ERIC Number: EJ1471507
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1466-4208
EISSN: EISSN-1747-7506
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Disenfranchising the Marginalized: The Intersectionality of Politics of Distraction and English-Medium Education (EME) in Pakistani Educational Policy
Mirza Muhammad Zubair Baig1
Current Issues in Language Planning, v26 n3 p330-344 2025
The historical Hindi-Urdu language strife intensified after the Indian 'Mutiny' in 1857 played a pivotal role in shaping the two-nation theory, culminating in the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. Under English colonial rule, English language education became synonymous with power and job opportunities, creating divisions within the Muslim community over language preference. Analyzing Pakistan's language education policy through Farley, Leonardi and Donnor's (2021) five components of education policy distraction framework provides a structured approach to evaluate its impact on social mobility and English language education access. The analysis highlights the distractors of English-medium education, which include hierarchical multilingual policy, prioritizing English as the official language, using limited budgeting excuses for not professionally developing public school teachers, reliance on traditional English language teaching methods, and treating English as merely a subject. The findings emphasize the need to reform Pakistan's language education policy to address socioeconomic disparities, promote equitable access to English language education and mitigate the distractors. Recommended reforms include reviewing the advantage of English Medium Education (EME) over public education, increasing funding, enhancing the professional development of English language teachers, drafting and implementing language policies, encouraging public-private teacher exchange programs, and introducing teacher certification and capacity-building initiatives.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, English (Second Language), Second Language Instruction, Second Language Learning, Social Mobility, Access to Education, Social Differences, Socioeconomic Status, Teaching Methods, Educational Change, Equal Education, Urdu, Indo European Languages, Language Role, Educational History, Educational Policy, Social Status, Employment Opportunities, Multilingualism, Official Languages, Educational Finance, Faculty Development, Teacher Certification, Capacity Building, Elementary Secondary Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Pakistan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1English Language Department, Royal Commission for Yanbu Colleges and Institutes, Industrial Yanbu, Saudi Arabia