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Article published In:
Chinese Language and Discourse
Vol. 12:2 (2021) ► pp.259–279

Language choice among Chinese-Indonesian children in Palembang City

A view of patterns and sociocultural factors

ORCID logo | Gadjah Mada University
ORCID logo | Gadjah Mada University
ORCID logo | Gadjah Mada University

This study examines the language choices among four- to six-year old Chinese-Indonesian children in various social domains to identify patterns of choice and analyze sociocultural factors that significantly affect their language choices. The results show that Chinese-Indonesian children’s language choice is highly patterned based on the type of social domains and interlocutors. Their choices are influenced by three major factors: (1) language attitude including parental attitude and the attitude of the indigenous population; (2) language habit formed at home; (3) social domain and context of communication.

Keywords: language choice, sociocultural factors, Chinese-Indonesian, children, heritage language
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1A brief historical portrait of the Chinese-Indonesian community
  • 2.Theoretical framework
    • 2.1Heritage language
    • 2.2Sociocultural theory
  • 3.Data and methodology
  • 4.Findings
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Chinese-Indonesian children’s language choice
    • 5.2Sociocultural factors affecting Chinese-Indonesian children’s language choice
      • 5.2.1Language attitude
      • 5.2.2Language habit
      • 5.2.3Social domain
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 April 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.19012.set
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