Social Responses Towards English In Pakistan

1. Introduction
2. Various linguistic phases in Sub-continent
3. Intrusion of English and realization of its importance
4. English an instrument to achieve political status in the world
5. Arguments in favor of English
6. Deep roots of English even after the exit of The British
7. English inevitable both for the government and the public
8. English as a medium of instruction
9. Government awareness to need English
10. English. being a. flexible language, cultivates international outlook
11. English a language of science technology
12. English-rich in literature and vocabulary
13. English helps to enhance foreign exchange
14. English inevitable for our future
15. Arguments against English.
16. English a foreign Language an insult to national dignity
17. Urdu effective to communicate political ideas to masses
18. A great controversy due to lack of uniform policy
19. Conclusion

Over two thousand languages are being spoken in the world. English is one of them English is an interpretational language It is all too easy to imagine that language is a defining feature of a nation, although as a Pakistani, one may well not fall into this trap, since Pakistan is a multilingual community. especially when thinking about Europe and America; people, tend to imagine that in the USA and Canada; ,4or example, every one speaks English; in France, everyone speaks French, and in Germany German, arid so on. However, a few moments spent thinking about this will show it to be an oversimplification. In the USA, in addition to those who speak English as a mother-tongue, there are at least’ 9 million people who speak Spanish as their native language. 6 million speak German, 4 million speak Italian, and significant numbers of native speak French, Polish, Norwegian, Swedish, Slovak, and Hungarian: In the British Isles, in addition to English speaking people, there are large numbers of native who speak Welsh (about one fifth of the population of Wales) and Scottish Gaelic is spoken by about 90,000 people in north-west Scotland and in the islands off the west coast. Of even greater significance in terms of numbers are the relative newcomers t Britain, who speak languages such as Punjabi, Gujrati and Bengali. In fact, there are very few countries in the world where only one language is spoken natively. In some countries such as Cameroon in West Africa, hundreds of languages are recognized. The history of languages in ‘the subcontinent is long. When the Muslims came to India s conquerors from, Central Asia, Persia, and Arabia, they brought their languages with them. During the reign of Mughals, Persian became he court language and Urdu became he language of soldiers and the common people. During that time, Muslims learned Arabic as a second language There was no further change in the social and educational set-up of the sub continent until the 16th century, when the English entered the Mughal they became, the masters of this land. Once again the position of the court language became disputed and of course the masters decided in their own favour English became the language of courts of business as well English was introduced as a second language in schools. The Hindus learned this language quickly. This was the language of the new masters, and it helped them to get rid of, the tyranny of the caste system in Hindu society .They also got good lobs in the new administration and became economically better off than the Muslims. The .Muslims, however, were reluctant to learn English as it was the language of the usurpers of power. After the war of independence of 1857 the Muslims realized that the British had come here to stay, and that all subjects, whether Muslims or Hindus, must cooperate with them in every field The more the cooperative, the more the reward This realization had the Muslims into bearing English. Aligarh University and Jamia Millia institutions were founded on the basis that they would impart the knowledge of the English language along with other subjects which would b beneficial, to young Muslims. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan really took pains in convincing the Muslims to learn English For these valuable services, he was dubbed as an atheist and was called a blackmailer. Actually, he was a great friend of the Muslims and helped them to make a respectable place for themselves in the new system with the hew masters.With the help of this language, we were able to achieve our political status in the world. We gained recognition as a nation in the subcontinent. Through the English newspapers, the Comrade and the Dawn, we are able to organize apolitical platform for the Muslims of India. These two newspapers played a very important part in the political life bf the

The leaders like Jauhar Brothers, Quaid-e-Azam Nawab Mohsin-uI-Malik, Dr. Allama Iqbal all had a very good knowledge and command of English. We know that Quaid-i-Azam’s English was flawless. In the language of our previous masters, we told them to divide the country and leave it forever. Had there not been English-speaking people like Chaudhary Rahmat AIi and Quaid-e-Azam, there would not have been a Pakistan. We can safely say that English is the language f our freedom.

With the exit of the Britishers from Indo-Pak subcontinent, it was presumed in some extremist quarters that English language will also go to its native land soon. But the deep roots which the language had struck into the Indian soil from the beginning of the present century, were hard to be shaken, and the course which the later events took, belied the expectations of this language to a language who wanted immediate replacement of this language by a language of their own. Which language should we choose from English or Urdu? The arguments of those who wish to retain English in al spheres are as follows:- The use of the English language is well-entrench in Pakistan, and people fear that the proposed change over to Urdu en the government and in education would lead to, Chaos.

There has been a marked unwillingness on the part of government departments to make this charge, and indeed, the one government which did try to conduct its business in Urdu, has since reverted to. English, .maintaining that such a change was unworkable. .Thus, it. Is argued the government cannot persuade its own departments to conduct their business through the medium of Urdu how can it hope to persuade the general education authorities?. It is also argued that by deliberately stirring the question of language, confrontation could be provoked between the federal government and provincial governments. Local sensibilities could be aroused, which the government would probably have preferred to have left undisturbed. It is argued that t is better to leave matters as they stand at present. In other words, the adoption of Urdu would stir up the entire language policy controversy throughout the regions of Pakistan. As far as English as a medium of instruction in schools and in higher education is concerned, it is said that even successive Ministers of Education have been unable to decide upon the issue.

However, as things stood, the proposal was that all Matriculation examinations should be conducted in Urdu by 1989. Such a move is considered by its opponents to be a certain route to the reinforcement of upper and middle-class elitism. On the one hand, children who are denied excess to English will find it more difficult to compete for higher education abroad, and even for those who are not academic high fliers. English is often a pre-requisite for employment in the public and private sectors, especially among those who wish to command a good salary. On the other hand, as the recent rapid growth in a number of private English medium schools will show, there are many parents who want their children to be educated through the medium of English and are prepared to spend large amounts of money in order to ensure this. If the medium of the Matriculation examinations is Urdu only, then student at English medium schools will have no choice but to prepare themselves for overseas public examinations such as GCE, O and A levels. Higher education overseas is likely to follow. As a result, standards can only fall among those left behind.

Remaining within the sphere of education, arguments now turn to the learning of science and technology, and to higher education in general. It is well known that English is the international language of higher academic study, especially in the fields of scientific and technological research. The recent revolution in information technology, is almost entirely based on English, this being the medium of almost all computer languages. Those who support the use of English as a medium of instruction argue that as Pakistan has yet to develop its own potential in scientific research. it must in the meantime borrow ideas and get its information from books written overseas. Translation of such books is impractical, not only because of the time and expertise needed to do so, but also because the constantly expanding frontiers of human knowledge make information quickly obsolete.

Those who wish to see English medium schools as well. Thank God. The government at an early stage has realized that without learning English we as a nation cannot survive. If we want to survive as a member of the world family, it is necessary for us to have a strong basis of English. Nowadays English is becoming more popular in the world with many countries, for example the South African countries and Middle East countries.