Cover not available
Article published In:
Language Problems and Language Planning
Vol. 41:1 (2017) ► pp.66–86

Ethnolinguistic dilemma and static maintenance syndrome

A study of language policies and language perceptions in Pakistan

| Baluchistan University of IT Engineering & Management Sciences, Quetta, Pakistan | University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
| Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya
| Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya

Only two out of over 70 indigenous mother tongues are recognized in schools in Pakistan. This study examines orientations of the governments’ language-in-education policies, and scrutinizes the influence the policies exert on vitality of indigenous mother tongues, and the perceptions of their speakers. Using undergraduate students as samples, the study employed mixed-method for data collection. Linguistic diversity and multilingualism have been looked upon as problem than asset in successive government policies. We find that although indigenous mother tongues enjoy strong roots and oral presence in informal private domains; however, they suffer from acute shrinkage in more literate domains such as schools and different media as majority of respondents passively assimilate towards Urdu and English languages. Language policies and current linguistic hierarchy appear to have exerted appreciable effect on respondents’ attitudinal and cultural orientations. Although, respondents demonstrate sentimental attachment towards their languages as cultural and identity signifiers; however, they overwhelmingly support English and Urdu as their desired languages-in-education leaving their own mother-tongues marginalized. Respondents’ approach is marked by ‘static maintenance syndrome, an attitudinal conundrum, in which they rationalize the ‘supposed inferiority of their languages’ vis-à-vis English (the official) and Urdu (the national) languages. Top-down and bottom-up orientations are characterized by neglect towards linguistic diversity.

Keywords: language policy and planning, indigenous mother tongues, Urdu & English, static maintenance syndrome, language-as-a-resource and language-as-a-problem
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Attitude formation, policy and planning
  • Sociolinguistic situation and language policies in Pakistan
    • Policy towards Urdu
    • Policy towards English
    • Policy towards indigenous languages
  • Methodology
    • Instrumentation
      • Questionnaires
      • Interviews
  • Results
    • Linguistic background of participants
    • Language use within the family
    • Use of media
    • Importance of indigenous languages
    • Respondents’ favorite language policy in schools
  • Discussion
    • The local attitudes – indigenous languages and domain shrinkage
    • The official attitudes – language-as-a-resource versus language-as-a-problem
    • Static maintenance syndrome and ethnolinguistic dilemma
  • Conclusion and the way forward
  • References


This article is currently available as a sample article.

