Language Choice and Language Maintenance of Mon and Thai Song Dam Ethnic Groups in Surat Thani Province

Abstract

 The objectives of this present study are to study patterns of
language choice, comparing patterns of language choice, and to analyze
methods applied for language maintenance of Mon and Tai Song Dam ethnic groups residing in Phunphin district, Surat Thani province. Mixed methods were utilized as a research design for collecting data from three age groups, which are 14-34, 35-55, and 56 or more. Each group consists of 10
participants. The research findings are descriptively presented. It found that patterns of language choice of the two ethnic groups were different. 100% of the Mon aged 14-34 chose the Tai language in all language domains
except temple while those aged 35-55 chose the Mon language in domains of temple and family. The mon aged more than 56 chose the Mon language in every domain. On the contrary, the Tai Dam aged 14-34 tended to choose both the Tai and Tai Dam languages similar to the choice made by older people but in a lower percentage.
When the language choice of both Mon and Tai Dam ethnicities was
compared, it found that the Tai Dam are more widely spoken in everyday life. While the Mon aged 14-34 chose the Mon language in the temple
domain only, the Tai Dam chose their own language in every domain. The Mon aged 35-55 chose the Mon language only in temple and family domains but the Tai Dam aged 35-55 choose their ethnic language in every domain. Language maintenance strategies of the two ethnic groups were also
different and statistically significant at 0.05. Those for the Mon ethnic groups were attitude and language roles in everyday life, while those for the Tai Song Dam ethnic group were attitude, solidarity, language appreciation,
linguistic capital, and similar characteristics with Thai. These factors,
therefore, should be heavily promoted by all language communities in order to maintain their ethnic languages and reduce risks of possible language loss. Also, the findings clearly indicate that economic development in
accordance with sociocultural development as positive attitudes will finally foster ethnic strengths.