Language Use between Fruit Sellers and Customers in a Transactional Domain at an Open-air Market

Chong, Ngee Moi (2005) Language Use between Fruit Sellers and Customers in a Transactional Domain at an Open-air Market. [Final Year Project Report / IMRAD] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate language use between fruit sellers and customers in a transactional domain at an open-air market. The objectives are to find out what languages are commonly used for interaction in a transactional domain at a market place, to determine the context in which uncommon languages occur, and to examine the responses to the uncommon language choice including how the inappropriate language choice is repaired. This is a case study which was carried at a fruit stall situated at Satok, Sunday market. The techniques used for data collection are participant observation and semi-structured interview. The participants involved are the fruit sellers, the researcher and customers. A total number of 116 transactions were observed. The finding showed that firstly, Bahasa Pasar, Mandarin, Hakka, Hokkien and Standard Bahasa Melayu are the common languages used in this market place during the transaction encounters; secondly, uncommon language choices occur when there is wrong judgment on customers' ethnicity, uncertainty in deciding what language to speak, wrong assumption made on customer's language repertoire; thirdly, responses to the unconmon language choice were "ah? ", "kami takfaham! ", silence, unhappy and strange look and a reply in the customer's preferred language. When the customers gave these responses, the seller usually code-switched accompanied by a smiling face to repair the situation. The findings are applicable to the context of this case and other contexts that are similar to the setting of this study

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