LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 11 : 3 March 2011
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.

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A Look into the Causes of Language Choice among Female Students
in Academic Setting in Pakistan

Mujahid Shah, M.A., M.Phil. Scholar
Zafar Iqabl Khattak, M.A., Ph.D. Scholar
Muhammad Gulfraz Abbasi, M.A., Ph.D. Scholar


Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the causes of gender difference in terms of the language choice in an academic setting. As socio-cultural and Psychological aspects are considered to be two of the major factors, which affect the choice of language in different settings and situations, it was deemed important to explore the language choice for male and female students having Hindko/Pashto as mother tongue, Urdu as Second language/national language and English as Foreign language. A questionnaire probing language choice was developed and data were collected from120 participants comprising Secondary, college and university students including 60 male and female each.

Data analysis revealed that the factors which strongly affect the female choice of language are mostly psychological (inferiority complex) and socio-cultural including social status, prestige, social behaviour and others. The research has significant value; it not only highlights the vital role of psychological and socio-cultural elements in shaping linguistic behaviour but also brings into limelight one of the major areas for research that still needs to be explored in Pakistan.

1.0 Introduction

In our daily life we make choices and our reasoning and choices govern our behaviour. As language is the part of human behaviour, so same is the case with language. We often make choices when we speak. According to Karl Popper and John Eccles, the very origin of language indissolubly is linked with choices. Here is what they say:

We could say that in choosing to speak, and to take interest in speech, man has chosen to evolve his brain and his mind; that language once created, exerted the selection pressure under which emerged the human brain and consciousness of self. (Popper & Eccles, 1977:13).

So, the important point is that making choices is the central part of human condition and they make choices in speech as well. Our choices are subject to restrictions even from the early stage of our speaking.

On linguistic choices there can be physical or cognitive restrictions, grammatical restrictions and social restrictions. For example the need to sleep put natural restrictions on the length of our sentences. The range of speech sound is restricted by our auditory system which is designed to perceive and process sound in a range between 12 and 20,000 cycles/second.

These types of restrictions are physical or cognitive restrictions.

There are grammatical restrictions as well. For example, gender agreement between article, noun and adjective is a good example. French 'bon' and 'bonne' are forms of 'good'. 'It is bon mot', literally a good word but 'bonne action', a good deed. Mot 'word' is masculine whereas action 'deed', is feminine. So, the use of 'bonne or bon forms is determined by agreement rules. Agreement rules are restrictions on choices. What they mean is that, if a language has a gender system, the speakers are not free in their choices of gender forms of nouns, adjectives and articles.

Similarly there are choices which are not determined by physical or grammatical restrictions but by social norms for example there are restrictions on choices between coexisting varieties. For instance English words like 'fast' have, in standard British pronunciation, a long vowel [a:] but in Australian pronunciation it is pronounced a bit archaic, or in some American varieties it borders on [ae] along with other adjustments they make to blend in their environment.

Speech varieties are markers of group membership. So, one tries to use the right forms and pronunciation in order to conform to the group he is trying to join.


This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.


Balbir Madhopuri's Changiya Rukh - A Critique of Dalit Identity and Politics | Multiple Nested Triglossic Situation in Pakistan | Problems Encountered by Arab EFL Learners | Language and Nomenclature Imbroglio among the Kukis | Indigenous Language Abandonment in the Religious Domain in Murree - A Family Report Analysis | A Comparative Study of New Woman through the Female Protagonists of Kamala Markandaya and Shashi Deshpande | A Look into the Causes of Language Choice among Female Students in Academic Setting in Pakistan | Census and the Aspects of Growth and Development of Bangla vs. Bangla-Hindi Bilingualism -With Special Focus on West Bengal | Joshi's The Foreigner - Within and Without | To Investigate the Sense of Teacher Efficacy between Male and Female Teachers of Secondary Schools of Wah Cantt. | Comparative Study of Cost Effectiveness of Formal and Non-Formal System of Primary Teacher Certificate Programme in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan) | Sudha Murty's Short Stories as a Motif of Values | Standard English as a 'Fiat Code' and the Dwindling Faith behind It | Effect of the Use of Motivational Techniques on the Academic Achievement of the Teachers at the Higher Education Level in Pakistan | A Critical Analysis of the Function of Mass Media Language as a Tool of Social Oppression | The Use of Films in the Teaching of English in India | A Comparative Study of Effectiveness of Concept Attainment Model and Advance Organizer Model in Teaching of English in Teacher Education Course | The Effect of Cooperative Learning on Academic Achievement of Low Achievers in English | Imagining a Borderless World: A Comparative Study of Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda | Teaching English in Schools: Problems and Solutions - A Case Study from Rajasthan, India | Socio-cultural Patterns of the Tamil Brahmin Community in the Novels of R. K. Narayan | Effects of Multimedia Glosses on Aiding Vocabulary Acquisition in EFL Environment | English Language Teaching in Rural India - Issues and Suggestions | Teaching Paragraph Writing - "Bilingual" Newspapers as Tools | A Study of Teachers' Academic Qualification, Morale and Their Teaching Behaviour | Syllable Onset Clusters and Phonotactics in Pahari | Literary Criticism as a Shared Set of Measurement | Ted Hughes's Poetry - The Problem of the Evil of Self-Consciousness | Travelogue as a Literary Genre | Bim's Unfailing Strength in Anita Desai's Clear Light of Day | Impact of Education on Development of Self-Concept in Adults | An Analysis of the Lack of Primary English Language Skills among the Technical Students of Hindi Speaking States | Emergent Literacy Experiences in the Classroom - A Sample Survey in Mysore City | ICT Enabled Language Learning Using Handphones - An Experimental Study | Creative Writing in Language Classes | Business Communication: Techniques and Methods by Om P. Juneja and Aarti Mujumdar (Hyderabad: Orient BlackSwan, 2010) | Word Formation in Surjapuri | Beatrice Culleton and Her April Rain Tree - Identity Crisis of the People of Mixed Races of Colonization | A PRINT VERSION OF ALL THE PAPERS OF MARCH, 2011 ISSUE IN BOOK FORMAT. This document is better viewed if you open it online and then save it in your computer. After saving it in your computer, you can easily read all the pages from the saved document.

Call for Papers for a Language in India www.languageinindia.com Special Volume on Autobiography and Biography in Indian Writing in English | Call for Papers for a Special Volume on Indian Writing in English - Analysis of Select Novels of 2009-2010 | HOME PAGE of March 2011 Issue | HOME PAGE of Language in India | CONTACT EDITOR languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com


Mujahid Shah, M.A., M.Phil. Scholar
Department of English
Abdul Wali Khan University
Mardan
Pakistan
mujahidshah@awkum.edu.pk

Zafar Iqabl Khattak, M.A., Ph.D. Scholar
Department of English
Abdul Wali Khan University
Mardan
Pakistan
zafariqbal@awkum.edu.pk

Muhammad Gulfraz Abbasi, M.A., Ph.D. Scholar
Department of English
Bahauddin Zakariya University
Multan
Pakistan
gulfrazabbasi@gmail.com

 
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