Access to English in Pakistan: English a Source of Prestige and Failure due to Differential Access

• In Event: 18.072 - Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: 18.072-5 - Global Perspectives on Humanities Instruction and Access

Abstract

In Pakistan English is one of the official languages, language of higher education, prerequisite for professional positions, and the most prestigious language. However, access to English may not be the same for people belonging to different socioeconomic statuses, because of different school systems. There are elite private and public schools for the elites to which ordinary people have no access. This study explored access to English in different schools employing a qualitative design strategy, a phenomenological case study. The study found that English language instruction prepares students for variant social roles in different schools focusing on developing different linguistic resources and social capital, which perpetuate the class structure in Pakistan.

Author

• Sham Haidar, University of Rochester