ESSB3213 : INTERVIEW

[00:00:00]And assalamualaikum to everyone.

[00:00:03]Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview. I would like to ask you Nur Shaza Shazwana binti Ahmad a few questions about your language background and and experiences.

[00:00:17]There's uh no right or no wrong answer.

[00:00:20]Please feel free to answer based on your own experience. Shall we begin with the question?

[00:00:26]>> Yes.

[00:00:28]>> Uh before I started the to ask you the question, may I ask you to introduce yourself first?

[00:00:38]>> Oh, sure. Uh my name is Nur Shaza Shazwana. You may call me Wana.

[00:00:44]Uh I'm actually a student right now at University Teknologi Mara Uh I'm currently in my third semester.

[00:00:56]>> So um what are languages you speak?

[00:01:01]>> So I could speak in Malay, English, uh Mandarin, and a bit of Thai.

[00:01:09]>> Oh, that sounds interesting to me.

[00:01:12]Um it's really ready to hear that someone person I and language. So when and how did you first learn each language just that you know?

[00:01:24]>> So for Malay is actually uh my mother tongue, so it is my first language. So I learned it at home from the day I was born. For English is come a bit later during childhood through cartoons, uh then the internet, and also uh in my primary school.

[00:01:42]And for Mandarin, I was introduced to Mandarin when my parents sent me to my Chinese vernacular primary school, which is SJKC in Malaysia. And I also took courses later on. And lastly for Thai, I pick it up on my own recently out of my personal interest mostly by watching dramas and listening to music.

[00:02:02]>> Oh.

[00:02:03]It sounds really interesting to me that you learn the language by and make yourself more interested to learn the language. So, which language did you learn first?

[00:02:17]>> Uh actually for Malay and English were actually I learned almost at the same time when I was a child. For Mandarin and Thai, I learned one after the later on, uh especially for Mandarin. First is actually during my high school year and my school year actually for my primary school. And for Thai, I think recently as it is my personal hobby.

[00:02:41]>> Okay.

[00:02:42]So, did you learn any languages at the same time or did you learn them one after another?

[00:02:50]>> Um I Sorry, can you repeat the question?

[00:02:53]>> Did you learn the language Uh did you learn any languages at the same time or did you learn them one after another?

[00:03:04]>> Uh again, for Malay and English, I learned them almost at the same time as as I learned it from school. Again, as Malay is again my first language. For Mandarin, I learned it in my primary school. And for Thai, I learned it really recently, like literally recently as I just took it as my personal hobby by watching some movies or dramas from Thailand.

[00:03:31]>> I'm so sorry that I repeated this these two questions at the same time. So, the my first question is about the who were the main sources of input for each languages?

[00:03:43]>> Um for Malay, uh my main source, of course, as it is my first language, so my family. And for English, it was a mix of my school from my teachers, my friend, and medias like YouTube, and also from scrolling any social media.

[00:04:01]And how for Mandarin, it actually came directly from my school teacher also as I learned it from my primary school. And also I learned it from my other classmate as well. And lastly for Thai, my input is mostly from the online media and entertainment.

[00:04:21]>> So, we will move on to the second question is for language use across contacts. I will pass it to my team members, which is Ayu Liyana.

[00:04:35]>> Okay, hi Wena. I'm going to continue the interview. I'm going to go right away with the question.

[00:04:41]Did certain languages dominate in specific domains such as home, school, workplace, or social settings?

[00:04:50]>> For me, yeah, they do. They do. For Malay, it's what I use most at home with my close friend and also with my family.

[00:04:59]For English, it's actually a dominant in my university right now like as for doing my assignment, presentation, and also do some reading.

[00:05:08]Other than that, for Mandarin, it's actually used occasionally in specific workplace or when talking to certain communities and also for my assignment as well as I'm right now taking a third language, which is the Mandarin.

[00:05:22]And lastly for Thai, it's purely for my leisure and entertainment.

[00:05:27]>> I see. Okay, the next question. Were there contacts where multiple languages were used interchangeably?

[00:05:38]>> Very quite often, yeah, yeah, very often.

[00:05:42]When I hang out or do group project with my university friend, we naturally mix Malay and English in the same conversation.

[00:05:50]Also, sometimes we even throw in Mandarin phrases if anyone or everyone could understand.

[00:05:59]>> Okay, so the last question from me. Has language dominance changed over time and why?

[00:06:08]>> Yeah, yeah, I think yeah, it changed a lot.

[00:06:12]When I was in primary school, Mandarin was very dominant because my school environment strictly required it as again, I I learned from SJKC, but but now I think that I'm in university like now, English and Malay have become my dominant language because my daily studies and communication are done in them.

[00:06:36]>> Okay, thank you. That's all for me. Back to my friend.

[00:06:39]>> All right.

[00:06:41]Okay, so I would like to ask you about your the language pro- proficiency and skills. Are there noticeable differences in vocabulary, fluency, pronunciation, or literacy across languages?

[00:06:57]>> Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I am most fluent and comfortable writing in Malay and English. For Mandarin, my pronunciation and listening are quite good because of my early schooling.

[00:07:12]Um though I'm I'm still working on my formal business vocabulary as I've learned Mandarin from primary school, but then I still keep on need to recap everything.

[00:07:27]And lastly for Thai, I can understand spoken words well, but writing and speaking are still quite basic.

[00:07:35]>> I see. So, does the um does these languages affect your daily life? For example, if you go travel to other country, does it become your advantage to speak with the community there?

[00:07:55]>> I Okay, wait, wait. I'm sorry. Can you repeat the question again?

