Abstract
Pakistan is a multilingual country with more than 72 living languages. Language
choice for medium of instruction (MOI), especially in a linguistically diversified
country like Pakistan, is not an easy task. MOI plays a significant role in
classroom practices and, therefore, any decision regarding the MOI must be
taken into consideration with the opinion of the directly involved stakeholders, i.
e. teachers and students. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to take
teachers and students perceptions about MOI. Data were collected from 139
students and 36 teachers from three public sector institutions one school, one
college and one university through semi-structured questionnaires. The tool was
checked for self- and expert- validity before piloting. The data were analysed
using thematic analysis. The findings reveal that teachers and students prefer
Urdu language as MOI and for classroom interaction. However, the participants
acknowledge the international status and significance of English language.
Teacher respondents also state that students’ weak English language skills are a
major barrier in implementing English as MOI.
