Domains of Language Use Tool
Contents
Purpose
The purpose of this tool is to assist speakers of the language in identifying the types of situations in which they use their own language, the LWC or other languages. A second purpose is to help them determine which domains and which languages are used most frequently.
Approach
Materials
Procedure
| Step # | Ask/Say | Do |
|---|---|---|
1) I speak different languages in different situations, on different occasions and to different people. 2) {If this tool was not preceeded by the Bilingualism tool, then ask } Which two languages do people here speak most? 3) On which occasions or to which people, do people here usually use LWC]? (Place [LWC] label to one side. Participants name occasions or people, write them on paper and place them under [LWC] label) 4) On which occasions or to which people, do people here usually use [L1]? (Place [L1] label to other side. Participants name occasions or people, write them on paper and place them under [L1]. If participants say something like “to some children I speak L1 but to others I speak LWC.” Ask questions to help them explain to which children or in which situations they speak each language. Invite them to change the labels to show the categories clearly.) 5) On which occasions or to which people, do people here usually use both [L1] and [LWC]? (Participants write domains, and place them in the middle. They can place them nearer to one side or the other if most people speak a certain language in that domain or if they speak more of that language in that domain but some of the other language.) 6) Within each of these three main categories, let’s move to the top, the occasions that occur daily and to the bottom the ones that occur less than daily. (Put a label for ‘Daily’ and at the top and ‘less than daily’ at the bottom. Lay a string down to divide the two categories. Allow them to arrange the papers.) 7) Within the “Daily” section for each language, put the papers in order according to the amount of language used in that situation. 8) (this is the hardest step, the idea is to get them to compare the most frequently used domains for each language) Let’s look at the top paper in each of these categories. Which is the situation in which language is used most. Please slide that one up a little and the other two down. Let’s compare the second one in this column (in which the most frequent was moved up) with the top paper in these other two columns. (again slide the ones used less down a bit. Repeat this process for all the daily papers). 9) How do you feel about the languages that you use and who you use them with? {if during the discussion anyone mentioned a desire to use a different language in some situation, then ask:}Would you like to begin using either language more in any other situations? In which event do you want to use another language? Put plastic markers on top of it. 10) Ask someone to summarize the results.
