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IDEOLOGY, LANGUAGE ATTITUDES, AND STATUS OF PUNJABI IN PAKISTAN A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY ASHER JOHN ADVISOR: DR. CAROLYN J. MACKAY BALL STATE UNIVERSITY MUNCIE, INDIANA JULY 2015 IDEOLOGY, LANGUAGE ATTITUDES, AND STATUS OF PUNJABI IN PAKISTAN A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY ASHER JOHN APPROVED BY: ______________________________ ___________________ Committee Chair Date ______________________________ ___________________ Committee Member Date ______________________________ ___________________ Committee Member Date ______________________________ ____________________ Committee Member Date ______________________________ ____________________ Dean of Graduate School Date BALL STATE UNIVERSITY MUNCIE, INDIANA JULY 2015 ii ABSTRACT Dissertation: Ideology, Language Attitudes, and Status of Punjabi in Pakistan STUDENT: Asher John DEGREE: Doctor of Philosophy COLLEGE: Sciences and Humanities Date: July 2015 Pages: 200 Pakistan is a multiethnic and multilingual country; approximately 72 languages are spoken there including Punjabi, Urdu, Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi, Brahavi, Saraiki, and Shina. Punjabi is the language of 44% of the Pakistanis, but it has no official status and is not used in educational or governmental settings. This study investigates attitudes towards Punjabi and the covert and overt prestige associated with it among 18-30 year-old young adults in Punjab, Pakistan. This project hypothesizes that significant differences in language attitudes and choices will be found between the rural/urban sectors of the population and between young male and female Punjabi speakers. It also focuses on how these attitudes are reflected in perceptions and language choices made by these young adults. Much of the research on this topic suggests that its own speakers consider Punjabi an inferior language as compared to English and Urdu in Pakistan. This is especially true among urban populations of Punjab where people are abandoning Punjabi and use more Urdu in their day-to-day life (Rahman 2002). iii Structured interviews were recorded in Punjabi with 96 respondents (25 males and 25 females from rural areas of District Sahiwal, and 23 males and 23 females from Lahore city). Interviews employ a questionnaire that is based on Garrett, Bishop, and Coupland (2009). The questionnaire consists of 35 questions that have been divided into two major sections, part one includes themes related to the word ‘Punjabi’ and part two is further divided into five subsections that include ‘affiliation to language’, ‘language and entertainment,’ ‘vitality of language,’ ‘domain of language,’ and ‘perception of language.’ While conducting the interviews, the researcher spoke Punjabi and left it at the discretion of the respondent to reply in the language of their choice. Interviews were transcribed to identify themes that were further coded into different categories to provide insight into patterns of attitudes and perceptions regarding Punjabi among the sample populations. The study demonstrates that although Urdu is more prevalent in the urban areas there is a positive change in attitudes towards Punjabi among urban population. Both urban and rural populations affiliate to Punjabi in spite of the fact that Punjabi is not spoken very much in urban areas outside of the home. The study shows that Punjabi is considered more of a language for fun and entertainment at least in urban Lahore. Most of the respondents seem to agree that Punjabi should continue to be used in the home although respondents in rural areas favor a larger and more significant role for Punjabi in all spheres of life. Most of the respondents (especially the urbanites) show eagerness to keep Punjabi alive, but paradoxically, in rural areas where Punjabi is the dominant language in all domains, respondents seem more negative when it comes to the future of Punjabi as the language of Punjab. Significant differences between rural/urban and male/female populations were found regarding perceptions, practices and attitudes towards Punjabi. iv Previous studies have focused only on urban and educated populations, this study is the first of its kind that also looks into rural and uneducated people’s attitudes and perceptions towards Punjabi. The study is also significant in its applicability to important social issues involving identity, official language, and language of instruction in public schools. v To All My Friends and Teachers especially Deborah and Craig Stuck for the love, trust, and unflinching support they have provided me over last twenty years vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project is the result of my love for my language and curiosity for understanding the attitudes of my own people towards our own language. I had always wondered why my people look down upon their own language and why the moment two Punjabis meet they start talking in Urdu. Why avoid one’s own language? Why feel embarrassed about speaking it? These and many other similar questions motivated me to do this study and try to find some answers. I don’t know whether I have found ‘the answers’, but one thing I am sure of is that I have learned a lot about my own people, their opinions, attitudes, and lives. So in a way, this is a successful study, but this success would not have come without the help and cooperation of so many people. The list of the people who helped me in this study is long, and there might not be enough space to mention all of them in these pages, but there are a few whom I especially want to name and thank. The first and foremost in this list is Dr. Carolyn J. MacKay. My sincerest and deepest thanks to you Dr. MacKay because without your continuous guidance, thoroughness, understanding, and encouragement this study would not have happened. I also want to thank Dr. Liz Riddle for her positive, productive, detailed, and thorough feedback, and this feedback did make a difference, so thank you Dr. Riddle. My thanks to Dr. Frank Trechsel for his minute, very specific, and detailed feedback on the statistical and mathematical part of the study. I want to thank Dr. Cailin Murray for her positive and helpful feedback from an anthropological perspective throughout the duration of this study. I want to thank our very dear friend Aileen Howard for her kindness, love and untiring editorial work on my manuscripts. Aileen, without your help, motivation, and prodding this dissertation might have lingered for a long time so once again thanks. I want to thank Dr. Jocelyn Bolin for her help with the statistical analysis. Thanks vii to River Lin for her editing work. I also want to thank the Bracken Library staff for helping in getting resources for this study. Data collection for this study was a challenge and doing it in the sweltering heat of summer 2013 made it even harder. My special thanks to my dearest friend Michael Gill (Ustad) for letting me use his car. Although this car could be a pain in the neck at times, without it data collection could have been a lot harder and challenging in the rural areas of Sahiwal. I also want to thank my father and both my brothers for helping me in collecting data. My thanks to my cousin Lala Joseph for his help in data collection. My thanks to my in-laws who let me stay in their house and provided food and comfort so I could collect data in Lahore. I also want to thank my mother, sister and sister-in-law for cooking and washing for us in that hot and humid summer. My love and thanks to Sarah, Zara, and Andrew for providing relaxation, much needed entertainment, and comfort in my life. Thanks to my friends in Lahore especially at Forman Christian College for helping with the collection of data. Thanks to all those people in different villages who helped me in going to people’s houses to interview them. Thanks to all my participants, whom I might not ever see again, but without their help this study would not have materialized. Last but not the least, love and thanks to my dear wife Sunaina, for being there for me always and for listening to and tolerating all the weird and stupid things that I say to her. In the end, thanks to all my friends and teachers who helped me realize this dream of achieving my academic goals. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.....................................................................................................................vii TABLE OF CONTENTS......................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................................................xii LIST OF FIGURES AND MAPS..........................................................................................................xiv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Background Information ..................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.1. Pakistan...................................................................................................................................................................3
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