This article presents the analysis of the relation between language policy formation and nation-identity development process in context of Pakistan. Language is not only an instrument of communication, but it is also central element of culture, resultantly reaffirming the cultural differences in contrast to other cultures. After independence, a shared common language is often used by nations as symbolic marker in order to integrate their diverse population into a single unified nation. Language become a central factor in the process of nationalism or nation-building and to culture in general, results into politicization of language policy and planning process. This paper analyzed the language policy documents of last 20 years and highlighted that in Pakistan LPP, particularly status planning, decisions are largely influenced by power politics in the country. This paper argue that the issue of language cannot be detached from the political issue of the country. Pakistan is a home to a vast number of ethnic communities, who speaks different languages. Pakistan's recognition of Urdu as national language results in given privileged status to the people who identify themselves with this language. The ruling elite enjoy the privileged status of English and Urdu language in various power domains whereas the languages of minority powerless groups are marginalized from the domains of literacy, administration, education and power. The monolingual conception of national identity has largely alienated the under-represented or powerless languages which put their native speakers at grave disadvantage. This paper proposed that language policy makers must incorporates all the indigenous language on stage in context of nation-identity development with an ideology that all language are equal linguistically or socially. Every individual has right to use and promote their mother tongue and education being basic right of every individual it should be given in one's own mother tongue.

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 2015

Pakistan)is)one)of)the)most)populous)countries)with)diversity)in)language)and)culture.) Urdu) is) the) national) language) and) English) is) the) official) language.) The) only) education) language) in) most) provinces) is) Urdu.) However,) most) minority) language) speaker) are) discriminated) and) non[Urdu) languages) are) a) sign) of) stigma) and) poverty.) Language) policy) makers) in) Pakistan) are) recommended) to) mind) the) following) points) to) improve) communication) among) Pakistanis) so) as) to) lead) them) to) respect) each) other's) language) and) culture.) Education) must) be) in) mother) language,) all) small) indigenous) languages) should)have)orthography)and)endangered)languages)must)be)revitalized.)Intercultural) communication) can) be) improved) by) help) of) media) and) encouraging) and) motivating) people) to) learn) other) provinces) languages.) Overall,) mutual) intelligibility) should) be) encouraged)and)enhanced)in)order)to)introduce)different)cultures)to)people.)Television) and) Radio) have) crucial) role) in) bring) people) in) friendship) from) different) cultures) by) producing) movies) in) different) languages) and) having) music) national) channels.) People) should) be) aware) that) then) can) communicate) by) their) own) languages) else) Urdu) and) English)because)most)languages)in)Pakistan)derived)from)same)language)family.

Language policies in Pakistan, since its inception till present day, were thoroughly studied and reformations as well as reservations in these policies were pointed out. In the light of these studies, a comprehensive report based on factors to be considered while planning a national language policy was developed. This case study explored some of the problems and difficulties which were faced during the implementation of different language policies from the year of independence to present. It also discussed some factors which affect the language policy of a multilingual country. These factors are: 1. International Factors 2. National Factors 3. Religious Factors 4. Cultural Factors 5. Political Factors 6. Linguistics Factors 7. Socio-demographic Factors 8. Socio-psychological Factors 9. Financial Factors 10. Economic Factors 11. Pedagogical Factors At the end of the study some recommendations were given for the development of Urdu as a National Language. Urdu language can be promoted through educational institutions, print and electronic media, and praising such people who are working for the development of the language.

Dialogue, 2017

This paper revisits the concept of devolution in Pakistan as a federal state. It overviews the history of language policy from the perspective of the devolution in the context of 18 th amendments. It evaluates the arguments of the supporters and opposers of devolution. While the supporters believe and argue in the support of devolution of decision making to the local level, the opposers consider such a move a threat to the existence of Pakistan. This paper establishes the validity of the argument of supporters of devolution and considers such a move beneficial for the promotion of local languages and the associated cultural, socio-political empowerment and economic opportunities of the local speakers. The absence of the substance of the opposers of devolution is thereby presented. The case of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a small unit of federation that houses a number of minority languages is explored. It is established that language policy became more conducive after passage of 18 th Amendment in the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973. The devolution of Higher Education Commission (HEC) is also discussed and it is found that devolution of education-that remains the most important domain of language policy-still remains centralized and its devolution is resisted with the help of arguments of the opposers of devolution. This paper recommends the policy of considering local languages as source of strengthening the federation. It also suggest to make language related choices of minority languages a right that is protected through legal, material and institutional guarantees.

