Language shift in minority communities is an important phenomenon.

People belonging to minority language communities have to adopt a new

language for many reasons that include social & economic aspects as well.
If we are to investigate the the language shift in a minority community,
we can use a combination of different research tools to get the desired
data that is authentic as well as sufficient enough to get us deep insights
about the problem of language shift. We can use the following research
tools to conduct the research about language shift:

 Surveys
 Questionnaires
 Interviews

It’s important to note that only one research tool won’t get the data and
information sufficient to answer the questions that are important to be
answered for the successful conduct of this research. However, due to the
scope of the research about language shift in minority community, a
researchers best tool for research would be the interviews.

Interview as a Research Tool

Interviews are usually part of qualitative research methods and play a
very important part in collecting the data. Interviews are an appropriate
method when there is a need to collect in-depth information for a research.
They help research collect important research data in the for of people’s
opinions, thoughts, experiences, and feelings.

Interviews are useful because interviewer can not only ask the questions
directly but can note the face expressions of the participants as well.
Unlike questionnaires, interviews provide us the data that is raw but more
authentic in nature as most of the time the answers are spontaneous and
reflect the actual thoughts of the participants.

Types of research interviews

Research interviews can be designed according to the needs of the
research. Followings are the most common types of interviews:

Types of interviews

 Structured Interviews
 Semi-Structured Interviews
 Non-Structured Interviews

Structured Interviews:

In a structured interview, the interviewer asks a set of standard,

predetermined questions about particular topics. Sometimes, the the
interviewer also provides a set of answers to each question of the
interview. The respondents can select their answers from a list of options.
They may also be allowed to add their own answer instead of choosing
from the given options.

For example, in research about language shift, the interview can consist
of standard questions about the reasons the led to the language shift in the
community. For instance:

What do you think is the reason behind the language shift in your
community ?

-1 Better economic opportunities in the target language

-2 Adopting target language allows better social status
-3 A combination of different social and political factors
-4 Language was imposed by the authority

The respondent can select anyone of the above answer or can go to add
their own answers if they don't feel that these answers represent their
views.

Semi-Structured Interviews

In semi-structured interviews, interviewer has a set of pre-determined

questions for the interviewees but there are no pre-determined set of
answers. The respondents are allowed to answer the questions in their
own words. The researchers has some guidelines to ensure that
respondents are providing the information on the required subject of the
research. If interviewer thinks some answers are not clear, he can seek
clarification from the respondents. He can also asks some supplementary
questions to get more clarity.

For example, an semi structured interview about the language shift in

minority community can contain the following questions:

-1 What factors led to the language shift for your community ?

-2 Do you think your language can be revived ?
-3 What should be done to avoid language deaths for minority
communities in future?

It is important to note that interviewer will not provide pre-determined set

of answers for these questions. The respondents can answers the
questions in their words. However, interviewer can asks supplementary
asks question if he thinks some information is missing or if there is some
issue that needs to be probed. For instance, he can ask a supplementary
question like:

Do you think your community’s language shift to the language of

majority community created any positive future prospects for the new
generations ?

This will help in adding clarity about the advantages and disadvantages of
language shift for the minority communities.

Unstructured Interviews

As the term itself suggests, unstructured interviews are very much

unstructured in their nature. They have no set guidelines or predetermined
questions. The interviewer can asks a very broad and open-ended
question and allows the respondent to express himself/herself very
thoroughly. The interviewer can also engage the interviewee in an open
discussion about the topic. The discussion needs not be formal either.
During the discussion, if the interviews feels that there is some
inconsistency in the information provide, he can probe it by asking some
open-ended questions

Why interview is the best research tool to be used for

conducting a research about language shift in a minority
community ?
Interview can prove to be a very good research tool in collecting data
about the language shift in minority community. It can provide us the first
hand accounts of the people from the minority language communities and
we can get to know the reasons that led to the language shift.

Language shift is a complex topic, specially if your target population is

not well-versed in answering written questions. This type of research also
requires complex questioning and considerable probing. Face-to-face
interviews are suitable when your target population can communicate
through face-to-face conversations better than they can communicate
through writing or surveys.

Baloch community in South Punjab is a prime example of a total

language shift. The community, that migrated from the mountainous
regions of Baluchistan and settled in the plains of South Punjab around
400 years ago, will be the subject of my research for investigating the
phenomenon of language shift

Personal Comments:
In order to conduct a small scale research for the purpose of this
assignment, I conducted unstructured interviews of a few elderly people
to understand what led to shift of language from Balochi to Saraiki for
this community. In a lively discussion about the language shift, I noted
the following factors were responsible for the language shift:

-1 Saraiki was predominant language of the region. A dominant language

& culture always assimilates the subordinate language cultures.

-2 Obtaining work is the most common reason for learning new language.
For example, people learn English language because it provides new job
opportunities. Baloch people who arrived in South Punjab had to learn
Saraiki to do survive economically.

-3 Demography played an important role. Baloch community was unable

to form a community hub in the region. Their population was scattered all
over South Punjab. This also led to the language shift.

It can be safely said that obtaining this information about language shift
wouldn’t be possible with a research tool other than interviews.
Interviews allow deep probe of the topic as the interviewer can ask the
follow up questions and seek clarifications.