Abstract
This case study explored the English language related
ideologies of different management groups and student
representatives at a business school of Karachi,
Pakistan. The study tried to bring an insider’s
perspective to the causes of certain language
ideologies prevalent in the business school’s social
structure, and the role language played in power
relations between the main actors of the community.
For this purpose, a sample of four research participants
from each of the focussed management cadres was
selected for study. Analysis of semi-structured
interviews, administered on the participants, was done
using Fairclough’s (2009) dialectical-relational
approach of critical discourse analysis (CDA). The
study suggested the prevalence of certain language
ideologies that were manifested and latent in the
discourses of the participants. These deeply rooted
beliefs were predominantly patterned by centering
authorities: language became a means for those in
power to sustain their hegemony and maintain social
stratification in society. Functionally, English played
a stratifying role, and also was found to be extensively
perceived as a commodity, a product that is to be
acquired or attained. The study realised this social
wrong of inequity and divide in a particular community,
and on the basis of the findings, recommends a reorganizing of social structures into those of more
inclusive and democratic ones for the operationalizing
of equality and fairness in social practices.
Aliya Sikandar, Nasreen Hussain. (2018) Language Ideologies in a Business Institute: A Case Study of Linguistic and Socio-Cultural Realities, Journal of Education and Educational Development, volume 1, issue 1.2.
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