Language Behaviors of Hakka Teenagers in Miaoli

• Main Authors: Yu Pei-Chun, 游珮君
• Other Authors: 許洪坤
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2005
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/24155013094858112771

碩士 === 輔仁大學 === 語言學研究所 === 93 === This thesis is a sociolinguistic study on the language behaviors of Hakka teenagers in Miaoli and the factors that affect their different language behaviors. “Miaoli” is a representative county of Hakka culture, in which over half of the residents are Hakka. It is found that Hakka adults use their mother tongue most of the time, but the teenagers behave differently. Some teenagers speak Hakka fluently, while others are not good at it. Some speak Hakka all the time, but some seldom use it. It is assumed that they all come from the same place and live in the same cultural life. Why do some speak Hakka, while others don’t? What are their language behaviors? What are the crucial determinants? These will be investigated in this study. The data are collected by questionnaire, in which are the questions about three factors that I thought might affect Hakka teenagers’ language behaviors ﹘ social environment, family, and personal attitudes. The subjects are the Hakka teenagers of junior, senior, and vocational high school students in Miaoli. From their answers of the questionnaire, we could know the environment and family they live with. Also, their personal attitudes and language behaviors will be understood. Besides, I compare the speakers who use Hakka in the top 25% and the bottom 25% of the subjects, and find if different social environments and families will cause their different language behaviors. From the collected data and discussions, we conclude that: (1) Hakka teenagers speak Hakka mostly when they are talking to the elderly relatives or in a Hakka conversation. However, they do not usually speak Hakka in their daily lives, no matter with their parents, teachers, siblings or classmates. The policy of teaching school subjects in Mandarin and the nucleus families in modern time are the two major determinant points. (2) The three factors ﹘ social environment, family and personal attitude are found correlated with language use. The personal attitude seems to be the primary factor. (3) Sex and educational level also affect language behaviors. In my study, I find that boys have higher percentage of speaking Hakka. The junior and senior high school boys speak Hakka most. And the senior high school girls speak Hakka least. A language that will be preserved or not relates to how much people use it. When old people die, teenagers will have the most important responsibility of continuing the language. It is found that in Miaoli, a representative Hakka county, most of the Hakka teenagers do not speak their mother tongue. If the condition doesn’t change, it can be predicted that there will be fewer people using Hakka dialect in the next generation.