A Sociolinguistic Survey On Language Attitudes Among Teenagers Of The Dong In Southwest China

This thesis investigates attitudes towards the Dong language and Putonghua(PTH)among teenagers of the Dong,an ethnic minority group in southwest China.The study was carried out in one middle school(n=50)and one high school(n=91).Students(n=141)aged 13-19 participated in the study,among which 65 were female and 76 male.This thesis employed a mixed research instrument including the quantitative approach and the qualitative approach by adopting a questionnaire and an interview.Results reveal that respondents were generally positively oriented towards both the two languages integratively,but with disparities.Respondents were more favorably oriented towards the Dong language than to PTH in this respect.In terms of instrumental orientation,respondents showed strongly positive inclination towards PTH.While their instrumental orientation towards the Dong language was negative.When it comes to gender differences,no statistically significant differences were found in instrumental orientation,but results indicate that female respondents were more positively oriented towards the two languages as regards integrative evaluation than their male counterparts.In terms of types of school,middle school respondents were more positively oriented towards the Dong language than high school respondents in integrative evaluation.Respondents from the two schools showed negative evaluation of the Dong language with regard to instrumental orientation.On the other hand,high school respondents tended to evaluate PTH more positively than middle school respondents as regards its instrumental value.The attitude comparison between the two languages also demonstrated that integrative orientation towards the Dong language was the most highly evaluated factor,followed by instrumental orientation towards PTH,integrative orientation towards PTH and instrumental orientation towards the Dong language.The instrumental values of the Dong language was the only negatively evaluated factor.The major findings of this thesis are as follows:(1)respondents' attitudes towards the Dong language were strongly positive in integrative evaluation but negative in instrumental evaluation;(2)respondents' attitudes towards PTH were slightly positive in integrative orientation and strongly positive in instrumental orientation;(3)female respondents were more positively oriented towards the two languages integratively than male respondents;(4)middle school respondents were more positively inclined towards the Dong language in integrative orientation,while high school respondents evaluated PTH more positively in terms of instrumental orientation;(5)integrative orientation towards the Dong language received the highest evaluation,what followed were instrumental orientation towards PTH,integrative orientation towards PTH and instrumental orientation towards the Dong language.In addition,language shift within the Dong emerges at a faster pace with the spread of PTH and language attitudes of teenagers of the Dong were closely associated with cultural identities.