Language Ideologies in Practice: Elementary English Teachers’ Perception of Students' Multilingual Resources
Abstract
The current study investigates the complex language ideologies of Pakistani elementary English teachers, focusing on how they view Pashto, Urdu, and English as the three main languages. Examining how these beliefs affect teachers' perceptions of multilingual resources and language teaching is relevant in the multilingual context of Pakistan. Associating English with colonialism, western culture, power, and elitism, the teachers’ attitudes reveal a complicated mix of affection and anger for the language. Though its practical value is limited, Urdu is viewed as crucial for Islamic education and national solidarity. Despite the participants’ affectionate devotion to their mother tongue, Pashto, it is practically undervalued due to a lack of instrumental value and simplistic or illiterate media representations of its speakers. English is the most valued language in the power structure of the postcolonial context of Pakistan. While Urdu is viewed as a symbol of national unity but is practically discounted, English is connected with possibilities, success, and power. This study attempts to determine the underlying factors influencing teachers' beliefs and practices using qualitative methods based on observations, interviews, and field notes from six teachers representing three distinct school contexts (English-medium private, Urdu-medium private, and Pashto-medium government school). The data is analyzed through thematic analysis with the help of NVivo 14 software. The results of the study have important implications for English as a foreign language teaching in multilingual contexts, the effect of teacher ideological perception of the differentiated linguistic repertoire of the students, and the intersection of these factors with language-in-education policy and teachers’ professional development content designing.
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