Arab World English Journal (AWEJ), 2020

Pakistan is linguistically a diverse country. The language policies of successive governments resemble a kind of educational apartheid, where local languages have continuously been neglected. The paper reviews the various language policies in Pakistan, and then, critically examines the existing language policy, and its implications on medium of instruction. The analysis suggests that linguistic cohesion with multi-linguistic policies are needed to adopt a multilingual approach in language planning policy in Pakistan. A more pluralist approach to language planning and policy (the mother tongue and regional language for local/regional communication, Urdu for national use, and English for national and international communication) may present a range of implementation challenges. The study is significant because it will shade light on the linguistic situation in Pakistan, and on the government language policy. It will also try to figure out how Pakistan can develop an ecologically valid model for bi/multiliteracy for such complex linguistic context.

International Journal of English Linguistics, 2018

This paper examines the language teaching policy in Pakistan and its consequences on Sindhi language in Sindh province. The paper argues that such language policy has attempted to marginalize other local and indigenous languages of the country in general and Sindhi language in particular. Politics is actively engaged in determining the status of languages in the country. English and Urdu being the languages of the dominant social group, that is, the ruling elite in the country enjoy status of official and national languages respectively whereas languages of the marginalized group are excluded from the domain of education, literacy and power. The paper, thus, draws attention of the language policy makers to linguistic human rights and argues that all the languages should be treated equally. Education being inborn right of human being should be acquired in one's own mother tongue; this is the only solution to cope with present and future challenges in Pakistani educational system.

Language and Politics in Pakistan by Tariq Rahman, 1996

This is the first history of the politics of language in Pakistan. It begins with the British language policies in South Asia, goes on to look at the HIndi-Urdu controversy in the 19th century and then examines the vernacular-English divide before independence. After that it examines at length the way language functioned as a symbol of ethnicity helping to construct a power group against policies which the counter elites speaking Bengali, Sindhi, Pashto, Siraiki, Blaochi, Brahvi and Punjabi considered unjust. All language movements are explained on instrumentalist grounds except the Punjabi language movement which is basically because of the loss of the mother-tongue by an educated elite. However, in all language movements the extra-rational dimension (anger, love and sentiment) do play a role so instrumentality is tempered with other factors.

Remittance Review, 2024

Language policy of the state and language in education are vital questions of the present times. The questions have gained enormous value, as the contemporary world communities are mostly multilingual. Over and above, English has entered as a powerful player in the arena since the colonial times. This has created such chaos in many countries as seems to be irresolvable. Amongst all that are the clarion calls for legitimate place of national and local languages in education. The authors carried out their study in perspective of South Asia with special focus on Pakistan. The authors proceeded with their study with four objectives in mind: (1) to explore the language policies as manifested in proportionate place of English and local languages in social institutions; (2) to investigate the place of the same languages in education as medium of instruction and as subjects of study; (3) to inquire into the reciprocal effect of the language policies and the place of languages in education; (4) to fathom the chances of the local languages to gain the ground in education in Pakistan and other South Asian countries. The populations of the study were educationists, teachers and students. The samples comprised 30 educationists, 60 teachers and 120 students. The researcher used mixed method approach for data collection. The tools of the research were document analysis, questionnaires, interviews and discussions. The findings indicated stunning facts. In the light of the findings, recommendations were made for the rightful place of local languages and that of English in education.

2015

The issue of language in Pakistan is not just related to linguistics. It has far more implications for cultural, economic, political, and social dimensions of Pakistani society. 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) feasible language policy to root out the conflicts and ethnic clashes from time to time in the country, and discusses ways to survive the language shock of majority of students in Pakistan, who are taught English as compulsory subject up to 14 years of education despite the puzzling phenomenon of cultural aversive attitudes towards English language by the masses. The employed teaching methods and curriculum in the institutions of Pakistan, for decades, have only been successful in maintaining the gap between the privileged English speaking people and the hardcore anti-English sentiments. In this battle for linguisticidentity crisis and supremacy, a lot of national talent has been wasted. This paper briefly reexplores the situation of languages in the country on the first step, and 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.

