Code Choices and Reasons for Accommodation Among Urban Bidayuh Undergraduates in Intergroup Discourse

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the dominant code of choice among the younger generation of urban Bidayuh undergraduates studying in a local tertiary institution. The Speech Accommodation Theory contends that closer rapport and solidarity can be easily established if the speaker chooses a code that is most preferred by the recipient. The data were collected through questionnaires and audio recordings of 13 casual conversations. The key findings of this study indicated that the heritage Bidayuh dialects were hardly used. Instead, Sarawak Malay is the dominant code of choice among the younger generation of urban Bidayuh undergraduates across dialect group interactions