LANGUAGE CHOICE IN MULTILINGUAL SPEECH COMMUNITIES: THE CASE OF AKSAY, CHINA

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the language choice of Aksay Kazakhs based on different situations. It also finds out their mastery of the languages they use. Moreover, the study attempts to understand the changing trend of language usage among Kazakh residents of different age groups in the region and the reasons behind it. In order to achieve the research objectives, the researcher chose a sample of (40) Aksay Kazakh respondents. The characteristics of the survey sample are diverse and reasonable, covering two age groups at the same time. The research tool is a questionnaire. The results show that Kazakhs of different ages have different language choices for various reasons. The elder generation chooses Kazakh for most situations, while the younger generation prefers Mandarin. The influencing factors mainly include educational experience and the overall language environment. Their mastery of each language is different. The young generation of Kazakhs has a higher standard of Mandarin and a gradual decline in their mother tongue. At the same time, they have one more language choice, which is English. Through the above phenomena, this study also confirms that the linguistic diversity of the multilingual community is being threatened. The author proposed recommendations for maintaining linguistic diversity in multilingual communities. Keywords: language choice, multilingual community, language mastery, Chinese Kazakhs, minority language, dominant language, changing trends.