5.4.3 Sex variable
The sex variable also has conflicting results between the questionnaire and the MGT. Based on the composite questionnaire findings, null hypothesis 1.3 that there is no difference between females and
males in scores can be rejected, and alternative hypothesis 1.3 that there is a difference in scores between females and males can be accepted. Females were found to have higher usage and more positive attitudes
towards Jambi Malay than men. Though not all of the individual questions have statistically significant results, this pattern is seen in all but two of the questions. The two questions which do not follow this trend
are attitude questions.
Significant impact of sex on language attitudes seems to be harder to assert with confidence, since
MGT results show no significant difference between the sexes. Null hypothesis 1.3 cannot be rejected on the basis of the matched guise test unlike the questionnaire. The composite scores, however, do follow the
pattern of females having more positive attitudes towards the mother tongue while males have more positive attitudes towards the language of wider communication SI.
Results from the individual MGT questions demonstrated that for the most part the pattern of females having more positive attitudes towards JM is maintained. Yet, answers given for both Indonesian
and JM have little distinction between them. As was found in the age variable, it may be that sex has more of an impact on language usage, and less of an impact on language attitudes.
5.4.4 Location and occupation variables
Findings from the location variable are not without complexities either. In the case of the questionnaire, null hypothesis 1.4 that there is no difference in scores according to location is accepted, and alternative
hypothesis 1.4 rejected. The difference is not statistically significant, but Mudung Laut has a higher score than Mudung Darat, meaning that Jambi Malay usage is stronger in Mudung Laut than in Mudung Darat.
This is the opposite of what was hypothesized, since Mudung Laut is the closest to the city, and its residents generally have more contact with modernization, and higher education levels.
The fact that Mudung Darat has higher proportions of men and young people may help to explain its lower score, since it was found that men and young people have far lower JM language usage than
others. It is also plausible that economics plays a part. Mudung Darat, which is more agriculturally focused, is less economically developed; therefore aspirations of economic achievement, associated with usage of
Indonesian, may be higher.
As far as attitudes towards Jambi Malay, as revealed in both individual questionnaire questions and the MGT, the converse was true. Mudung Darat was found to have more positive attitudes towards JM
than Mudung Laut, with statistically significantly higher scores. Based on the MGT results, null hypothesis 1.4 can be rejected, and alternative hypothesis 1.4 that there is a difference in scores between the two
locations can be accepted. Location relative to the city does apparently have a significant impact on language attitudes.
Again, however, there is the issue of similar findings for attitudes towards Indonesian. Mudung Darat also has significantly higher scores for Indonesian than Mudung Laut. If economic aspirations which
are associated with Indonesian indeed play a role, it is understandable that Mudung Darat residents have more positive attitudes towards Indonesian, for economic reasons, as well as higher usage.
The implication is that the state of being at a socioeconomic disadvantage, such as being isolated from an urban center, leads to higher affirmation of the perceived values of that urban center. This theory is
strengthened with the occupation results discussed in section 4.4.7: the agricultural workers and unemployed of which Mudung Darat has many have the highest MGT attitude scores towards Indonesian,
while the students and teachers have the lowest scores. As with the education variable findings, it may be related to the notion of “hypercorrection” Labov 1972 seen in lower middle classes.
The weakness in the initial hypothesis that rural locations have higher usage and more positive attitudes towards JM was also demonstrated in the pilot test location results. The pilot test site, Danau
Sipin, is, practically speaking, as isolated as Mudung Darat, if not more isolated. Though the sample was small and results less reliable, thus not having much bearing on the main study, findings there show
significantly lower JM language usage and more negative attitudes than the other locations, even Mudung Darat.
Based on all of the results of the location variable, one might venture to say that location relative to the city has less of an impact on language use and even language attitudes than other variables, such as
age, education level, sex. This is contrary to findings put forth by Sercombe 2002, in which he noted that attitudes of the Penans of Brunei did not appear to vary significantly by age or gender, but they did vary
according to residential location. However, in his examination of a historically hunter-gatherer group, it is reasonable for location to have more significance than in agriculturalfishing based groups like the Jambi
Malays. And it must be mentioned that no statistical tests for significance were done in the Penan study.
Occupation may have more impact on language usage and attitudes than location as well, since it seems to be more of a determining factor in the economic motivations of the people. Occupation also may
be more precise than location in predicting the amount of contact with outsiders one has.
5.5 Matched guise test
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