59 only seven Kachok people live there. Lao is the common language used in this
village.
Map 6: Kachok Villages in Ratanakiri
60 As shown in Table 12, five SLQs were used to gather data related to the
research questions. All Kachok villages were visited during the fieldwork.
Table 12: Villages Visited and Number of People Responding to Questionnaires Village
Christian Leader
SLQ Group
Interview Individual
SLQ Teacher
Interview Village
Leader
SLQ
1. Upper Kachut
1 4 12 1
2. Lower Kachut
1 4 1
3. Nay 1
4 1
1 4. In
4 12
1 1
5. Big Kanat 4
12 1
1 6. Small
Kanat 4
7. Kak 4
1 1
8. Tanong 4
1 1
9. Kaoh Peak 4
12 3
1 10. Talao
1 11. Andoung
Meas Proper 2
Total 3
36 48
12 7
Talao and Andong Meas district were not included in the site selection, but teachers were interviewed because some Kachok children attended school in these
places. In dialect perceptions group interview, a group of four persons were interviewed in each of the nine villages. Seven 7 village leaders were interviewed
since two villages, Big and Small Kanat, and Upper and Lower Kachut shared the same village leaders. Individual SLQ was administered in four villages where 12
61 subjects were interviewed in each of these four villages. Three 3 Christian leaders
were interviewed during the 2-week Bible training in Banlung, capital of Ratanakiri province. These Christian leaders came from different Kachok villages reported as
Christian communities.
3.4 Instruments
In this study, the sociolinguistic questionnaire SLQ is the primary tool
which was orally administered to collect data relevant to the research questions. The questionnaire represents a direct method of study in which subjects respond to direct
questions regarding their behavior, attitudes, and opinions as opposed to indirect methods which are designed to keep subject from being investigated Fasold, 1984.
The questionnaires are open ended, consisting of the following: Dialect perceptions group, village leader, teacher, individual, and church leader see subsections of 3.5
for details. In addition, observations and informal interviews were likewise used to confirm responses to the SLQ.
In the previous research of Bahnaric language cluster in two provinces of Cambodia, the researcher gained experience in data collection as well as the
development and administration of language use and attitudes questionnaires and learned to identify a number of sociolinguistics factors which can be indicators of
language vitality. These factors are also attested in the literature on language vitality issues see related literature for more details.
The researcher developed the SLQ used in this study by collecting language use and attitude questionnaires previously used for sociolinguistic surveys in
62 Cambodia and other situations in Mainland Southeast Asia MSEA. Some of these
surveys include: Dawkins Kirkland, 2008; Nahhas, 2007; ICC survey, 2006; and Mann Markowski, 2005. The researcher also benefited from the many-experienced
language surveyors, particularly on language use and attitude questionnaire already used on Cambodian languages and cultural context ICC survey, 2006.
The majority of the questions were taken from Research and Instrument
Design Tool RAID developed by Nahhas, Kelsall, and Mann 2006 of Payap University Survey Unit, Payap University Linguistics Institute, Thailand. This tool is
an attempt to provide suggestions, in outline form, for common survey purposes, goals and research questions, along with possible probes that help answer the research
questions. According to Nahhas et al., 2006, the RAID was adapted from Douglas Boone’s SIL adaptation of “The Ladder of Abstraction” De Vaus’, 1986. The
“steps” of the ladder are described in the Procedures of Language Survey Modules used for training SIL language surveyors around the world. The steps are slightly re-
ordered and, for each step, many possibilities are given. Many of the probes contained in RAID were adapted in Showalter, 1991. These resulting SLQs have been pilot
tested in Central Thai and Northern Thai, and revised accordingly. They have been used in the Mpi survey, the Lawa survey, and some surveys of Karennic languages in
Thailand. The RAID is only an outline that can be modified depending on the context relevant to language and culture of a people group being studied.
