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Jan 15, 2008

Holo Taiwanese not very important

A recent survey on attitudes toward Holo Taiwanese that I pulled from the FAPA-YP mailing list, and originally from Talking Taiwanese. I find the data to be rather sobering -- it demonstrates that despite the relative current strength of Holo Taiwanese, it really is in rather immediate danger, and very little public will exists to save it in a comprehensive way.

1. Native language

Mother:
Taiwanese 61%
Mandarin 21%
Hakka 8%
no answer & other 10%

Father:
Taiwanese 63%
Mandarin 21%
Hakka 6%
no answer & other 10%

2. Language use of parents among themselves
Taiwanese 55%
Mandarin 35%
Hakka 3%

3. Language use of parents with their children
Taiwanese 46%
Mandarin 54%
Hakka 0.7%

4. Compared to Mandarin, Taiwanese is …:
more useful in Taiwan 5%
richer in culture 56%
my preferred language to express my emotions 44%
my preferred language to learn 29%
my preferred language to speak to my friends 23%

5. Compared to Mandarin, English is … :
more useful in Taiwan 59%
richer in culture 67% a
my preferred language to express my emotions 4%
my preferred language to learn 19%b
my preferred language to speak to my friends 9%


6. Self-indicated proficiency in the following languages:
Respondents answered this questions on a 4-point scale. Results can be read as "41% of respondents indicated that their proficiency in Taiwanese was very good."
Taiwanese 41%
Mandarin 76%
English 7%

7. The language I want my children to speak is:
Taiwanese: 56%
Mandarin 79%
English 67%

8. Mandarin language education is the responsibility of:
The government 69%
The parents 31%

9. Taiwanese language education is the responsibility of:
The government 17%
The parents 83%

10. Primary schools in Taiwan should offer the following languages:
Taiwanese 18% (of respondents say so)
Mandarin 61%
English 12%
No opinion 9%

11. The "best language" for Taiwan is…:
Taiwanese 12.8%
Mandarin 83.1%
English 4.1% a

3 comments:

Kalithos said...

haha a little funny to see things come full circle. I did not think too much when I forwarded the info onto FAPA-YP list.. but perhaps I should next time! I guess such is the internet, and its intersection with the online Taiwanese/Taiwanese American community. :)

maoman said...

Another interesting question to ask is what is the preferred language for a lover to whisper sweet nothings in one's ear, Taiwanese or Mandarin? The overwhelming response is Mandarin. In fact, I haven't yet heard someone say they would prefer to be romanced in Taiwanese.

Luke said...

Interesting results, especially w/r/t attitudes towards English!