Language Policy and Medium of Instruction Issue in Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4312/ala.5.1.111-124Keywords:
Keywords, language policy, ethnic, aversive attitudes, linguistic-identity, anti-English sentimentsAbstract
The issue of language in Pakistan is not just related to linguistics. It has far more implications for cultural, economic, political, and social issues. The current paper studies the latest language policy of Pakistan and its implications for local languages. It then relates to the formation and implementation of a (certain steps) sound language policy to root out the conflicts and ethnic clashes from time to time in the country, and to survive the language shock of majority of students in Pakistan, who are taught English as compulsory subject up to 14 years of education. The current situation of the country also correlates to the puzzling phenomenon of cultural aversive attitudes towards English language by the masses. The current teaching methods and curriculum employed in the institutions of Pakistan, for decades, have only been successful in maintaining the gap between the privileged English related people and the hardcore anti-English sentiments. In this battle for linguistic-identity crisis and supremacy, a lot of national talent has been wasted. This paper briefly re-explores the situation of languages in the country on the first step, then it moves on to focus on the national policy, its flaws, and it possible ways out by bringing in examples from Chinese and Indian Language Policies.
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References
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Brutt-Griffler, Janina. (2002). World English: A Study of Its Development Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Census. 2001. 1998 Census Report of Pakistan Islamabad: Population
Census Organization Statistics Division. Govt of Pakistan.
Bromley, Yu. V. (1977). Soviet Ethnography: Main Trends, Problems of the Contemporary World. 42 Moscow: Social Studies Editorial Board, USSR Academy of Sciences.
Bromley, Yu. V. (1978). Ethnography and Ethnic Processes, Problems of the Contemporary World. 73 Moscow: Social Sciences Today Editorial Board, USSR Academy of Sciences.
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Bunting, B. (1964). The Rise of the South African Reich. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Bunting, B. (1966). Education for the Apartheid. London: South African Education Board.
Calvet, Louis-Jean. (1974). Linguistique et colonialisme: Petit traite' du glottophagie. Paris: Payot.
Chaudhry, Nazir A. (1977). Development of Urdu as Official Language in the Punjab. Lahore: Government of the Punjab.
Clark, Robert P. (1979). The Basques: The Franco Years and Behind. Reno: The University of Nevada Press.
Cohen, Stephen P. (1994). The Pakistan Army. Edition used. Karachi: Oxford University Press.
Connor, Walker. (1993). 'Beyond Reason: The Nature of the Ethno-National Bond'. Ethnic and Racial Studies 16: 3 (July), 373-389.
Cooper, Robert L. (1989). Language Planning and Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dalby, David. (1967). 'A Survey of the Indigenous Scripts of Liberia and Sierra Leone: Vai, Mende, Loma, Kpelle and Bassa'. African Language Studies 8: 1-51.
Das Gupta, Jyotirindra. (1977). 'Language Associations in India'. In Language Planning Processes, eds. Rubin, et al., 181-92. The Hague: Mouton.
Das Gupta, Jyotirindra and Gumperz, J. J. (1968). 'Language, Communication and Control in North India'. In Language Problems of Developing Countries Nations, eds.
Day, Richard R. (1985). 'The Ultimate Inequality: Linguisitic Genocide'. In Language of Inequality, eds. Nessa Wolfson and Joan Manes. Berlin: Mouton.
De Francis, John. (1977). Colonialism and Language Policy in Vietnam. The Hague: Mouton.
Denison, J. (1977). 'Language Death or Language Suicide?' International Journal of the Sociology of Language 12: 13-22.
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Dharmadasa, K. N. O. (1977). 'Nativism, Diglossia and the Sinhalese Identity in the Language Problem in Sri Lanka'. Linguistics, 193 (June), 21-32.
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Dow, Hugh. (1976). 'A Note on the Sindhi Alphabet'. Asian Affairs, 63: 1 (February), 54-56.
Dressler, W. (1972). 'On the Phonology of Language Death'. In Papers from the Eighth Regional Meeting: Chicago Linguistic Society, eds. P. M. Peranteau, J. N. Levi, G. C. Phares, 448-457. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.
Durrani, Atash. (1993). Urdu Istalahat Nigari. Islamabad: Muqtadra Qaumi Zaban.
Edwards, John (ed). (1984). Linguistic Minorities, Policies and Pluralism. London: Academic Press.
Elfbein, Josef H. (1966). The Baluchi Language: A Dialectology with Texts. London.
Emenyonu, Ernest M. (1989). 'National Language Policy in Nigeria: Implications for English Teaching'. In Language Planning and English Language Teaching, ed. Chris Kennedy, 82-89. Hertfordshire: Prentice-Hall International.
