LANGUAGE CHOICE: THE PROCESS OF LANGUAGE SHIFT IN THE CHEWONG LANGUAGE COMMUNITY

The aboriginal communities are divided into three clusters, namely as Proto Malay, Senoi and Negrito. Senoi group is the largest group, followed by clusters of Proto-Malayo-Negrito groups. Each group was divided again in to certain tribes. Che Wong tribe is the tribe of the Senoi communities. However Che Wong language community has a smaller numbers. This study will to the choice of language in Che Wong society. The study focused on Aboriginal village of Che Wong, located in Kuala Gandah. An analysis of the data collected focused on the language choice of the Che Wong language community by applying descriptive domain analysis approach. Based on the available, it appears that Che Wong language community still tend to choose their language communications although Malay is the medium language between them and the local community. This is a positive phenomenon of the Che Wong language, especially for a minority language community to maintains their language.