Penyelidikan Sosiolinguistik: Prinsip, Teknik dan Pengalaman (Sociolinguistics Research: Principles, Technics and Experiences)

Abstract

ABSTRAK: Dalam bidang linguistik, terdapat dua bentuk penyelidikan, iaitu penyelidikan yang berbentuk armchair dan penyelidikan lapangan. Lazimnya, penyelidikan berbentuk armchair lebih popular mungkin kerana faktor keselesaan. Kaedah armchair, yang hanya mengulas/mengkritik sumber sekunder sedia ada dan disusuli dengan ulasan intuisi pengkaji wajar dihindari kerana membatasi sumbangan input baru kepada ilmu. Penyelidikan di lapangan sesungguhnya amat sukar dan mencabar, namun merupakan tunjang penyumbang ilmu baru. Kertas ini membincangkan prinsip, teknik dalam penyelidikan sosiolinguistik dan disertakan dengan perkongsian pengalaman penulis. Perbincangan ini bermula dengan menyoroti dua prinsip dalam penyelidikan, iaitu Prinsip Empirikal dan Prinsip Induktif. Pada masa yang sama, penyelidikan kualitatif di awal era ilmu linguistik moden juga disoroti. Di akhir perbincangan, dua contoh kajian sosiolinguistik penulis akan dibincangkan, iaitu (1) kajian pemilihan bahasa suku Tionghoa di Sekadau, Indonesia, dan (2) kajian Penan Muslim di Niah, Sarawak. Diharapkan melalui perkongsian pengalaman ini, para pelajar yang bakal menulis kertas ilmiah atau tesis boleh memperoleh manfaat daripadanya.

Kata Kunci: Kajian lapangan; empirikal; induktif

ABSTRACT: There are two forms of research in linguistics study, namely the armchair and fieldwork research. Normally, the armchair method seems preferred by researchers probably due to its “comfort-ness”. The armchair method, which focusing on comments or criticizing secondary sources and ended up with conclusions based on personal intuition opinions, should be avoided since its contributions to new knowledge is very limited. Field research, on the other hand is a challenging and tough task however can yield massive contributions to new knowledge if compare to the armchair research. This paper discusses the principles and techniques of sociolinguistics research, which followed by the description of the author’s field experiences in Sarawak and Western Kalimantan. The discussion begins with highlighting the empirical and inductive principles of an academic research. Apart from this, this paper also highlighted the brief history of qualitative research that practiced by scholars in the initial era of modern linguistics. At the end of the discussion, the author provided two examples of sociolinguistic study on the: (1) study on the language choice among the Chinese in Sekadau (Western Kalimantan), Indonesia, and (2) study of the Muslim Penans in Niah, Sarawak. Finally, it is hope that this paper can share useful field experiences for students and researchers as well as contribute some knowledge to scientific research.

Keyword: Field research; empirical; inductive