| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立聯合大學 === 客家語言與傳播研究所 === 104 === A mother tongue is considered the medium to pass on cultures. Whether a native language can be inhertited from generations to generations depends on language users’ language loyalty and language choice. This research focuses on the area of Gongguan Village of Miaoli County where Hakka people tends to communicate in Mandarin while their mother tongue becomes less used language in this area. Therefore, the purpose of this study aims to investigate the implementation of Hakka teaching in an elementary school and its influence on Hakka language proficiency, language choice, language attitude, and cultural inheritance. Semi-structured interviews were applied in this study by recruiting 14 interviewees from Hakka families. The research findings are as follows.
First, compared with older generations, younger generations have much lower Hakka proficiency and are more inclined to communicate in Mandarin. However, some parents even yield to speaking Mandarin because of their children’s language choice, which is an indication that language shifts have serious impacts on the use of Hakka. Second, the research reveals that the implementation of Hakka teaching is not as effective as it is expected. Despite the fact that the young generations hardly communicate in Hakka, they still remain their Hakka identity, and even express that Hakka learning is important for preserving the language. It is strongly suggested that Hakka immersion program should be carried out to pass on Hakka language and culture. Third, Hakka language proficiency certification is not effective in implementing Hakka teaching. Although prizes and certificates are awarded, a Hakka language proficiency certificate is not helpful for academic purposes or even future careers. All in all, the research findings have revealed that Hakka language is being at the risk of language loss. It is suggested that the government should take the initiative in supporting school to implement Hakka teaching and make policies to promote using Hakka at work.
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