European Journal of English Language and Literature Studies Vol.6, No.7, pp.5-19, October 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK, 2018

This article is written to analyze and give some suggestions concerning language planning in National Education Policy (NEP) 2017. Each government permitted new articles in the constitutions and policies but without following a suitable line of investigation and management of researchers. So in this state of affairs language planning changed into more important beside other national troubles. From the initial day of Pakistan, Pakistani facing tribulations regarding language planning even one of our parts now Bangladesh was separated mainly because of this issue. Pakistan is a multilingual country with five major languages and fifty eight other languages. Language planning is need of all countries especially countries having multilingual and multi-ethnic makeup, Pakistan is one of those countries which have not only multilingual composition but also a conflict on the basis of languages. The scope of this study is that the researcher giving some new plans and suggestions to amend policies. In present time 'National Education Policy 2017' is a good step towards the development. Language planning is official and government-level policy concerning the assortment and promotion of a incorporated administrative language or languages. The researcher recommended that Urdu is a sign of nationalism and lingua franca and English as global language must run side by side, so we can accomplish maximum consequences by competing with the other countries in respect of nationalism. Some suggestions as followings: The issue of language planning should be taken as national issue of Pakistan. All language policies should be made after proper research by the skilled linguistics, psychologists, sociologist and policy makers. Major work should be done on Pakistan language especially in respect of corpus planning as well as status planning to make it a standard language of Pakistan.

2017

This paper highlights the importance and status of English in Pakistan and argues that English is used as a gatekeeper to prevent the access of common man to the elite club of power and prosperity. This paper discusses the central role English plays in language politics in Pakistan; the place of English contrasting with Urdu (the national language) and regional languages is also discussed. Furthermore, this paper briefly discusses the parallel system of education in Pakistan. Finally, it is suggested that quality education in English can provide better economic opportunities to the people of Pakistan.

AI

This paper examines the present language policy of Pakistan and its consequences for the indigenous languages of the country. It then relates this to efforts at localization--creating computer software in the languages of the country---and argues that all such efforts have been power-oriented. This means that only those languages have been selected for localization which are used in the domains of power---government, bureaucracy, judiciary, military, commerce, media, education, research etc---thus further strengthening them vis a vis the marginalized languages of the people. It is therefore argued that the efforts at localization should be rights-based i.e. all language communities should be considered equal and their languages should be localized not because of their present use in the domains of power but because they too should be strengthened by being put to such use.

Language, 2023

National integration has become a main clause and challenge for the post-colonial developed societies of Asia and Africa. Many strategies were adopted to grow national integration, but solutions remained complex. In Pakistan, a third-world plural society that is a multi-ethnic and multilingual state, national integration faces constant challenges. Pakistan has consistently used centralizing and oppressive policies to establish national integration as a federal state. The state's authoritative policies turned ethnic and language riots into politics. This paper mainly enumerates the role of the Urdu language as a primary source for nationalism and national integration. In the past, the separation of East Pakistan in 1971 was the outcome of language riots. Recently, the National Language (Urdu) became a fundamental source for national integration to establish regional harmony and communication among provinces and different ethnic groups of Pakistan. Urdu serves as a tool for national integration, as it is an amalgamation of multiple languages from the past and present.

International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Culture (Linqua- LLC), 2015

In this project, we have focused Langue planning and language policy (LPLP) generally, in particular, in Pakistani context and discussed the dilemma of language policy in Pakistan. The problems are as well discussed which were caused by language policy and close study of language policies have been done from 1947 to date. The language policies have been debated and gaps have been pointed out. At last, a recommended proposal has been given for language policy in Pakistan to be implemented.

