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Dissecting the dominant framings of multilingualism in education in Pakistan: A southern perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2025

Hassan Syed Open the ORCID record for Hassan Syed [Opens in a new window]  and
Waqar Ali Shah Open the ORCID record for Waqar Ali Shah [Opens in a new window]
Hassan Syed*
Affiliation:
Sukkur IBA University, Pakistan
Waqar Ali Shah
Affiliation:
University of Jyvaskyla, Finland and Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In the present study, we combine southern multilingualisms and linguistic governmentality frameworks to analyze the dominant framings of multilingualism in Pakistan and the subject positions they entail. Using critical policy studies and narrative analysis, we draw upon official policy documents (n = 6) and university students’ narratives (n = 2). Our analysis suggests that the dominant framings of multilingualism in Pakistan are informed by (post)colonial and neoliberal ideologies centered on bounded notions of language and commodification of linguistic competencies. They are characterized by hierarchization of named languages and their functions in relation to their political and economic value, otherization of indigenous languages, and compartmentalization of students’ linguistic competencies into economically privileged languages. These framings entailed subject positions that gradually erased their (students’) multilingual identities and instead morphed them into plurimonolingual subjects of/for the state and the market. We also discuss implications for scholars, teachers, and policy makers in this study. (Multilingualism, southern theory, governmentality, neoliberalism, language education, language policy)

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Language in Society , First View , pp. 1 - 24
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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