The English/Urdu-Medium Divide in Pakistan: Consequences for Learner Identity and Future Life Chances
Journal Title: Journal of Education and Educational Development - Year 2019, Vol 6, Issue 1
Abstract
Both Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, and English the official language are widely used for spoken and written communication in different contexts in Pakistan. In education; however, a linguistic divide is evident in the two-stream system of education - mainly referred to as Urdu medium and English medium - according to the dominant language of instruction in an institutional setting. Urdu medium schools are normally the state schools providing free education to the poorer communities while the English medium schools are private fee-paying schools for the economically well-off sections of society. This disparity in the educational system has loaded the labels English medium and Urdu medium with a range of meanings that constitute self and other’s perceptions of identity, in addition to signaling linguistic capital, particularly in terms of proficiency in English. This paper reports findings of a small-scale qualitative study undertaken to understand how students at a higher education public-sector institution in Pakistan experience and construct their own and others’ identities in relation to their previous and current educational and social experiences of language learning and use. Insights gained from this study further our understanding of how linguistic inequalities can be sanctioned by the state’s language policy and related practices.
Authors and Affiliations
Fauzia Shamim, Uzma Rashid
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP598073
- DOI -
- Views 216
- Downloads 0
An Autobiographical Study of Language Teacher’s Perceived Psychological Dynamics: Methodological Issues and Insights
Psychological research in second language acquisition (SLA) is a growing field. Much of this research has primarily focused on examining the language learner with comparatively little emphasis on exploring the language t...
Al-Ghazali’s Aims and Objectives of Islamic Education
The Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 and our various educational policies have given clear direction on aims of our education system, which should be based on Islamic principles. However, since independence, Pakistan is st...
The Relationship between Perspective Taking Skills and Language Development in Preschool Children
Perspective taking is a fundamental skill that helps us to understand others’ thoughts, feelings and perceptions. Past studies have shown that there were significant relations between young children’s perspective taking...
The English/Urdu-Medium Divide in Pakistan: Consequences for Learner Identity and Future Life Chances
Both Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, and English the official language are widely used for spoken and written communication in different contexts in Pakistan. In education; however, a linguistic divide is eviden...
Relationship Between Authentic Leadership and Classroom Management in Public and Private Sector Universities
The study aims at to explore the authentic leadership attributes (ALA) and its impact on classroom management. The objectives of the study were to investigate ALA of leaders and measure relationship between ALA and class...