The Ethnolinguistic Vitality of the Dumagat Communities in Three Philippine Provinces

This paper presents the findings of sociolinguistic research conducted between 2013 and 2015 among the Dumagat indigenous communities in Aurora, Bulacan, and Quezon Province. The primary goal of the study is to investigate the factors that account for the ethnolinguistic vitality of these communities. Employing qualitative techniques, data were gathered using interviews, participant observation, and focus group discussions (FGDs). Interview data were analysed using the nine criteria of language vitality and endangerment outlined in the UNESCO Expert Meeting in March, 2003 and were triangulated by the data gathered from participant observation and FGDs. Results reveal varying levels of language vitality among these Dumagat communities as influenced by factors that include social factors (social stigma, exogamy or external marriage, and migration patterns), institutional factors (governmental policies, support, and reforms), and linguistic factors (language contact, linguistic attitude, and language use). These findings situate these indigenous communities in the continuum of language reinvigoration and revitalization and implicate inter-level agencies to design feasible framework to document, cultivate, and protect this indigenous language for future generations of these IP communities.