The Urdu and English Medium Divide in Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

English and Urdu languages are used in Pakistan as official languages for spoken and written communication. In the education system of Pakistan, a linguistic divide exists, and it divided the Pakistani education system into two streams known as English medium and Urdu medium. In Pakistan, Government schools, colleges, and universities are Urdu medium and offer very low-price education to the poorer and middle-class communities whereas English medium schools, colleges, and Universities are owned by private organizations and offer education to economically well-off societies. The said disparity in the education system created self-identities and linguistic capital. Qualitative methodology and thematic data analysis techniques were used to prepare proper report findings to comprehend how scholars’ experiment and make their own opinions keeping in mind the past and present situations of education viz-a-viz social impact of English language learning. In this study, it is also recommended how inequalities and language discrimination can be removed in the government language policies. Keywords: English, Urdu, English-Urdu divide, English learning, Language challenges.