speak either
the older
of
many
both.
language
Englishlri.,s the first
For the young generation
language:tiit the third language
the second
and Sindhi is not even
school
private international
Some children attending a
year
nine
English," and a
language
I have only one
me "
told
your
aye?" (what is
Sindhi "Tinjo nalo cha
oid boy when asked in
due
to
not
and much cajoling,
a very long pause
after
name?)
that
before
animated discussion minutes
shyness as we had had an
The
Dinesh)
Dinesh". (My name
replied, "Minjo nalo
English
in
such
class
Sindhi
missing. In the first
was
verb
auxilliary
using
teacher ended
taughi- and the Sindhi
simple structures were
don't
they
"otherwise
because
Sindhi
than
English
more
understand".
communication
of international
English is the language
international
moblie
this
is accorded prestige by
English
and
used especially by
is also known and is
merchant community. Malay
grandchildren
their
when communicating with
the older generation
school.
siblings who attend government
also among the young
and
shows a great
and Sindhi by the society
The use of English, Malay
to
adjusting
in
manipulation
and
flexibility
degree
of
and
respondents
older
the
the part of
on
needs
situational
younger
the
however,
the community. Unfortunately
of
members
private
in
those
as
out
lost
have
seems
to
generation
monolingual-English
more
becoming
are
schools
international
be
to
medium schools appear
who go to government
those
though
and English.
equally proficient in Malay
the
art this
is
written language is a lost
the
When
could
loss. No one in the 20-30 age group
first sign of language
could
only 37.5% in the 31-50 age group
read or write Sindhi and
in the 51-75
wheras 100% of the respondents
read and write Sindhi
age group could do so.
9
8
Table 3: Knowledge of Written Script
% Who Know Script
Age Group
37.5%
31-50
100%
51-75
reported
20-30
in the younger age group
i.e.
respondents
The
read
reading in English/Malay while those in the 31-50 age group
who read
in
as compared to the older respondents
books
English
the
The Sindhi Script consists of any of
Sindhi/Hindhi/English.
following:
Persio_arabic script.
a.
Devanagari script.
b.
Gurumkhi script.
c.
handful
generally the first is used but only a
of
Malaysia
In
has
in the 40s can read and write Sindhi. Although this
Sindhis
generation
older
the
amongst
concern
great
to
rise
given
the
read
able
to
be
who will
reagards
with
to
especially
communal prayer sessions,
"sukuhmani" (holy book) etc during the
Association
held in homes, the President of the Sindhi
normally
that he would be
in a meeting with the researcher in 1990, stated
Sindhi.
than pleased if the younger generation could speak
more
thavi
don't even know the difference between to (you) and
"They
(you-respect)".
Summary of findings
that
The language use data of the case study confirmed
occuring in the home domain while
a language shift to English is
the use of Sindhi only was observed
on an intergenerational level
close
most part,
is
only among the 50s. The home domain for the
that
"if
1986:14 states
an English domain.Pauwels
becoming
to
L2
considered an
less than 50% of Ll is registered the domain is
sociolinguistic
From a
domain as a result of language shift..."
language
the Sindhi community is in a situation
of
perspective
more
in
and language loss as people use English more and
shift
has
to the almost exclusion of Sindhi which
social lives
their
10