Investigating the Role of English in Multilingual Society: A Case Study of District Kohat

Abstract

The current paper explores the position of English in the multilingual setting of Kohat city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan where the most widely spoken local languages are Pashto and Hindko. More recently, English has come to represent education, social and career success hence producing a linguistic environment, which encourages mastery of English. This research seeks to assess the effects of English on education, employment, and language usage in Kohat; and the sociocultural effects of this change. This research design using surveys, interviews, and participant observation investigates how English mediates with regional languages and the difficulties faced by speakers of Pashto and Hindko in managing this bilingual context. The study demonstrates that fluency in English promotes academics performance and better and chances for better jobs but also creates barriers that limit participants who have poor English translation. Also, the role of conflict between English and local languages is discussed with regards to the identity and the future of regional languages in Kohat. Thus, this study provides an understanding of the phenomenon of language in Pakistan and proposes directions on the development of language diversity for educational policies.