Abstract
Globally, madrassas have become a key focus of researchers and scholars to identify and
locate their socio-educational role and responsibility. In the context of Pakistan, majority
of the studies however are driven by the security perspective in which attempts have been
made to investigate and thus establish their involvement in training non-state actors and
religious extremists i.e. Taliban on the Pak-Afghan border. There is a general dearth of
in-depth studies conducted inside madrassas in Pakistan and majority views are based on
sensationalized media reports. Also rare are research studies that focus these 12,979
religious seminaries from the perspective of educating about 2 million Pakistani citizens.
Guided by the theory of linguistic market of Pierre Bourdieu, this study aims at
investigating the language attitudes with a view to explore avenues for effectively
incorporating English in the curriculum that in turn will enable them to assimilate in the
country’s job market. Based on 42 in-depth interviews conducted in six madrassas in the
war-torn province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the data reveals the virtual absence of English
in the curriculum. It also reveals that Arabic reigns supreme as the fountain source of
religious knowledge. English is viewed by many as language of opportunities and passport
to success however. The study concludes that consistent and informed policy decisions by
the government are needed to reform religious education. It further concludes that the
policy of English for All has the potential to bridge the existing gulf between religious and
secular education in the country.
Qaisar Khan, Nighat Sultana, Arab Naz. (2016) Linguistic Market and Education: A Qualitative Investigation of Language Attitudes of Students and Teachers in Pakistani Madrassas, Putaj Humanities And Social Science, Volume-23, Issue-1.
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