[00:08:00]>> Uh does the language become your advantage or disadvantage when you travel to other countries?

[00:08:09]How can How can you communicate with the community there?

[00:08:14]>> I usually communicate in English. I usually count in English. However, when uh I sometimes find myself also in a habit that I start because of how strictly I was trained to uh communicate in Malay since it's my first language. So, sometimes I mostly use English for for now.

[00:08:39]>> So, are some languages are easier to understand than to produce or does it vice versa?

[00:08:48]>> Definitely.

[00:08:50]Especially for Mandarin and Thai, much easier for me to understand than to speak. I can watch a show or listen to someone talk and get the meaning easily.

[00:09:02]But uh when I try to reply, it takes my brain a few seconds uh took me longer sometimes to build a proper sentence.

[00:09:14]>> Okay, so before I end my questions for my part actually. So, could you speak a sneak peek of the languages that you're fluent at?

[00:09:24]Some of the languages that you think you prefer more.

[00:09:29]>> I think I prefer more in Mandarin.

[00:09:33]Uh for example, I will introduce myself in Mandarin. Uh that's how what that means to say one hour. Well, today is uh 22.

[00:09:46]Uh University Malaya Malaysia.

[00:09:49]That's it.

[00:09:51]>> Uh thank you. It was very impressive for someone that didn't talk that much of language. I think this is kind it your advantage to communicate with others especially when you travel. So, I think it's impressive for you to you can speak a lot of languages especially Mandarin and Thailand. I would like to hear some of the Thailand language from you if you could speak some of them.

[00:10:23]>> Uh sure, but as again I said, I'm still learning.

[00:10:27]Maybe small introduction.

[00:10:36]>> Okay, thank you. That's all for my part.

[00:10:38]So, I will pass the question to my other members. Thank you.

[00:10:45]>> Uh so the miss uh uh moving on to me uh you will receiving two topics of question which is code switching and and also psycholinguistic with question.

[00:11:00]Uh can you still catch up with me?

[00:11:05]>> I'm sorry, can you repeat the question again?

[00:11:08]>> Uh I I said you can you still catch up with me?

[00:11:16]Can you listen?

[00:11:17]>> I'm sorry, can you repeat the question again?

[00:11:20]>> That if you still can match our energy to interview you >> Yeah.

[00:11:25]>> the plan because I think we have a lot of energy to interview you.

[00:11:31]So, is that okay?

[00:11:33]To you for her speak like in more >> Of course. Sure.

[00:11:41]>> Okay. So, the first question is So, that's fine.

[00:11:49]So, the first question is how often do you switch between language in your daily conversations?

[00:11:58]>> I think very frequently actually as a Malaysian. Switching between language like mid-sentence is a big part of our daily life.

[00:12:09]It happens like I think naturally and help us to express ourselves more faster.

[00:12:17]>> Okay, I see.

[00:12:19]Moving on to the second question. In what situation do you usually switch language?

[00:12:27]>> For me I think in casual situation with my friends or my family it is viewed very neutrally as it is same as a friendly or a local way to talk.

[00:12:44]However, if it is in a formal setting like university presentation or exam, I'm expected to stick to one language professionally, I think.

[00:12:55]>> Okay. So, do your family, friends, or teachers influence how you use different language?

[00:13:05]>> Of course. Yes, especially my teacher at SJKC show me how valuable Mandarin is while my university environment emphasize the English for my future career.

[00:13:18]And for my family, I think they always reminded me to stay fluent in Malay as again, it is my first language. So, I I to really still need to be fluent in Malay.

[00:13:29]But at the same time, my family also encouraging me to learn other language as well to connect with other world.

[00:13:38]>> Okay, I see.

[00:13:40]So, moving on to the last question which is psycholinguistic reflections.

[00:13:47]Um, do you ever hesitate or mix language while speaking?

[00:13:54]>> Uh, yes, very frequently actually. I know, I think sometimes my language get mixed up. For example, if I if I am trying to think of a word in Mandarin, a Thai word might accidentally pop into my head because my brain put foreign language in the same basket.

[00:14:13]Also, uh, I think if I have been reading English textbook for hours, I might accidentally use English grammar when speaking Malay.

[00:14:22]>> All right.

[00:14:25]Okay, the second question is um, between two languages, uh, what are the most comfortable that you are using language?

[00:14:39]>> Um, I think of course Malay.

[00:14:42]Uh, but then cuz again, it is my first language, so I'm most comfortable use Malay, but uh, nowadays that I'm again, I'm in my university now.

[00:14:54]Most of the time people here sometimes speak in full English, so I I'm still need to adapt with it as well.

[00:15:01]But then again, I think I'm most comfortable with using Malay.

[00:15:05]>> Okay, I see. I see.

[00:15:07]So, for the last question before we ended our interview, um, how do you decide uh, which language to use in uh, different situations?

[00:15:19]>> Um, I think I just like based on how or who actually who I'm talking to. If I see a classmate, my brain will automatically turns on the English or Malay. But if I meet someone who speak Mandarin, for example like my classmate from my third language, I think my brain will definitely will exact like at the moment I would just speak Mandarin to them.

[00:15:49]>> Okay, that is all from me.

[00:15:52]So I'm going to pass this for to to Nur Fazira.

[00:16:00]>> Okay, so I will say thank you for answering all of our questions today and I really appreciate your time and cooperation for us to to let us interview you. So your response has been very helpful for our assignment and that's all from us. Thank you so much for spending time your valuable time to us. So thank you and please have a great day. Thank you.

[00:16:30]>> Thank you. You guys too. Have a great day.