Language Choice, Identity, and Interaction among Binantayanon and Cebuano Speakers in Bantayan

The study explored the language choice experiences of Binantayanon and Cebuano speakers in the Municipality of Bantayan, Bantayan Island, Cebu, as a means of everyday communication, identity, sense of belonging, and interaction. Eight adult participants were recruited through purposive sampling supplemented by snowball referrals. Six-phase thematic analysis by Braun and Clarke was employed to uncover patterned meanings within participants' accounts while maintaining a phenomenological focus on lived experiences. The results indicated three main themes, namely, language use, identity, and interaction. First, Binantayanon served as the language of home, neighborhood, market, and familiar community relations. Cebuano was the language of adaptation in formal situations, travel, work, and relations with non-Bantayanons. Second, Binantayanon speakers emphasized that the language fosters a sense of identity, pride, authenticity, and belonging. Their shared local identity and linguistic heritage foster a sense of comfort, inclusion, and connection within the community. However, language difference may also produce hesitation or social distance, particularly when speakers feel less familiar with the language used in an interaction. Third, code-switching was a practical and socially meaningful means of being intelligible, accommodating and relationally aware. The study presents a speaker-centered and phenomenological account of Binantayanon-Cebuano language choice, which complements and enriches the lexical, grammatical and sociolinguistic documentation of the language choice phenomenon, which foregrounds the speaker's interpretation of his/her language choice. The results suggest that language preservation should address Binantayanon not only as a linguistic system but also as a living social practice. The study suggests community-based documentation, local educational resources, and community-based heritage-language programs by municipal governments, and ongoing intergenerational studies on language transmission and change.