Kinamiging Language Ability Of Senior Students: Implications Towards Preservation Of Language

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue I, January 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Kinamiging Language Ability Of Senior Students: Implications Towards Preservation Of Language

Arrianne Christelle J. Apostol and Maria Luisa S. Saministado, PhD
Department of English language and Literature
Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

Abstract:

The study aimed to determine the status of Kinamiging by looking into the respondents’ language ability. It considered the variables such as years of residency, ethnicity, first language, and language attitude to determine if these variables positively relate to the respondents’ language ability in Kinamiging. The respondents were from the largest public high school in Sagay, Eulalio U. Pabillore National High School in the Philipppines. The study, however, revealed that among the respondents, Sebuano is the dominant language in formal domains such as school. Even in such an informal domain as the community, Sebuano shows its dominance, especially in inter-group interactions. However, there is no precise functional distribution of language use according to the supposed high variety (H) and the regional dialects of low variety (L). The language situation in Camiguin is non-diglossic, meaning there is no precise functional distribution of languages into different domains. It further indicates that the speech community is unstable bilingualism among speakers of the language. Kinamiging is not totally “eclipsed” by the other languages in the area. With the present conditions of its speakers, Kinamiging needs to be integrated with technology among speakers and be revitalized through other forms of activities in school and community to withstand any pressure coming from competing languages such as Sebuano, Tagalog, and English.

Keywords: Language use, Kinamiging language ability, attitudes and language preservation
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I. INTRODUCTION

Language is fundamental to culture, communication, identity, and collective personalities. The permanent loss of any language is a serious matter that needs to be addressed. Romaine (2007) claimed that as many as 60% to 90% of the world’s 6900 identified languages would be at risk of extinction in the future. Philippine languages and world languages need to extend the range of efforts currently underway worldwide to save endangered minority languages. Barbara Grimes (2001), in her book Ethnologue: Languages of the World, mentioned that there are 6,809 dying languages in the world today. Krauss (1992) supported Grimes’s claims that all languages with fewer than 10,000 speakers are slowly dying. These endangered minority languages are 52% of the world’s languages, spoken by 0.3% of the world’s population.

The Philippines, home to a large variety of languages, has indigenous peoples’ communities in Luzon, Mindanao, and some islands of the Visayas. These communities consist of an assortment of more than forty ethnolinguistic groups. Each has a distinctive culture and language. In contrast to the strength of the major languages, other minority languages are fading out. Thomas Headland’s study, Thirty Endangered Languages of the Philippines (2003), revealed that the conservative estimates of the languages are currently dying at a rate of at least two languages each month, and linguists foresee that the languages will die out in the following decades. Bradley (2011) of UNESCO presented a restricted list of 15 vulnerable languages based on speakers. Languages are fragile when most children speak the language, but whose use may be restricted to the home.

Grace Rafal-Bongado (2006), in her master’s thesis Kinamiging Linguistic Configuration: A Synchronic Analysis, made the same remark as Bradley. She categorized Camiguin as one of the provinces in Northern Mindanao that has manifested a similar situation. Kinamiging is a minority language of Camiguin that can be considered a slowly dying language since the remaining speakers are grandparents and the older generations in the area. Elio (as cited by Bongado, 2006) explained that Camiguin is a culturally rich island inhabited by people from mainland Mindanao. Kamigingnon descendants of the nomadic-natured Manobo-Higaonon settled along the big rivers and coastal areas, which are now part of Guinsiliban and Sagay. Basco (as cited by Aguiman, 2020) clarified that Bol-anon, Sugbo-anon, and other migrants from the neighboring Visayan Islands influenced the original settlers to adopt a new culture and speak the newly introduced “mother-tongue” of the migrant occupants of the lowlands. With the advent of technology, geographical functions, and educational advancement, it is now high time that language ability among young speakers is investigated. This study sought to answer the following questions:

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