I conducted structured interviews with four members of each family. These interviews were structured with some open-ended questions but not all the questions were asked to each respondent because some were not relevant to their context, as the ages and background of the respondents varied. The interviewees belonged to different age groups. Their ages ranged between ten and seventy-six years. Initially, I recorded some interviews but later felt that recording about thirty-two interviews would be expensive and their transcription time consuming. I, therefore, took notes during the rest of the interviews.
Below are the questions that were prepared for these interviews. These were tentative questions prepared by me in advance to maintain some uniformity in the responses. As the number of interviewees was going to be too small for a quantitative analysis I had decided to carry out a qualitative analyses of their responses. The interviewees were encouraged to give lengthy and detailed responses to some questions. In some cases I probed further and asked for more details and clarifications. Due to this, at times I did not strictly adhere to the order of the questions within each broad category. Since I interviewed people of different ages and different social and educational backgrounds, no special attention was given to keeping the form and
language o f the questions identical. Care was taken, however, to ask most o f the questions to all interviewees.
LANGUAGE AT HOME AND LANGUAGE TRANSMISSION PRACTICES 1). Which language was taught to you first?
2). In case o f two/three simultaneous early languages which language was/is used at home mostly? With you?
3). Which language did/do you parents/grandparents/siblings/relatives/neighbours/ friends/servants spoke/speak with you mostly?
4). (As a child) Which language did/do you like best?
5). If Siraiki was taught to you as a first language do you feel that some other language should have been taught instead?
6). If not, then do you feel that this went to your advantage?
7). Which language do you use now to speak to your parents/children siblings/relatives/neighbours/ffiends/family friends/servants?
8). Have you transmitted/do you intend to transmit Siraiki to your children? If not what were/are the reasons for this?
9). Do you think your children will learn as much of Siraiki as they need to know from the family?
RELIGION
1) In which language does the ‘Imam’ (one who heads the prayers) o f your mosque/mosque of your vicinity deliver his ‘Khutba’ (address to the congrgation in the mosque)?
2) In which language would you prefer him to deliver his ‘Khutba’? 3) In which language do you do ‘duaa’ (to pray)?
4) In which language did your Qari/Qaria spoke to you while teaching you Quran? What was their mother tongue?
WORK
1) If you are not self-employed then in which language do you normally talk to your bosses? (Children: school/teachers)
3) Do you use any language other than what you have just stated?
4) In which languages do your colleagues speak to you in your work place? About official matters? Gossip?
5) Do you respond to them in the same language?
6) Do you have the kind of job where you are in contact with the public? When clients come to talk to you which language do you use with them?
GENERAL ATTITUDES
1) Which language do you find is most comfortable for you?
2) Which language do you normally prefer? Do you have a favourite?
3) Are there some things that sound better in Siraiki? Are there some things that just sound better in Urdu/English? Like what? Give an example.
4) Do you find that one language is easier for you to express yourself in? Can you bring your thoughts better in one language? Which one?
5) What are the things that you prefer to do in Siraiki? e.g. watch Siraiki movies, watch and listen to Siraiki dramas, talk shows, other Siraiki programmes on radio, Siraiki songs, and Siraiki poetry.
6) If somebody/stranger speaks to you in Siraiki what do you think of him/her? 7) If somebody/stranger speaks to you in Urdu or English in a Siraiki accent what
do you think of him/her?
8) Should children be encouraged to use Siraiki in domains other than home? 9) Do you think Siraiki should be taught as a subject in schools?
10) If this is done will you study it/will you persuade your children to study it? 11) Do you think there should be more time devoted to programs in Siraiki on TV
and radio? If so, what type of programmes?
12) If your children do not know anything about the Siraiki language how would/do you feel about it?
13) If the Siraiki language died how you would feel about it?
14) If we stop using Siraiki altogether, do you think we can maintain the culture and identity of our community?
15) Is the maintenance of Siraiki important? Is it a difficult task?
16) As a Siraiki, how important is Siraiki language to you for your cultural identity?
17) What do you think of those Siraikis who either use Urdu all the time or most of the time?
18) What do you think of those who do a lot of mixing of other languages in Siraiki?
19) What do you think of those who speak Siraiki in the accent of some other language?
LITERACY PRACTICES
1) In which language(s) do you normally read? 2) In which language do you like reading?
3) Do you ever read in Siraiki? If yes, what and how often? 4) Do you ever write in Siraiki?
5) In which language do you count?
OTHER LANGUAGES
1) Are you fluent in Urdu/English? 2) If yes, has it given you any advantage?
SELF-RANKING
1) If you had to describe how well you speak Siraiki which would you say: l=Perfect Siraiki as well as any native monolingual Siraiki
2=Very well but not perfect 3=Moderately well
4=Not so good 5=Hardly at all
2) If you had to describe how well you speak Urdu which would you say:
l=Perfect Urdu as well as any native speaker of Urdu 2=Very well but not perfect
3=Moderately well 4=Not so good 5=Hardly at all
say:
l=Perfect English as well as any well educated speaker of English 2=Very well but not perfect
3=Moderately well 4=Not so good 5=Hardly at all
The interview questions were grouped under different headings, namely: language at home and language transmission practices, religion, work, general attitudes, literacy practices, other languages and self-ranking. There were several objectives behind these questions for the interviews. The questions grouped under the heading ‘language at home and language transmission practices’ were asked to find out about the language practices and language choices these interviewees make while speaking to different interlocutors in the home domain. Since the tape-recorded data of the speech practices of each family was only four hours long, it did not contain full information about their language choices while interacting with different interlocutors. Questions related to transmission practices were intended to help me understand the language transmission practices among Siraiki families and this in turn helped me in determining whether Siraiki is a ‘healthy’ language or not, for a language which is transmitted to children is considered a fully healthy language (Schmidt, 1990). The questions under the heading ‘religion’ were asked to determine how much the Siraiki language is protected by religion for it is believed that the chances of language maintenance are very high if it is crucial for religious rites and practices (Miller, 2000). The questions related to language at work were asked to see if Siraiki language has any role in work environment. This was helpful in determining its status in larger society. As I have argued elsewhere (cf. 3.2), attitudes of a speech community towards their language are considered vital for its maintenance or shift. The questions that
probed the attitudes of the interviewees about Siraiki and other languages spoken in Multan gave an insight into what the Siraikis themselves think of their language. Their views helped in explaining their language choices and where applicable, language transmission practices. The questions under the heading ‘other languages’ also supplemented this information. To get first-hand information about the use of Siraiki for different literacy practices, especially reading, the questions grouped under the heading ‘literacy practices’ were asked. The answers to these questions helped in determining its present status and usage and in establishing if the Siraiki language is suffering due to its non-inclusion as a subject in the school curriculum. The questions under the heading ‘self-ranking’ were included to get information about the interviewees’ knowledge of or fluency in three major/influential languages used in Multan. This information was helpful for categorizing the interviewees into different types of speakers. Information about the other members of participating families regarding their self-ranking was gathered through informal interviews (cf. 3.9.4.i).