18 by assessing language use and attitudes of the Kachok people toward their own
language and the other languages they speak. Data for this study were collected through orally administered questionnaires, observations, and informal interviews.
This study did not include other factors in assessing language vitality such as government language policy, language proficiency, language shift, and bilingualism
multilingualism.
1.7 Definition of Terms
The following key terms are described as used in the study. Bahnaric family - commonly recognized as one of the principal branches of the
broader Mon-Khmer or Austro-Asiatic family, which includes Khmer, Vietnamese and numerous minority languages of Southeast Asia
Sidwell, 2000, p. 2. Dialect - a language which 1 is highly similar to at least one other language; 2 has
no other language included within it regionally as a distinct part; and 3 has no officially normalized writing system, pronunciation,
lexicon, or syntax Lingualinks Library, 1996-2002. It also refers to speech varieties which are linguistically similar enough to be
intelligible to speakers of a related variety Blair, 1990, p. 2. Domains - are social factors that are involved with location, topic, and participants.
Family is an example of a typical domain in which a speaker is talking to another member of a family about everyday topics. That speaker is
said to be in the family domain Fasold, 1984.
19 The study investigates language use by different generations in the
domains of family, neighboring language groups, friendships, village meetings, school, market, and religion.
Endangered language - refers to a language which is on the path of extinction. A language is endangered when its speakers cease to use it in an
increasingly reduced number of communicative domains, and cease to pass it on from one generation to the next. That is, there are no new
speakers, either adults or children UNESCO, 2003, p. 3. Ethnic group - refers to a group of people of the same race having a common national
or distinctive culture. The Kachok ethnic group in Cambodia is the focus of this study.
Ethnic identity - the sum total of feelings on the part of group members about those values, symbols, and common histories that identify them as a distinct
group Royce, 1982, p. 18. First language L1 - refers to the first language that a person speaks and understands
best. It is also called a person’s native language. It is the language that the child first used to speak with his parents.
Kachok - the name of the ethnic minority people and a language spoken by a people
group in Ratanakiri, Cambodia. Alternate names and spellings are: Kaco, Kaco, Kacoq, Kacok, Kancho, and Kachah.
