Multilingual Language Practices in Education in Pakistan: The Conflict Between Policy and Practice

Muhammad Azeem Ashraf, David A. Turner and Rizwan Ahmed Laar

SAGE Open, 2021, vol. 11, issue 1, 21582440211004140

Abstract: This study examines the language practices in educational settings in Pakistan, taking the multilingual groupings in society into account. In Pakistan, each province is linked to the single or multiple identities of its people and the languages spoken by the majority. The national language Urdu is limited to educational settings and its function as a lingua franca. English serves people in authority, in offices, and in educational settings. Through discourse-ethnographic analysis, this study examines the individual and joint actions of policymakers and teachers to understand the role of language in educational policy and its practice in educational settings. The interview data identified issues regarding the relationship between language, identity, nation, region, religion, power, and personal attainment in regional, national, and international settings. Moreover, the power of national education policy to produce adequate results is limited by the regional discourses that policymakers ignore. This study concludes by arguing that policy practices for language-in-education in multilingual societies require thoughtful planning which should be informed by local conditions and requirements for its better implementation.

Keywords: language practices; multilingual societies; language policy; language-in-education; Pakistan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:11:y:2021:i:1:p:21582440211004140

DOI: 10.1177/21582440211004140

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