Multilingual Situation in Zamboanga City: Native and Nonnative Chavaca no Speakers' Experiences and Perspectives

This paper aimed to describe the multilingual situation in the city, where consultants from three (3) ethnic groups were interviewed via focus group discussions—namely, Muslim, Visayan, and native speakers of Zamboanga Chavacano. To address the objective at hand, the data were gathered and analyzed qualitatively and thematically, after being selected purposively, three (3) native speakers of Chavacano, five (5) Muslim speakers of the same language, and three (3) Visayan speakers of the same language became consultants. Language ecology theory (Haugen, 1971) frames the current investigation. Different themes were generated for each of the ethnic groups. The five themes generated from the Muslim speakers of Chavacano are Linguistic Repertoire, Language of the Community, Language Learning, Variation in Speaking, and Status of Language Domains. Language, Multilingualism, and Language Use are the three (3) themes from the Visayan speakers of Chavacano, whereas from the native speakers of Chavacano, Languages Spoken, Learned, and Used, English vs Tagalog, Language Use in Varied Domains and Situations, and Variation in Use are the four (4) themes found. Furthermore, convergent themes were likewise consolidated: Code-switching, Lingua Franca, Intermarriages, Languages in the Socmed Platforms, Language Acquisition/Learning by Children, Methods for Learning and Using Language, and Language(s) Used in the Community. Additionally, an insider’s position on the multilingual situation in the city is provided. The current analyses may serve as a point of departure for other inquirers with an identical interest relative to the multilinguistic situation in Zamboanga City.