Published online: 20 July 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.41.1.04man
References
Alexander, N.
(2002) Linguistic rights, language planning and democracy in postapartheid South Africa. In S. Baker (Ed.), Language Policy: Lessons from Global Models. Monterey CA: Monterey Institute of International Studies.Google Scholar
(2007) Linguistic diversity in Africa in a global perspective. In N. Alexander & B. Busch (Eds.), Literacy and linguistic diversity in a global perspective: An intercultural exchange with African countries (pp. 13–22): European Centre for Modern Languages Council of Europe Publishing.Google Scholar
Ayres, A.
(2003) The Politics of Language Policy in Pakistan. In M. E. Brown & Š. Ganguly (Eds.), Fighting Words: Language Policy and Ethnic Relations in Asia (pp. 51–80). Cambridge: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.Google Scholar
(2009) Speaking like a state: Language and nationalism in Pakistan. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, C.
(1992) Attitudes and language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Bari, F., & Sultana, N.
(2011) Inequality in Education (pp. 15–17). Islamabad Pakistan: ASER.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P.
(1991) Language and symbolic power. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Coleman, H.
(2010) Teaching and learning in Pakistan: The role of language in education. Islamabad Pakistan: The British Council.Google Scholar
Coleman, H., & Capstick, T.
(2012) Language in education in Pakistan: Recommendations for policy and practice. Islamabad Pakistan: British CouncilGoogle Scholar
Crystal, D.
(2000) Language death. Cambridge; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Durrani, M.
(2012) Banishing colonial specters: Language ideology and education policy in Pakistan. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics 27(1), 29–49.Google Scholar
Ethnologue
(2014) Languages of the World Retrieved July 20, 2014, from [URL]
Foucault, M.
(1991) The Foucault effect: Studies in governmentality with two lectures by and an interview with Michael Foucault. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.Google Scholar
GOP
(2001) Census. Islamabad Pakistan: Retrieved from [URL].
Grenoble, L. A., & Whaley, L. J.
(2006) Saving languages: an introduction to language revitalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Harrison, K. D.
(2007) When languages die: the extinction of the world’s languages and the erosion of human knowledge. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hornberger, N. H.
(2003) Continua of biliteracy: An ecological framework for educational policy, research, and practice in multilingual settings. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jalal, A.
(1995) Democracy and authoritarianism in South Asia: A comparative and historical perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jinnah, M. A.
(2000) Jinnah: Speeches and statements 1947–1948. Karachi Pakistan: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Khurshid, N. K.
(2009) Language education in Pakistan: A postcolonial analysis Masters of Education, Critical Studies, The University of New Brunswick New Brunswick.Google Scholar
Kontra, M., Phillipson, R., Skutnabb-Kangas, T., & Várady, T.
(2000) Introduction: Conceptualising and Implementing Linguistic Human Rights. In M. Kontra, R. Phillipson, T. Skutnabb-Kangas & T. Várady (Eds.), Language, a Right and a Resource: Approaching Linguistic Human Rights (pp. 1–24). Budapest Central European University Press.Google Scholar
Kraus, M. E.
(2007) Keynote – Mass Language Extinction and Documentation: The Race against Time. In O. Miyaoka, O. Sakiyama & M. E. Krauss (Eds.), The vanishing languages of the Pacific rim (pp. 3–24). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lasagabaster, D., & Huguet, Á.
(2007) Introduction: A Transnational Study in European Bilingual Contexts. Clevedon: Multilingual mattersGoogle Scholar
Lin, A. M. Y., & Martin, P. W.
(2005) From a Critical Deconstruction Paradigm to a Critical Construction Paradigm: An Introduction to Decolonisation, Globalisation and Language-in-Education Policy and Practice. In A. M. Y. Lin & P. W. Martin (Eds.), Decolonisation, Globalisation Language-in-Education Policy and Practice (pp. 1–19). London: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maffi, L.
(2001) On biocultural diversity: linking language, knowledge, and the environment. Washington, [D.C.]; London: Smithsonian Institution Press.Google Scholar
Mahboob, A.
(2002) No English, no future: Language policy in Pakistan. In S. O. B. Hartford (Ed.), Political independence with linguistic servitude: The politics about languages in the developing world (pp. 1042). New York: NOVA ScienceGoogle Scholar
Manan, S. A., & David, M. K.
(2013) Mapping ecology of literacies in educational setting: The case of local mother tongues vis-à-vis Urdu and English languages in Pakistan. Language and Education, 28(3), 203–222. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014) Language management: A snapshot of governmentality within the private schools in Quetta, Pakistan. Language Policy, 151, 3–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mansoor, S.
(1993) Punjabi, Urdu, English in Pakistan: A sociolinguistic study. Lahore: Vanguard.Google Scholar
(2004a) The Medium of Instruction Dilemma: Implications for Language Planning in Higher Education. In S. Mansoor, S. Meraj & A. Tahir (Eds.), Language Policy, Planning, & Practice: A South Asian Perspective. Karachi: Agha Khan University.Google Scholar
(2004b) The Status and Role of Regional Languages in Higher Education in Pakistan. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 25(4), 333–353. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
May, S.
(2003) Rearticulating the Case for Minority Language Rights. Current Issues in Language Planning, 4(2), 95–125. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2005) Language rights: Moving the debate forward. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 9(3), 319–347. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2006) Language policy and minority rights. In T. Ricento (Ed.), An introduction to language policy: Theory and method (pp. 255–272). Malden, Mass.; Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
McCarty, T. L.
(2009) Empowering Indigenous Languages: What can be Learned from Native American Experiences?. In R. P. T. Skutnabb-Kangas, A. K. Mohanty & M. Panda (Ed.), Linguistic Diversity and Language rights:Social Justice Through Multilingual Education (pp. 125–139). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mustafa, Z.
(2011) Tyranny of language in education, the problems and its solutions Karachi: Ushba Publishing International.Google Scholar
Nettle, D., & Romaine, S.
(2000) Vanishing voices: The extinction of the world’s languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pennycook, A.
(1998) English and the discourses of colonialism. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
(2001) Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. Mahwah, N.J.; London: L. Erlbaum. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rahman, T.
(1996) Language and politics in Pakistan. Karachi; Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(1997) The medium of instruction controversy in Pakistan. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 18(2), 145–154. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1999a) Language, Education, and Culture. Karachi Pakistan: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(1999b) Language, Politics and Power in Pakistan: The Case of Sindh and Sindhi Ethnic Studies Report, 17.Google Scholar
(2001) English-Teaching Institutions in Pakistan. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 22(3), 242–261. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2002) Language, ideology and power: Language learning among the Muslims of Pakistan and North India. Karachi; Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(2005) Language Policy, Multilingualism and Language Vitality in Pakistan. In A. Saxena & L. Borin (Eds.), Lesser-Known Languages of South Asia – Status and Policies, Case Studies and Applications of Information Technology (pp. 73–106). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Rassool, N., & Mansoor, S.
(2007) Contemporary issues in language, education and development in Pakistan. In N. Rassool (Ed.), Global issues in language, education and development: perspectives from postcolonial countries (pp. 218–244). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ruiz, R.
(1984) Orientations in language planning. NABE Journal, 8(2), 15–34. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shackle, C.
(2007) Language and national identity in Pakistan. In A. Simpson (Ed.), Language and National Identity in Asia (pp. 100–115). Oxford: Oxford University PressGoogle Scholar
Shamim, F.
(2008) Trends, issues and challenges in English language education in Pakistan. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 28(3), 235–249. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Siddiqui, S.
(2010) Rethinking education in Pakistan: perceptions, practices, and possibilities. Karachi: Paramount Publishing Enterprise.Google Scholar
Skutnabb-Kangas, T.
(2000) Linguistic genocide in education or worldwide diversity and human rights? Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Skutnabb-Kangas, T., & Phillipson, R.
(2000) Rights to language: equity, power, and education: celebrating the 60th birthday of Tove Skutnabb-Kangas. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Tollefson, J. W.
(2006) Critical Theory in Language Policy. In T. Ricento (Ed.), An introduction to language policy: Theory and method (pp. 42–59). Malden, Mass.; Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Tollefson, J. W., & Tsui, A.
(2004) Medium of instruction policies: which agenda? whose agenda? Mahwah, N.J.; London: L. Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Torwali, Z.
(2014, April 7). The beauty of diversity, The News International. Retrieved from [URL].
UNESCO
(2003) Language Vitality and Endangerment Paris France: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Section’s Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages.Google Scholar
(2013) Language vitality and endangerment Retrieved February 26, 2013, from [URL].
Zaidi, A.
(2010) A postcolonial sociolinguistics of Punjabi in Pakistan. Journal of Postcolonial Cultures and Societies, 1(3&4), 22–55.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 14 other publications

