Table 4.14 Results of MGT question “c” according to age – SI test: chi-square
Table 4.15 Results of MGT question “c” according to age – JM test: chi-square
The MGT questions having to do with character and identity, then, showed neither significant results nor an identifiable trend according to age. The status question revealed that age was also not
statistically significant, but it did show a pattern in that the young had slightly less positive attitudes towards Jambi Malay than Indonesian.
4.4.3.4 Summary of age variable
In summary, the composite scores of the questionnaire showed a significant difference between age groups, with the young having the lowest scores, followed by the middle-aged, then the old. Upon further analysis
of the questionnaire, it was shown how many of the language usage questions are in line with this trend, but some of the attitude questions are not. Most of the people in all the age groups claimed they were happy to
speak and hear Jambi Malay. Yet when asked if they wanted Jambi Malay as the medium of instruction in schools, the trend of the young having the lowest language JM usage and most negative attitudes is seen
again. In terms of attitudes as revealed by the questionnaire, then, the informants on the whole have a positive attitude towards Jambi Malay, but when faced with the choice of Jambi Malay or Indonesian in
education, Jambi Malay loses out, with the young at the forefront. According to the matched guise test results, however, there is little discernible pattern according to
age. In looking at the composite scores, neither Indonesian nor Jambi Malay showed significant differences between the age groups. When looking at particular pairs, though, there was a significant difference
between the middle-aged and young for Jambi Malay, and old and young for Indonesian, the young having the lowest averages for both Jambi Malay and Indonesian. That the young had the lowest averages for
Indonesian, while the old had the highest was unexpected, especially after examining the results from the questionnaire. It is possible that the lower number of respondents in the MGT approximately 20 fewer
had an influence on the somewhat contrasting findings between the questionnaire and the MGT. Even so, based on the results from the questionnaire and the MGT, and the differences between them, one may
conclude that the influence that age has on Jambi Malay language attitudes is small, yet it is significant when examining language usage.
Upon closer examination of individual MGT questions with the chi-square test, again age had no significant impact on the answers given. In this analysis, only the status question “c” showed a trend
whereby the young displayed negative attitudes more than did the middle-aged or old, especially towards Jambi Malay. It is not surprising that the status question got differing responses than the identity or
character questions, since a similar finding was documented by Rickford 1985 in his attitude study of a Creole variety. He noted that issues of socioeconomic prestige tended to elicit more positive attitudes
towards the standard language, while dimensions of friendship or identity brought about more positive attitudes towards the non-standard variety cf. Mohammad Subakhir 1998. Differences in responses
according to the categories identity, status, and character will be seen in subsequent variables as well.
4.4.4 Results: Education variable: No education through finished SMA
