| dc.description.abstract | In an ever-globalising, multilingual, and superdiverse world, the linguistic repertoires of individuals are increasingly complex. The acknowledgement of linguistic plurality, and the nature of language use in a complex setting motivate the problematisation of existing theories that are intended to offer understanding about these issues. Consequently, when contexts develop to become more complex, traditional theories may not be able to comprehensively accommodate the languages within a superdiverse setting, where classic views of languages as bounded systems are questioned. This is especially true for sub-cultural languages. Sub-cultural languages, in this study, refer to languages that are not recognised by formal legislature; not the official language of any nation or country; and is, rather, the expression of identity of a particular sub-culture. The existence of sub-cultural languages fosters a situation where classic ideas of language boundaries are challenged on two levels: sub-cultural language often have a hybrid nature and they address the need for individuals who affiliate with sub-cultures to communicate their identities in these communities. The importance of understanding the relationship between sub-cultural languages and sub-cultural groups is motivated by the ideological needs of sub-cultural language speakers. This is in contrast with theories that espoused the importance of ethnic allegiance as a driving force for linguistic vitality. The conscious choice of individuals to acquire and maintain a sub-cultural language is evidenced in existing studies, however the motivating factors that inspire sub-cultural linguistic vitality are not overtly known. Traditional ethnolinguistic vitality theory, in this study, has been proven to be incomprehensive in explaining and the measurement of sub-cultural linguistic vitality. For this reason, this study undertook to identify the elements that drive linguistic vitality in a sub-cultural context. Furthermore, the identified elements are operationalised as a sub-cultural linguistic vitality measuring instrument. The findings of this study contribute to the field of applied linguistics in that theoretical implications for traditional theories, and indicators for future theory building that could explain the linguistic vitality of sub-cultural languages are offered. In addition, in the process of developing a measuring instrument where operational elements are not readily available employed in this study offers a methodological contribution. In totality, this study identifies previously unknown elements pertaining to sub-cultural linguistic vitality; explains how these elements are operationalised as part of the development of a sub-cultural linguistic vitality measuring instrument; it also explains how such a measuring instrument is implemented; and finally, the findings present theoretical implications for both mainstream and sub-cultural languages in superdiverse context | en_US |
