52 village religious ceremonies, village meetings, neighboring language groups, and
school. The language attitudes of the Kachok speakers towards their own language and other languages they speak were also investigated. In addition, informal
interviews and observations were employed to confirm the responses from questionnaires. Then, all data were analyzed to find out the language vitality of the
Kachok language. Quota sampling was used to select subjects for the Individual SLQ and for the Group Interviews, with age and gender as desired samples for Kachok
survey. The survey was conducted in nine Kachok villages surrounded by the
dominant languages in the area such as Jarai, Tampuan, Lao, Krung, Khmer, and Brao.
3.2 The Setting
Cambodia is located on the Indochinese Peninsula, bordered by Vietnam to the south and east, Laos to the north, Thailand to north and west, and the Gulf of
Thailand to the west and south Map 4. Ratanakiri province is in the northeastern province of Cambodia, located approximately 600 kilometers from Phnom Penh, the
capital of Cambodia. Ratanakiri covers 11,052 kilometers with mountainous and plain areas, bordered by Laos to the north, southern Vietnam to the east, and Stung Treng
and Mondulkiri provinces of Cambodia to the west and south, respectively. The province is mostly covered with forest, though commercial logging since 1980 has
significantly reduced old-growth forest
.
The Kachok people inhabit Ratanakiri
province.
53
Map 4: Cambodia and Surrounding Countries
The total population of Ratanakiri is 111,403. The indigenous ethnic minorities comprise more than 80 of the population of this remote province:
Tampuan 25.23, Jarai 20.57, Kreung 19.89, Brao 8.74, Kachok 3.75, Kavet 3.65, Bunong 0.24, and Lun 0.20. About 13 percent of the
population is Khmer. The Kachok number about 3,365 [Table 11 - taken from the village chiefs vc and commune chiefs cc] and live in nine 9 villages in the
district of Andoung Meas and one village in Veun Sai district. The language, culture,
