**5. Domain analysis as a theoretical framework of language use**

The concept of domain analysis developed by Fishman remains useful for both description and explanation of the distribution and use of language in domains and is based on [49] famous question of "Who speaks what language to whom, and when." There is a correlation between language choice and a wide range of social factors, such as the number and geographical distribution of the language's speakers. Domain analysis, therefore, is the framework on which the survey questionnaires for this study are based. Domain analysis approached the study of language use by relating self-reported language behaviors and attitudes of the respondents to sociological indices in the groups under study. The language domain should be considered an abstraction of an interactional situation in which a cluster of sociocultural, sociolinguistic, and linguistic factors is at work.

The family, the playground, and the street, the school, the church, work, literature, the mass media, the courts, and other administrative agencies are examples of domains described in the literature. The precise description and classification of domains necessitates a thorough understanding of a society's sociocultural dynamics, norms, and values at a specific point in time. This is because the quantity and intensity of language behavior domains can vary from context to context [49].

#### **5.1 Defining domain analysis**

Domain, an important determinant of language choice, refers to the context of language use, for instance, that of family, friendship, neighborhood, education, and transaction. With reference to domain distribution of language use, Wallwork [60] says that in some domains there may be contact with other people with whom there is a potential choice of two or even three languages. The decision may be focused on the function of the two speakers in relation to each other, or the topic of the conversation who both view domain in the same ways [61].

#### **5.2 Domain effects on language choice**

The impacts of domain on language choice have been investigated in a number of research. Greenfield [62] states that in the multilingual Puerto Rican population of New York, the low language, Spanish, is preferred in intimate domains such as family and friendship, while the high language, English, is preferred for job and education. Parasher [63] demonstrates that in India, people use their mother tongue and another language in the family domain, although English dominates high domains like education, government, and employment, as well as some low domains like friendship and neighborhood. Similar findings were reported by Hohenthal [64], who found that languages are employed differently depending on the domain. The concept of domain and domain analysis, however, has been criticized. Some of the studies reported partial effect of domain on language choice whereas others reported even no effect at all. Pascasio and Hidalgo [65] examined how role-relationships, domains, and speech situations affect language use among bilinguals in Philippines. The speech situations, however, do not seem to have much effect on language used. Gal [66] however, strongly disagreed with the influence of domain on language choice. The other situational factors such as audience, setting, occasion, and purpose have been found to influence the choice of language in other communities but these factors were found irrelevant to the Oberwart case in Austria.