Edwards, John. (1994). Multilingualism London: Routledge. GOP. 1966. Report of the Commission on Student’s Problems and Welfare and Problems Islamabad : Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan
Grimes, Barbara F (ed). (2000). ‘Pakistan’. In Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 14th Edition Dallas, Texas; Summer Institute of Linguistics. pp, 588-598.
Hall, Jacqueline. (2001). Convivencia In Catalonia: Languages Living together Barcelona: Fundcio Jaume Bofill.
HBWI. (1982). History of Bangladesh War of Independence. Dhaka: Government of Bangladesh, Ministry of Information.
Jahan, Rounaq. (1972). Pakistan: Failure in National Integration. New York and London: Columbia University Press. LAD-B. Legislative Assimbly Debates of Baluchistan (dates and other details follow in the text) LAD-F: Legislative Assembly Debates of the North-West Frontier Province (dates and other details follow in the text).
Lunsford, Wayne A. (2001). ‘An Overview of Linguistic Structures in Torwali: A Language of Northern Pakistan’, unpublished M.A. Thesis, The University of Texas, Arligton.
Mansoor, Sabiha. (1993). Punjabi, Urdu, English in Pakistan: A Sociolinguistic Study. Lahore: Vanguard.
Nettle, Daniel and Romaine, Suzanne. (2000). Vanishing Voices: the Extinction of the World’s Languages New York: Oxford University Press.
Phillipson, Robert. (1992). Linguistic Imperialism London: Oxford University Press.
Rahman, Tariq . (1996). Language and Polities in Pakistan Karachi, Oxford University Press.
Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove. (2000). Linguistic Genocide In Education or Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
SSNP. (1992). Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan 5 vols. Islamabad: National Institute of Pakistan Studies and Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Watson, J. K. P. (1983). Cultural Pluralism, Nation-building and Educational Policies in Peninsular Malysia. In Language Planning and Language Education, ed. Chris Kennedy, 132-150. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Weber, Max. (1968). Economy and Society. Berkeley: University of California.
Weber, Max. (1923). General Economic History. London: Allen & Unwin.
Weber, Max. (1922). 'Economy and Society'. In Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, eds. and trans. Hans Gerth and C. Wright Mills. London: Oxford University Press.
Weinstein, Brian. (1980). 'Language Planning in Francophone Africa'. Language Problems and Language Planning 4 (1): 55-77.
Weinstein, Brian. (1982). 'Noah Webster and the Diffusion of Linguistic Innovations for Political Purposes'. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 38: 85-108.
Whiteley, W. H. (1968). 'Ideal and Reality in National
Language Policy: A Case Study from Tanzania'. In Language Problems of Developing Countries Nations, eds. Joshua A Fishman et al., 327-344. New York: John Wiley.
Wierzbicka, Anna. (1990). 'Antitotalitarian Language in Poland: Some Mechanisms of Linguistic Selfdefence'. Language in Society 19: 1 (March), 1-59.
Williams, Colin H. (1984). 'More than Tongue Can Tell: Linguisitic Factors in Ethnic Separatism'. In Linguistic Minorities, Policies and Pluralism, ed. Edwards, John. 179-219. London: Academic Press.
Williams, Monier, ed. (1859). Original Papers Illustrating the History of the Application of the Roman Alphabet to the Languages of India. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts.
Woolard, Kathryn A. and Gahng, Tae-Joong. (1990). 'Changing Language Policies and Attitudes in Autonomous Catalonia'. Language in Society 19: 311-330.
Yinger, J. M. (1981). 'Towards a Theory of Assimilation and Dissimilation'. Ethnic and Racial Studies 4 (3): 249-264.
Young, F. (1970). 'Reactive Subsystems'. American Sociological Review 35: 297-307.
Zaidi, M. Abbas. (1993). Interview with Agha Babar. The Nation, 4 February. Zaidi, S. Akbar, ed. 1992. Regional Imbalances & The National Question in Pakistan. Lahore: Vanguard.
Zaman, Muhammad. (2002). Report on a Language Survey Trip to the Bishigram Valley [http://www.geocities.com/kcs_kalam/ushoji.html].
Ahmad, Rafiuddin. (1981). The Bengali Muslim 1871-1906: A Quest for Identity Delhi: Oxford UP. 2nd-ed. 1988.
Ahmed,
Feroze. (1992). ‘The language question in Sind’. In Zaidi, Akbar S. (ed.) 1992. Regional Imbalances and the Regional Question in Pakistan. Lahore: Vanguard Books.
Alavi, H. (1987). ‘Pakistan and Islam: ethnicity and ideology’. In Halide, F. & Alavi, H. (eds.) 1987. State and ideology in the Middle East and Pakistan London: Macmillans and New York: Monthly Review Press.
