A STUDY OF THE PREVALENT PRACTICES OF LINGUISTIC HOSTILITY AND TERRORISM IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF PAKISTAN

Abstract

The study explains the ongoing practices of linguistic hostility and terrorism in educational institutions of Pakistan. In the country, English enjoys the status of an official language and Urdu as a national language. However, many indigenous languages are also in use. The educational system necessitates the proficiency in English language, therefore, the teachers expect the students to use English with no traces of their mother tongues. This may give rise to linguistic hostility and terrorism. Anzaldua’s (1987) idea of “linguistic terrorism” has been employed as a theoretical framework for the research. The data is collected from 110 students of different varsities of Punjab, Pakistan through survey. It came out that the speakers of indigenous languages are embarrassed when their mother tongues influence the use of English in the classrooms. The study has significantly contributed towards language teaching and language
planning in the context of Pakistan.