2003

Pakistan is a multilingual country with six major and over fifty-nine small languages. However, the languages of the domains of power-government, corporate sector, media, education, etc.are English and Urdu. The state's policies have favored these two languages at the expense of others. This has resulted in the expression of ethnic identity through languages other than Urdu. It has also resulted in English having become a symbol of the upper class, sophistication and power. The less powerful indigenous languages of Pakistan are becoming markers of lower status and culture shame. Some small languages are also on the verge of extinction. It is only by promoting additive multilingualism that Pakistani languages will gain vitality and survive as cultural capital rather than cultural stigma.

Language, as a means of communication, has been studied from different perspectives for centuries. One of the perspectives from which it has been studied in the last century is its political role-what role language plays in governments, and how governments select a particular language for their official affairs. This discipline is called language planning and policy. Language planning and policy is a process in which a government selects a language as its means of communication; modernizes it, and expands its functions in the speech community. This paper aims to explore language planning and policy in Pakistan and its consequences to language and their speakers.

The struggle for a separate homeland for the Muslims of India before the partition in 1947 was based on the Two Nation Theory that advocated the concept of Muslim nationhood embedded in religion. At that time the notion of nationhood in Europe was mostly based on language, culture and territory. In order to convince the world to buy the idea of this nationhood the advocates of Muslims needed a single language as well. This they found in the form of Urdu. Thus before Pakistan’s existence Urdu had been made a marker of Muslim nationalism in India. Being anomalous with the general notion of nationalism prevailing in the era of ‘modernity’ the religion-based concept of nationhood was confusing for the Muslims, too. This created an ambiguity which has been haunting Pakistan since its inception. This confusion is reflected in all the attempts of making education policies in Pakistan, too. In Pakistan, the official language policy demonstrates a strong commitment to Urdu in favour of regional languages but stays ambiguous regarding the relative status of Urdu and English. (Tamim, 2014, p. 9). A major challenge faced by the education policy makers in Pakistan was the choice of language and its central role in the process of learning and achievement of education pursuits. (Siddiqui, 2016: 133). Language remained a contested issue even after the independence of the country, giving birth to a number of questions. (Siddiqui, 2016: 133). Shahid Siddiqui, in his recently published book—Education Policies in Pakistan—by the Oxford University Press says that a number of questions such as: what should be the state language of the country? What would be the status of English? How would the provincial languages/regional languages by represented in the policy? What language should be used as medium of instruction? And which language should be kept compulsory in teaching at the educational institutions has haunted Pakistan since its birth in 1947.

Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, 2021

Most of the neo-colonial nation-states in South America, Africa and Asia have historically remained multilingual. Particularly, subcontinent, being the part of Indus Civilization, successfully maintained the legacy of religious and cultural diversity. Pre-colonial lingo-cultural diversity in subcontinent was discouraged and displaced by new linguistic hierarchy during colonial times. In the milieu of WW-II and national liberation movements throughout the world, classical colonial structure was largely weakened at global level and paved the way for internal colonialism. Political leadership of newly formed multiethnic states principally preferred to govern their people as colonial subjects rather than free citizens. European model of 'one language, one culture and one state' has hitherto resulted in many ethno-linguistic movements in different neo-colonial states. Neo-colonial forms of knowledge, categories and instruments of oppression; particularly language policy; is still prevailing in such (in)dependent states where Pakistan is not an exception. Since 1947, language policy in Pakistan has been mainly shaped by and still continues to be overshadowed by its colonial past. This article critically investigates promise(s) and practice(s) of national language policy and the status of linguistic human rights of minorities in education in Lyari, Karachi, Pakistan. The data was collected from various (inter)national public policy documents/declarations along with semi-structured interviews from four different groups of participants i.e. academics, cultural activists, teachers and parents. Findings reveal two diametrically opposed orientations in terms of the use of mother tongue in classroom. School teachers stridently advocated assimilationist language ideology and viewed multilingualism in classroom as a problem to be solved, whereas, cultural activists and academics consider the same as a cultural resource to be properly utilized and the right of the child to be respected. Parents' views are also considered in order to explore the tension between the language of schooling and the language of early socialization of children at home. Moreover, Language Rights model is applied in order to explore (re)production of linguistic injustice through language policy in education.

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