Ethnic Language Use and Ethnic Identity of University Students in Malaysia

1 I have spent time trying to find out more about my own ethnic group, such as its history, traditions and customs. EI 2 I am active in organisations or social groups that include mostly members of my own ethnic group. EB 3 I have a clear sense of my ethnic background and what it means for me. EI 4 I like meeting and getting to know people from other ethnic groups. OTH 5 I speak my ethnic language whenever I can with people from my ethnic group. EB * 6 I think a lot about how my life will be affected by belonging to my ethnic group. EI 7 I am happy that I belong to my ethnic group. AF 8 I sometimes feel it would be better if different ethnic groups didn’t try to mix together. OTH R 9 I am not very clear about the role of my ethnicity in my life. EI R 10 I try to speak my language to show that I belong to my ethnic group. EB * 11 I often spend time with people from other ethnic groups. OTH 12 I really have not spent much time trying to learn more about the culture and history of my ethnic group. EI R 13 I have a strong sense of belonging to my own ethnic group. AF 14 I understand quite well what my ethnic group membership means to me, in terms of how to relate to my own group and other groups. EI 15 I don’t feel comfortable when I am with people from other ethnic groups. EB * 16 In order to learn more about my ethnic background, I have often talked to other people about my ethnic group. EI 17 I have a lot of pride in my ethnic group and its achievements. AF 18 I don’t try to become friends with people from other ethnic groups. OTH R 19 I participate in cultural practices of my own group, such as special food, music or customs. EB 20 I often talk with older family members during family events such as weddings and festivals. EB * 21 I am involved in activities with people from other ethnic groups. OTH 22 I feel a strong attachment towards my own ethnic group. AF 23 I enjoy being around people from other ethnic groups. OTH 24 I feel good about my cultural or ethnic background. AF Notes: 1. Components of ethnic identity in MEIM: Affirmation/Belonging (AB), Ethnic identity achievement (EI), Ethnic behaviour (EB), Other-group orientation (OTH). 2. R – These three items needed to be reverse coded before calculation of mean scores. 3. * – These four items were added to Phinney’s ( 1992) MEIM by Ting and Rose ( 2014).

Demographic characteristic		Number
Gender	Female	64
Gender	Male	36
Ethnic group	Malay	44
	Chinese	16
	Indian	11
	Iban	16
	Bidayuh	8
	Kadazandusun	3
	Melanau	1
	Sungai	1
Parents’ monthly income	Less than RM2000	51
	RM2000-RM3999	35
	RM4000-RM5999	11
	RM6000-RM7999	1
	More than RM8000	2

Ethnic group	Participant’s ethnic group	Father’s ethnic group	Mother’s ethnic group
Malay	44	44	39
Chinese	16	16	16
Indian	11	11	11
Iban	16	15	16
Bidayuh	8	7	7
Kadazandusun	3	3	3
Melanau	1	1	1
Sungai	1	1 (Banjar)	1

Domain: Situation	Languages used (%)
Domain: Situation	English	Standard Malay	Malay dialect	Chinese dialect
Family
Father	4.54%	31.82%	63.64%	0
• Mother	2.27%	29.54%	68.18%	0
• Grandparents (paternal)	0	29.54%	65.91%	0
• Grandparents (maternal)	0	27.27%	68.12%	0
• Aunt and uncles (paternal)	0	34.09%	65.91%	0
• Aunt and uncles (maternal)	0	29.54%	68.12%	0
• Cousins (paternal)	2.27%	31.82%	65.91%	0
• Cousins (maternal)	2.27%	29.54%	65.91%	0
Religion	0	68.12%	9.09%	0
• Mass media Radio	45.45%	45.45%	6.82%	0
• Television	68.18%	31.82%	0	0
• Movies	72.72%	27.27%	0	0
• Newspaper	43.18%	52.27%	0	4.54%
• Social media	34.09%	54.54%	11.36%	0
Transactions
• Shopping	4.54%	59.09%	36.36%
Education Lecturers	22.72%	75%	2.27%	0
Support staff	4.54%	81.81%	11.36%	0
Friendship Same ethnic group	0	50%	50%	0
Different ethnic group	15.91%	77.327%	6.82%	0
Total number of instances (N)	142	381	293	4.54
Mean number of situations per participant for the use of ethnic languages		8.66 SD=4.55	6.66 SD=4.43
• Mean number of situations per participant for the use of either Malay or Malay dialects			11.09 SD=2.75
Percentage of language use situations dominated by Malay or Malay dialects			58.37%