Anderson, Benedict. (1983). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso, Repr. edn. 1991.
Bourdieu, Pierre. (1991). Language and Symbolic Power. (ed.) John B. Thompson. Trans. From the French by Gino Raymond and Mathew Adamson. Cambridge: Policy Press. Edition used, 1994 reprint.
Baart, Joan L.G. (1999). A Sketch of Kalam Kohistani Grammar. Islamabad: National Institute of Pakistan Studies
Breton, Roland J. L. (1997). Atlas of the Languages and Ethnic Communities of South Asia. New Delhi & London: Sage Publications.
Brutt-Griffler, Janina. (2002). World English: A Study of Its Development Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Census. 2001. 1998 Census Report of Pakistan Islamabad: Population
Census Organization Statistics Division. Govt of Pakistan.
Bromley, Yu. V. (1977). Soviet Ethnography: Main Trends, Problems of the Contemporary World. 42 Moscow: Social Studies Editorial Board, USSR Academy of Sciences.
Bromley, Yu. V. (1978). Ethnography and Ethnic Processes, Problems of the Contemporary World. 73 Moscow: Social Sciences Today Editorial Board, USSR Academy of Sciences.
Bukhari, Khayal. (1965). 'Da Pakhto Jabe buniyadi masle'. Pakhto 7-8 (3-4): (1964-65), 119-234. Bukhari, Tanvir. 1989. Punjabi Urdu Lughat. Lahore: Urdu Science Board. Language Planning and Politics in Pakistan 38
Bunting, B. (1964). The Rise of the South African Reich. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Bunting, B. (1966). Education for the Apartheid. London: South African Education Board.
Calvet, Louis-Jean. (1974). Linguistique et colonialisme: Petit traite' du glottophagie. Paris: Payot.
Chaudhry, Nazir A. (1977). Development of Urdu as Official Language in the Punjab. Lahore: Government of the Punjab.
Clark, Robert P. (1979). The Basques: The Franco Years and Behind. Reno: The University of Nevada Press.
Cohen, Stephen P. (1994). The Pakistan Army. Edition used. Karachi: Oxford University Press.
Connor, Walker. (1993). 'Beyond Reason: The Nature of the Ethno-National Bond'. Ethnic and Racial Studies 16: 3 (July), 373-389.
Cooper, Robert L. (1989). Language Planning and Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dalby, David. (1967). 'A Survey of the Indigenous Scripts of Liberia and Sierra Leone: Vai, Mende, Loma, Kpelle and Bassa'. African Language Studies 8: 1-51.
Das Gupta, Jyotirindra. (1977). 'Language Associations in India'. In Language Planning Processes, eds. Rubin, et al., 181-92. The Hague: Mouton.
Das Gupta, Jyotirindra and Gumperz, J. J. (1968). 'Language, Communication and Control in North India'. In Language Problems of Developing Countries Nations, eds.
Day, Richard R. (1985). 'The Ultimate Inequality: Linguisitic Genocide'. In Language of Inequality, eds. Nessa Wolfson and Joan Manes. Berlin: Mouton.
De Francis, John. (1977). Colonialism and Language Policy in Vietnam. The Hague: Mouton.
Denison, J. (1977). 'Language Death or Language Suicide?' International Journal of the Sociology of Language 12: 13-22.
Deutsch, K. W. (1953). Nationalism and Social Communication: An Inquiry into the Foundations of Nationality. rev. ed., 1966. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Dharmadasa, K. N. O. (1977). 'Nativism, Diglossia and the Sinhalese Identity in the Language Problem in Sri Lanka'. Linguistics, 193 (June), 21-32.
Dimock, Edward C.; Kachru, Braj B. and Krishnamurti, B. (1992). Dimensions of Sociolinguistics in South Asia: Papers in Memory of Gerald Kelly. Lahore: Vanguard Books; New Delhi: American Institute of Indian Studies.
Dittmer, Kerrin. (1972). Die Indischen Muslims und die Hindi-Urdu-Kontroversie in den United Provinces. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
Dow, Hugh. (1976). 'A Note on the Sindhi Alphabet'. Asian Affairs, 63: 1 (February), 54-56.
Dressler, W. (1972). 'On the Phonology of Language Death'. In Papers from the Eighth Regional Meeting: Chicago Linguistic Society, eds. P. M. Peranteau, J. N. Levi, G. C. Phares, 448-457. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.
Durrani, Atash. (1993). Urdu Istalahat Nigari. Islamabad: Muqtadra Qaumi Zaban.
Edwards, John (ed). (1984). Linguistic Minorities, Policies and Pluralism. London: Academic Press.
