5.4.1 Age variable
From the discussion on questionnaire findings according to the age variable, we can say that age does indeed have a strong impact on the amount of JM spoken, and, to a lesser degree, the self-claimed attitudes
towards it. Considering the questionnaire results, then, null hypothesis 1.1 that there is no difference in scores according to age can be rejected, and alternative hypothesis 1.1 can be accepted. The young
displaying the lowest JM language usage may be reflective of the increase in recent years of those receiving higher education compared with earlier generations, since education level strongly influences language use,
as was discussed in section 4.4.4. The same may be true for the more negative attitudes towards JM showed by the young, at least where societal advancement is concerned, since a significantly higher number of the
young said that even though they are happy with Jambi Malay they would not choose to attend or send their children to a Jambi Malay-medium school.
Attitudes indirectly accessed through the MGT, however, are not impacted significantly by age.
Based on the MGT results, null hypothesis 1.1 is not able to be rejected. In fact, some surprising trends are instead observed: the Old have fairly positive attitudes towards Indonesian and less positive attitudes
towards Jambi Malay, while it is the young who have the most negative attitudes towards Indonesian. The contrasting findings between the MGT and the questionnaire for the age variable may be a
result of built-in problems with the measurement tools themselves, as will be discussed later, or the fact that there were 20 fewer MGTs completed than questionnaires.
Whether or not these factors skewed the results, the case may be that overall, age is less important in predicting language attitudes than in predicting language usage. There may be more unity than disunity
among the Jambi Malays, without age distinction, when it comes to attitudes towards their language. A desire for increase in status andor economic advancement, which appears to be to some degree higher in
the young, may be the main factor that has the potential to disturb the unity.
5.4.2 Education variable
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