will be put into action. A full description of the Appreciative Inquiry method and results can be found in Appendix H.
Advantages: This method is very adaptable. Its emphasis is on what the community can do now to work towards their dreams for language development. Appreciative Inquiry helps build a concrete context by
which to understand actual priorities that a community has for its own development.
Disadvantages: If not carried out appropriately, this method may raise false hopes of outside assistance in reaching their goals.
4 Language variation and attitudes
One of the primary questions this sociolinguistic research seeks to answer is: What are the relationships between Lohorung [lbr], Yamphu [ybi], and Southern Yamphu [lrr]? Based on lexical similarity
percentages, recorded text testing, attitudinal questions, and observations, we have concluded that Yamphu spoken in Hedangna and Southern Yamphu spoken in Rajarani are separate but related
languages to Lohorung spoken in Pangma.
This section is divided into sections that address the relationships between varieties according to the results of our research. This includes levels of lexical similarity and the degree of comprehension
between the varieties, as well as attitudes expressed on questions before and after the recorded text test.
4.1 Relationship between Lohorung Pangma and Yamphu Hedangna
4.1.1 Lexical similarity results
Lexical similarity is measured by comparing the phonetic similarity of vocabularies among speech varieties. In this study, we used the procedures outlined in Blair 1990:31–32, described further in
Appendix A. This method involved collecting and comparing a standardised wordlist. The researchers transcribed the wordlists using the International Phonetic Alphabet IPA, shown in Appendix A. These
wordlists were checked with other mother-tongue speakers from the same area in order to ensure accuracy. Lexical similarity calculations were made using the WordSurv computer program and expressed
as percentages.
A total of five wordlists were compared in this study. Three Lohorung, one Yamphu, and one Southern Yamphu variety were collected and will be discussed in this section and in 5 Dialect variation
and attitudes section 5. For comparison between language varieties, the sites were chosen using information regarding the locations of Lohorung, Yamphu, and Southern Yamphu population centers.
To measure lexical similarity between Lohorung and Yamphu, wordlists were elicited in Pangma Lohorung and Hedangna Yamphu. The lexical similarity between these wordlists is 65 percent. Blair
1990:23 states that if a lexical similarity is below 60 percent, no intelligibility testing is required. Sixty- five percent shows a low level of lexical similarity, but still warrants intelligibility testing. To investigate
further, we administered Recorded Text Tests.
4.1.2 Intelligibility testing results
Recorded Text Testing RTT was used to evaluate comprehension between Lohorung and Yamphu. An RTT was developed in each location, using a Lohorung story from Pangma and a Yamphu story from
Hedangna. Further description of the testing procedure can be found in Appendix B. Table 1 displays the results of the intelligibility tests. The gray sections display the results of the hometown test HTT,
whereas the others are RTT results.
Table 1. RTT results for Lohorung Pangma and Yamphu Hedangna speakers Test Location
Story Hedangna
Pangma Lohorung
Pangma Avg
65 89
SD 23.5
11.0 n=
10 10
Yamphu Hedangna
Avg 91
44 SD
9.6 17.8
n= 10
10 In order to interpret RTT results properly, three pieces of information are necessary. The first is
average percentage shown as Avg in Table 1, which is the mean or average of all subjects’ individual scores on a particular story at a particular test site. Another important piece of information is a measure
of how much individual scores vary from the community average, which is known as standard deviation SD in Table 1. The third important component of the data is the size of the sample of people tested on
each story n= in Table 1.
Blair 1990:25 has written about the relationship between test scores and their standard deviation, as seen in Figure 6.
Standard Deviation High
Low
Average Score
High
Situation 1 Many people understand the
story well, but some have difficulty.
Situation 2 Most people understand the
story.
Low
Situation 3 Many people cannot understand
the story, but a few are able to answer correctly.
Situation 4 Few people are able to
understand the story.
Figure 6. Relationship between test averages and standard deviation.
In general, average RTT scores of around 80 percent or higher with accompanying low standard deviations usually ten and below; high standard deviations are about 15 and above are taken to
indicate that the subjects from the test point display adequate comprehension of the variety represented by the recording. However, RTT average scores lower than 60 percent are interpreted to indicate
inadequate comprehension.
The results of each HTT were not ideal. Average HTT scores of 95 percent or higher, with a low standard deviation less than 10 to 12 points are preferred. Average HTT scores of 89 percent
Lohorung and 91 percent Yamphu show that the tests could have been stronger. Despite that, the differences in scores and standard deviations between each HTT and RTT reveal valuable information.
The average score of Yamphu speakers in Hedangna on the Lohorung RTT was 65 percent. With a high standard deviation of 23.5, these results show that many people cannot understand the story, but a
few are able to answer correctly. There is no apparent correlation between RTT scores and factors of gender, age, education, or initial contact.
The average score on the Yamphu RTT for Lohorung speakers who took the test in Pangma was 44 percent. This is a low average score. The standard deviation among the scores was 17.8. This shows that
most people do not understand the story, though some scored higher than others.
With such a high standard deviation, language contact may play a role. The data shows that the three Lohorung participants with the lowest scores have never been to Hedangna. Men scored higher
than most women and all said they had been to Hedangna. Their higher scores could be due to more extensive travel and contact with Yamphu.
Respondents from Hedangna had both a higher average score and higher standard deviation than those from Pangma. It is possible that people in Hedangna understood the Lohorung story better than
people in Pangma understood the Yamphu story because Yamphu people are more exposed to Lohorung than Lohorung people are to Yamphu. Hedangna is more remote than Pangma. People from Hedangna
travel through Pangma to reach the district headquarters, but people from Pangma have fewer reasons to travel to Hedangna.
4.1.3 PrePost-RTT question results