Elfbein, Josef H. (1966). The Baluchi Language: A Dialectology with Texts. London.
Emenyonu, Ernest M. (1989). 'National Language Policy in Nigeria: Implications for English Teaching'. In Language Planning and English Language Teaching, ed. Chris Kennedy, 82-89. Hertfordshire: Prentice-Hall International.
Edwards, John. (1994). Multilingualism London: Routledge. GOP. 1966. Report of the Commission on Student’s Problems and Welfare and Problems Islamabad : Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan
Grimes, Barbara F (ed). (2000). ‘Pakistan’. In Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 14th Edition Dallas, Texas; Summer Institute of Linguistics. pp, 588-598.
Hall, Jacqueline. (2001). Convivencia In Catalonia: Languages Living together Barcelona: Fundcio Jaume Bofill.
HBWI. (1982). History of Bangladesh War of Independence. Dhaka: Government of Bangladesh, Ministry of Information.
Jahan, Rounaq. (1972). Pakistan: Failure in National Integration. New York and London: Columbia University Press. LAD-B. Legislative Assimbly Debates of Baluchistan (dates and other details follow in the text) LAD-F: Legislative Assembly Debates of the North-West Frontier Province (dates and other details follow in the text).
Lunsford, Wayne A. (2001). ‘An Overview of Linguistic Structures in Torwali: A Language of Northern Pakistan’, unpublished M.A. Thesis, The University of Texas, Arligton.
Mansoor, Sabiha. (1993). Punjabi, Urdu, English in Pakistan: A Sociolinguistic Study. Lahore: Vanguard.
Nettle, Daniel and Romaine, Suzanne. (2000). Vanishing Voices: the Extinction of the World’s Languages New York: Oxford University Press.
Phillipson, Robert. (1992). Linguistic Imperialism London: Oxford University Press.
Rahman, Tariq . (1996). Language and Polities in Pakistan Karachi, Oxford University Press.
Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove. (2000). Linguistic Genocide In Education or Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
SSNP. (1992). Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan 5 vols. Islamabad: National Institute of Pakistan Studies and Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Watson, J. K. P. (1983). Cultural Pluralism, Nation-building and Educational Policies in Peninsular Malysia. In Language Planning and Language Education, ed. Chris Kennedy, 132-150. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Weber, Max. (1968). Economy and Society. Berkeley: University of California.
Weber, Max. (1923). General Economic History. London: Allen & Unwin.
Weber, Max. (1922). 'Economy and Society'. In Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, eds. and trans. Hans Gerth and C. Wright Mills. London: Oxford University Press.
Weinstein, Brian. (1980). 'Language Planning in Francophone Africa'. Language Problems and Language Planning 4 (1): 55-77.
Weinstein, Brian. (1982). 'Noah Webster and the Diffusion of Linguistic Innovations for Political Purposes'. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 38: 85-108.
Whiteley, W. H. (1968). 'Ideal and Reality in National
Language Policy: A Case Study from Tanzania'. In Language Problems of Developing Countries Nations, eds. Joshua A Fishman et al., 327-344. New York: John Wiley.
Wierzbicka, Anna. (1990). 'Antitotalitarian Language in Poland: Some Mechanisms of Linguistic Selfdefence'. Language in Society 19: 1 (March), 1-59.
Williams, Colin H. (1984). 'More than Tongue Can Tell: Linguisitic Factors in Ethnic Separatism'. In Linguistic Minorities, Policies and Pluralism, ed. Edwards, John. 179-219. London: Academic Press.
Williams, Monier, ed. (1859). Original Papers Illustrating the History of the Application of the Roman Alphabet to the Languages of India. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts.
Woolard, Kathryn A. and Gahng, Tae-Joong. (1990). 'Changing Language Policies and Attitudes in Autonomous Catalonia'. Language in Society 19: 311-330.
Yinger, J. M. (1981). 'Towards a Theory of Assimilation and Dissimilation'. Ethnic and Racial Studies 4 (3): 249-264.
Young, F. (1970). 'Reactive Subsystems'. American Sociological Review 35: 297-307.
Zaidi, M. Abbas. (1993). Interview with Agha Babar. The Nation, 4 February. Zaidi, S. Akbar, ed. 1992. Regional Imbalances & The National Question in Pakistan. Lahore: Vanguard.
Zaman, Muhammad. (2002). Report on a Language Survey Trip to the Bishigram Valley [http://www.geocities.com/kcs_kalam/ushoji.html].
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AMMAR, A., ALI, N., FAWAD, A., & QASIM, K. (2015). Language Policy and Medium of Instruction Issue in Pakistan. Acta Linguistica Asiatica, 5(1), 111-124. https://doi.org/10.4312/ala.5.1.111-124