Domain: Situation	Languages used (%)
Domain: Situation	English	Standard Malay	Malay dialect	Mandarin	Chinese dialect
Family
Father	0	0	0	81.25%	18.75%
Mother	0	0	0	68.75%	31.25%
Grandparents (paternal)	0	0	0	56.25%	43.75%
Grandparents (maternal)	0	0	0	56.25%	43.75%
Aunt and uncles (paternal)	0	0	0	81.25%	18.75%
Aunt and uncles (maternal)	0	0	0	81.25%	18.75%
Cousins (paternal)	0	0	0	81.25%	18.75%
Cousins (maternal)	0	0	0	81.25%	18.75%
Religion	0	0	0	62.5%	31.25%
Mass media
- Radio	25%	0	0	68.75%	6.25%
Television	12.5%	75%	0	12.5%	0
Movies	50%	50%	0	0	0
Newspaper	31.25%	68.75%	0	0	0
Social media	12.5%	0	0	81.25%	6.25%
Transactions - shopping	31.25%	6.25%	0	43.75%	18.75%
Education
Lecturers	50%	6.25%	25%	18.75%	0
Support staff	6.25%	68.75%	25%	0	0
Friendship
Same ethnic group	0	0	0	81.25%	18.75%
Different ethnic group	25%	50%	25%	0	0
Total number of instances (N)	39	52	12	153	47
Mean number of situations per participant for the use of ethnic language				M=5.21 SD=3.53	M=2.94 SD=3.97
Mean number of situations per participant for the use of either Mandarin or Chinese dialects					M=11.25 SD=1.34
Percentage of language use situations dominated by Mandarin or Chinese dialects					59.21%

Domain: Situation	Languages used (%)
Domain: Situation	English	Standard Malay	Mandarin	Tamil
Family	18.18%	0	0	81.82%
Father
Mother	18.18%	0	0	81.82%
Grandparents (paternal)	18.18%	0	0	81.82%
Grandparents (maternal)	18.18%	0	0	81.82%
Aunt and uncles (paternal)	18.18%	0	0	81.82%
Aunt and uncles (maternal)	18.18%	0	0	81.82%
Cousins (paternal)	18.18%	0	0	81.82%
Cousins (maternal)	18.18%	0	0	81.82%
Religion	0	0	0	11%
Mass media
- Radio	81.82%	0	0	18.18%
Television	81.82%	0	18.18%	0
Movies	81.82%	0	18.18%	0
Newspaper	100%	0	0	0
Social media	100%	0	0	0
Transactions - shopping	0	100%	0	0
Education Lecturers	100%	0	0	0
Support staff	72.73%	27.27%	0	0
Friendship Same ethnic group	72.73%	0	0	27.27%
Different ethnic group	72.73%	27.27%	0	0
Total number of instances (N)	100	17	4	88
Mean number of situations per participant for Tamil				M=8 SD=3.55
Percentage of language use situations dominated by Tamil				42.11%

Domain: Situation	Languages used (%)
Domain: Situation	English	Standard Malay	Malay dialect	Mandarin	Chinese dialect	Indigenous languages
Family
Father	3.33	0	10	0	0	83.33
Mother	3.33	0	10	0	0	83.33
Grandparents (paternal)	3.33	3.33	6.67	0	0	83.33
Grandparents (maternal)	3.33	3.33	3.33	0	0	86.67
Aunt and uncles (paternal)	3.33	3.33	6.67	0	0	83.33
Aunt and uncles (maternal)	3.33	3.33	3.33	0	0	86.67
Cousins (paternal)	3.33	3.33	10	0	0	80
Cousins (maternal)	0	3.33	6.67	3.33	0	83.33
Religion	10	16.67	6.67	0	0	53.33
Mass media
- Radio	33.33	10	13.33	0	0	40
Television	43.33	53.33	0	0	0	0
Movies	73.33	23.33	0	0	0	0
Newspaper	20	66.67	0	0	10	0
Social media	20	6.67	30	0	0	40
Transactions – shopping	3.33	30	50	0	0	13.33
Education
Lecturers	3.33	53.33	26.67	0	0	13.33
Support staff	0	46.67	50	0	0	0
Friendship
Same ethnic group	0	10	3.33	0	0	83.33
Different ethnic group	3.33	76.67	13.33	0	0	3.33
Total number of instances (N)	70	124	75	3.33	10	278
Mean number of situations per participant for indigenous languages						M=9.41 SD=3.84
Percentage of language use situations dominated by indigenous languages						49.55%

Ethnic identity components	Indian (n=11)	Chinese (n=16)	Indigenous (n=30)	Malay (n=44)	Mean
Affirmation/belonging^* * In-group oriented ethnic identity components	3.60	3.61	3.52	3.34	3.52
Other-group orientation	3.53	3.23	3.39	3.30	3.36
Achievement of ethnic identity^* * In-group oriented ethnic identity components	3.29	3.02	2.92	3.07	3.07
Ethnic behaviour^* * In-group oriented ethnic identity components	3.52	3.10	2.77	2.80	3.05
Mean	3.48	3.24	3.15	3.13

	Malay (n=44)	Chinese (n=16)	Indigenous (n=30)	Indian (n=11)
Extensiveness of ethnic language use	58.37%	59.21%	49.55%	42.11%
Strength of ethnic identity	3.13	3.24	3.15	3.48
Correlation between ethnic language use and strength of ethnic identity	0.877	0.876	0.910	0.855

[1] suhieting@gmail.com

Brasil

Brasil

Ethnic Language Use and Ethnic Identity of University Students in Malaysia

Uso de língua étnica e identidade étnica de estudantes universitários na Malásia

ABSTRACT: