• What are the language fluency and acquisition patterns across generations for Bookan and Sabah Malay?
• What are the language use patterns in different social domains, both public and private? • What are the attitudes of the Bookan people towards the Bookan language and Sabah Malay?
4 Methodology
This section discusses the tools and sampling procedures implemented for the Bookan study. The survey tools are described in §4.1 and the procedures for selecting the research locations and informants are
discussed in §4.2.
4.1 Tools
Four different survey tools were administered to explore Bookan language vitality, and to ascertain the boundaries of the Bookan language area and the different language communities living there: the
Language Mapping Tool §4.1.1, the Bilingualism Venn Diagram §4.1.2, the Domains of Language Use Tool §4.1.3, and Individual Sociolinguistic Questionnaires §4.1.4. The raw data elicited by means of
these tools are presented in Appendix A.
4.1.1 Language Mapping Tool
The Language Mapping tool aids in determining the boundaries of the target language area and in identifying the languages spoken in addition to the target language in the villages throughout the area.
This is achieved by presenting the participating community members with a photocopied map of the language area see Appendix A. Starting with the location where the group interview is taking place, the
researchers inquire from the participants which language communities are living in their village. Subsequently, the interviewees are asked to identify the language communities living in the surrounding
neighboring villages in ever-widening circles. The researchers mark the respective languages on the map using different color codes for the respective languages. The most dominant language is indicated by
underlining the village name on the map while less dominant languages are indicated by short vertical bars to the left andor right of the village name. The participants usually find it easy to list the language
communities found in nearby villages, while they find it more difficult to name the language communities found in villages located farther away.
Administering the tool in different locations throughout the language area provides the researchers with overlapping results. In their analysis of the results, the researchers compare the different maps and
identify those villages for which the interviewed communities provided conflicting information. In evaluating these mismatches, the researchers note where the conflicting information for a given village
was elicited. Subsequently, they choose the information that was elicited in the research location situated the closest to the target village.
For the present study, the Language Mapping tool was administered in three Bookan locations, namely in Lanas Station in the northeastern part of the language area, in Bunang Lama in the center of
the language area, and in Mapila in the southwestern corner of the Bookan area. The results are discussed in §2.2 ‘Geographical setting’ and §2.3 ‘Demographics’; pictures of the raw results are
presented in Appendix A.
4.1.2 Bilingualism Venn Diagram
The Bilingualism Venn Diagram tool serves to visualize the levels of fluency which the different subsets of the community reportedly have in the different languages spoken in their community Hanawalt et al.
2015:3–4; see also Hasselbring et al. 2011:19–20; PA Wiki Contributors n.d.a. This is achieved by placing two overlapping loops of string on the floor. One loop represents those community members who
speak the vernacular language well, in this case Bookan, while the other loop represents those community members who speak the second language well, in this case Sabah Malay. The overlapping
area represents those community members who speak both languages well. The respective language names are written on pieces of paper and placed at the top of the three language areas.
Before the administration of this tool, the researchers had prepared separate paper slips with the names of four different social subgroups. The subgroups were as follows: older people aged above 60
years of age, adults aged 20 to 59, school children aged 8 to 19, and pre-school children aged 3 to 7. In a first step, the participants discussed which subgroups speak Sabah Malay well. They were
asked to place the paper slips representing the respective age groups inside the Sabah Malay loop. In the same way the participants discussed which age groups speak Bookan well, placing the respective paper
slips inside the Bookan loop. Likewise, the participants discussed if any of the subgroups already placed within the two circles loops speak both Sabah Malay and Bookan well. They were asked to move the
identified subgroups into the overlapping area of the two loops. In a second step, the participants discussed which one of the three sections comprises the most people in their village.
The Bilingualism Venn Diagram was administered in Bunang Lama, Lanas Station, and Mapila but not in Delayan Lama. The results are discussed in §5.1: Language fluency and acquisition patterns;
pictures of the raw results are presented in Appendix A.
4.1.3 Domains of Language Use Tool
