Keywords
How to Cite
Abstract
Hypercorrection has been described as a sociolinguistic phenomenon where linguistic overcompensation occurs from the over-application of a perceived rule of language usage prescription. This paper reports a study investigating hypercorrection among younger and older native speakers of Bidayuh Biatah when speaking English. The qualitative study data were collected from eight native speakers of Bidayuh Biatah: four younger participants aged 23 years old and four older participants aged 55 to 69 years old. Hypercorrection was analysed by categorising them into phonological, syntactical, and morphological hypercorrection within the environments in which they occurred. Results showed that participants used all three categories of hypercorrections, with phonological hypercorrection occurring the most, followed by morphological hypercorrection and syntactical hypercorrection. However, the younger participants demonstrated hypercorrection less frequently than the older ones. The tendency to hypercorrect phonologically suggests that younger and older participants prioritised sound correctness when speaking in English, which they considered a prestigious language. This sociolinguistic insight can inform pedagogical practices.
References
Abi-Esber, F., Yang, P., Muranaka-Vuletich, H., & Moustakim, M. (2018). Linguistic taboos: A case study on Australian Lebanese speakers. Asian Culture and History, 10(1), 89-98. https://doi.org/10.5539/ach.v10n1p89
Akbar, R., Taqi, H., & Al-Gharabally, N. (2020). Phonological awareness of English phonemes by Kuwaiti Arabic speakers with evidence of phonemic hypercorrection. International Journal of Education, Culture and Society, 5(6), 126-136.
Aronoff, M., & Fudeman, K. (2011). What is morphology? (Vol. 8) In M. Aronoff & K. Fudeman (Eds.), Thinking about morphology and morphological analysis (pp. 1-31). John Wiley & Sons.
Azmi, M. N. L. (2013). National language policy and its impacts on second language reading culture. Journal of International Education and Leadership, 3(1), 1-11. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1136083
Beebe, L. M. (2009). Social and situational factors affecting the communicative strategy of dialect code-switching. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 1981(32), 139-149. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.1981.32.139
Blust, R. (1983). A note of hypercorrection in Mongondow. Bijdragen tot de Taal-
Land- en Volkenkunde, 139(4), 459-464. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-90003438
Chambers, J. K., & Trudgill, P. (1980). Dialectology. Cambridge University Press.
Dealwis, C. (2010). Language choices for Dayak Bidayuh undergraduates in the friendship domain. Borneo Research Journal, 4, 209-220.
Derwing, T. M., Munro, M. J., & Thomson, R. I. (2008). A longitudinal study of ESL learners’ fluency and comprehensibility development. Applied linguistics, 29(3), 359-380. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amm041
De Sifontes, I., & Rojas-Lizana, S. (2013). An error analysis of persistent grammatical errors carried over from beginner to intermediate Spanish. Journal Ræl-Revista Electronica de Linguistica Aplicada, 12, 63-85.
Eckman, F., Iverson, G., & Song, J. Y. (2013). The role of hypercorrection in the acquisition of L2 phonemic contrasts. Second Language Research, 29(3), 257- 286. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658312467029
Hubers, F., Trompenaars, T., Collin, S., De Schepper, K., & De Hoop, H. (2020). Hypercorrection as a by-product of education. Applied Linguistics, 41(4), 552-574. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amz001
Huddleston, R., & Pullum, G. (2005). A student's introduction to English grammar. Cambridge University Press.
Janda, R. & Auger, J. (1992). Quantitative evidence, qualitative hypercorrection, sociolinguistic variables – and French speakers’ headaches with English h/Ø. Language and Communication, 12(3/4), 195-227. https://doi.org/10.1016/0271-5309(92)90015-2
Kayad, F. G. & Ting, S. H. (2021). Attitudes towards Bidayuh language kindergartens in Sarawak, Malaysia. International Journal of Social Science Research, 3(2), 14-26
Kroeger, P. (1996). The dialects of Biatah. In P. W. Martin & P. G. Sercombe (Eds.), Languages in Borneo: Diachronic and synchronic perspectives (pp. 111–144). Borneo Research Council.
Labov, W. (1966). The possible relations of class to language. In W. Labov (Ed.), The social stratification of English in New York City (pp. 156-174). Cambridge University Press.
Labov, W. (1973). The social stratification of (r) in New York City department stores. In W. Labov (Ed.), Sociolinguistic patterns (pp. 43-69). University of Pennsylvania Press.
Melisova, K. (2020). Linking in French speakers of English [Bachelor’s thesis, Charles University]. Digital Repository. https://dspace.cuni.cz/handle/20.500.11956/121909
Menner, R. (1937). Hypercorrect forms in American English. American Speech, 12(3), 167-178. https://doi.org/10.2307/452423
Metruk, R. (2018). “West” or “Vest”? Pronunciation of English consonants [w] and [v] in the utterances of Slovak EFL Speakers. Journal of Language and Education, 4(2), 24-29. https://doi.org/10.17323/2411-7390-2018-4-2-24-29
Norahim, N. (2010). Language choice of Bidayuh graduates in Kuching-Samarahan division [Doctoral dissertation, Universiti Malaya]. UM Students’ Repository. https://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/3274/1/Title_page.pdf.
Rensch, C. R., Rensch, C. M., Noeb, J., & Ridu, R. S. (2012). The Bidayuh language yesterday, today, and tomorrow: Revised and expanded. SIL E-Books. SIL International.
Rensch, Rensch, C. R., Rensch, C. M., Noeb, J., & Ridu, R. S. (2012). Map of Bidayuh dialect areas [Map]. SIL International.
Scales, J., Wennerstrom, A., Richard, D., & Wu, S. H. (2006). Language learners’ perceptions of accent. Tesol Quarterly, 40(4), 715-738. https://doi.org/10.2307/40264305
Sepasdar, M., & Soori, A. (2014). The impact of age on using language learning strategies. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 2(3), 26-31. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.2n.3p.26
Zheng, S., & Wang, X. (2022). Department store surveys as a methodology in the study of linguistic variation. Journal of Modern Languages, 32(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.22452/jml.vol32no1.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2024 UNIMAS Publisher