Ahmad, Naseer & Zhou Guijun
2022. Inclusion or exclusion. European Journal of Language Policy 14:2 ► pp. 181 ff. DOI logo
Aslam, Maqsood, Etienne Farvaque & Muhammad Azmat Hayat
2022. One partition, many divisions? Ethnicities and education in Pakistan. Cliometrica 16:2 ► pp. 405 ff. DOI logo
Bazai, Zia ur Rehman, Syed Abdul Manan & Stefanie Pillai
2023. Language policy and planning in the teaching of native languages in Pakistan. Current Issues in Language Planning 24:3 ► pp. 293 ff. DOI logo
Chaudhary, Nabiha
2024. Examining meaning-making and decolonial resistance in Pakistani women's stories of navigating coloniality and gender. Feminism & Psychology DOI logo
Gubitosi, Patricia & Paola Medina González
2023. Visibility and (re)vitalization. Language Problems and Language Planning 47:2 ► pp. 208 ff. DOI logo
Manan, Syed Abdul
2020. Teachers as agents of transformative pedagogy: Critical reflexivity, activism and multilingual spaces through a continua of biliteracy lens. Multilingua 39:6 ► pp. 721 ff. DOI logo
Manan, Syed Abdul
2021. Don’t Speak Local Languages. Linguistics and the Human Sciences 15:1 ► pp. 129 ff. DOI logo
Manan, Syed Abdul, Liaquat Ali Channa, Khadija Tul‐Kubra & Maya Khemlani David
2021. Ecological planning towards language revitalization: The Torwali minority language in Pakistan. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 31:3 ► pp. 438 ff. DOI logo
Manan, Syed Abdul, Maya Khemlani David & Liaquat Ali Channa
2019. Opening ideological and implementational spaces for multilingual/plurilingual policies and practices in education: a snapshot of scholarly activism in Pakistan. Current Issues in Language Planning 20:5 ► pp. 521 ff. DOI logo
MANAN, SYED ABDUL, MAYA KHEMLANI DAVID, FRANCISCO PERLAS DUMANIG & LIAQUAT ALI CHANNA
2017. The glocalization of English in the Pakistan linguistic landscape. World Englishes 36:4 ► pp. 645 ff. DOI logo
Manan, Syed Abdul, Sham Haidar & Rooh UI Amin
2023. Beyond market and language commodification: Contemplating social-market value and social-welfare concerns in language education policy and practice in Pakistan. Language and Education 37:1 ► pp. 88 ff. DOI logo
Manan, Syed Abdul & Anas Hajar
2022. “Disinvestment” in Learners’ Multilingual Identities: English Learning, Imagined Identities, and Neoliberal Subjecthood in Pakistan. Journal of Language, Identity & Education ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Manan, Syed Abdul & Khadija Tul-Kubra
2022. Beyond ‘two-solitudes’ assumption and monolingual idealism: generating spaces for multilingual turn in Pakistan. International Journal of Multilingualism 19:3 ► pp. 346 ff. DOI logo
Tamim, Tayyaba & John Lee
2021. Language, Class, and Education: Deconstructing the Centre to Rethink Inclusivity in Education in Pakistan. Cogent Education 8:1 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 may 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.