University of Warwick institutional repository: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap/1134 This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MULTILINGUAL PAKISTANIS IN AMSTERDAM AND BIRMINGHAM by SHARON KARIMA IMTIAZ A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF SOCIAL STUDIES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations November 1997 ý er --,i, - 97, 0 11 ,9ý, , "-4 :ý, ,., ,0 1-4 1 /' r e. -4 ' 9 '. ýý ýw `" //f And among His Signs Is the creation of the heavens And the earth, and the variations In your languages And your colours: verily In that are Signs For those who know. Qur'an 30: 22 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Preliminary papers) 1 CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION Cultural talkback 2 Educational and related language policies in British India 3 "Exile can mean you see things with more than one pair of eyes" 6 Migration as process 10 A comparison with the Netherlands and England 11 Women, language and cultural maintenance 12 Pakistanis in the new Europe 14 CHAPTER TWO - REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 21 Diaspora, globalisation and language 21 The South Asian diaspora 23 Pakistanis in England 26 A community in transition 29 Migrants and settlers 30 Community resources in the migratory situation 34 Encapsulation and spatial concentration 36 Life inside and outside the purdahdan 39 Public events and the maintenance of boundaries 41 Conclusion: an account synthesizing cultural and economic factors 44 Pakistanis in the Netherlands 47 Reasons for settlement 47 Community organisation 49 The research agenda 50 Issues of language and linguistic identity 51 The religious life of Pakistanis in the Netherlands 56 Conclusion 56 Relevant studies of multilingualism 57 Introduction 57 Maps and surveys 58 Limitations of the geographical approach 60 Other difficulties of language surveying 62 The detail of individuals' multilingual strategies 66 Code-switching as a language choice 69 Nominal and substantiveexclusiveness Ti Gender and language 73 Caste and class 75 Language use and religious practice 77 Summary 79 CHAPTER THREE - METHODOLOGY AND METHODS 80 Introduction 80 Multiple allegiances and heterogeneous audiences 81 A two-nation comparison, two colonial histories 84 Research in a purdah society 88 The language of the interviews 91 Using interpreters 92 Triangulation 93 Fieldwork methods 94 Terms and categories used 94 Semi-structuredinterviews: selectionof respondents 97 Developing the topic guide 100 Piloting of the semi-structured interview 101 Identifying and locating the population to be studied 102 Factors facilitating access 104 Factors making access difficult 105 Conduct of interviews 106 Recording 107 Observation of group events 109 Mixed purposes of gatherings 109 Note-taking at group events 111 Fieldwork diary 111 Fieldwork in Pakistan 112 Conclusion 114 CHAPTER FOUR - BACKGROUND TO THE GROUPS STUDIED IN AMSTERDAM AND BIRMINGHAM 115 Numbers,locations and spatial concentration 116 Social and cultural facilities 120 Facilities for learning the national language 122 Immigration, nationality and political participation 125 Legal provisions: From pillarisation to the Canadian model 129 Gender 131 Marriage patterns 133 Class, caste and status 134 Other ethnic minorities 138 Official language policies, attitudes and practices in the two cities 139 Two sites in the diaspora 140 People make the context 146 CHAPTER FIVE - INDIVIDUALS, LANGUAGES AND COMMUNICATIVE STRATEGIES 148 Languages spoken 150 Language acquisition 153 Gender issues concerning the national languages 172 Communicative strategies 187 CHAPTER SIX - OBSERVATIONS FROM GROUP SITUATIONS 198 Introduction 198 A typology of events 199 Language use in context 203 Afsus dena A and B, Al-Akhwan meeting 204 Iftari and showing a video, Musheirah 210 A niaz for a new business, Women's Poetry Day 215 Zikr in Amsterdam, Zikr in Birmingham 224 Discussion about Driving, a Child's Birthday Party 232 Conclusion 238 CHAPTER SEVEN - CONCLUSION 241 Introduction 241 The research propositions 244 Multilingualism in the diaspora 244 The effect of gender and other power relationships on language use 254 The interaction of religion and language use 265 The need for an emic methodology 264 Conclusion 272 Community networks 272 Community and domain 273 GLOSSARY 278 APPENDIX I- Topic guide 282 APPENDIX II - Biographical details of respondents 286 BIBLIOGRAPHY 304 LIST OF TABLES Table 1- Marriage patterns 134 Table 2- Caste 137 Table 3- Languages spoken/gender/present residence 150 Table 4- Regional standards and varieties 150 Table 5- Total no. of languages per person 153 Table 6- All other languages mentioned 154 Table 7- Omitted, seeTable 4 Table 8- Educational experience 163,164 Table 9- Typology of group situations 200 Table 10 - Participation of Amsterdam residents in groups 201 Table 11 - Participation of Birmingham residents in groups 202 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to all those who have inspired and helped me in bringing this project to completion. My family, with their patience and their valuable insights into life in multilingual communities have been a constant support. All have been supportive in different ways, but four deserve special mention: my husband, Imtiaz Ahmed Khan, who facilitated much of my fieldwork in Amsterdam and Antwerp; my daughters, Rosa Surire Moran and Delia Rocio Moran, who provided much needed "reality checks" from their perspective of living in the multicultural, multilingual inner city; and my youngest son, Malcolm, who helped me with the layout. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of an Economic and Social Research Council award, which provided my maintenance for two years and travel expenses for three. The travel expenses,covering fieldwork in the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium; a study visit to Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir; and attendance at a conference in Istanbul, enabled me to give this project the international scope which the theme deserves. On the subject of expenses,I am indebted to Sam Hundal, administrator at CRER, who so efficiently processed my expenses claims. Thanks go to all the staff and my fellow researchstudents at the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, but especially I shall always have a debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Mark Johnson. Dr Johnson combined enthusiasmfor my researchwith great conscientiousness, and now that I have my own research students, I am just beginning to appreciate how hard he works. He has done everything he could to transform me into a professional researcher, including giving me the opportunity to work on various CRER projects. My present employers, the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, have been exceptionally understanding in not merely allowing me to complete this thesis whilst in their employ, but by giving me every encouragement. My colleague, Mustafa Draper, has given me very valuable help with word-processing and lay-out. My Urdu teachers also deserve mention, particularly Mohammed Iqbal and Zia Hassan in Coventry. I pray that they may long continue to inspire students with a love of the Urdu language. Finally, I wish to thank the Pakistanis of the English Midlands and Amsterdam, who welcomed me into their homes and tolerated my numerous questions. Without them, there would have been no thesis. DECLARATION Some of this work has also been published as: lmtiaz, S., Johnson, M. R. D. (1993) Healthcare provision and the Kashmiri population of Peterborough: an initial investigation of issues of concern Peterborough: North West Anglia Health Authority. Imtiaz, S. (1995) 'Netherlands India', Cultural pluralism and minorities in contemporary Dutch society' Renaissance and Modern Studies 38: 148-163 Nottingham: University of Nottingham. Imtiaz, S., Taylor, P. (1995) Language policies in European Union states London: Basic Skills Unit. SUMMARY This thesis examines the language use of adult, first generation Pakistanis and Kashmiris settled in Amsterdam and Birmingham. It seeksto show that the researchsubjects' use of the many languages and language varieties at their command is neither random nor illogical, but rather, aids both community formation in the diaspora and the attainment of individual goals. This attainment of goals involves a use of languagewhich may be pragmatic or affective but, particularly when addressing a heterogeneous audience, is often both simultaneously. The primary importance of context is illustrated. This context is both transnational, in the sensethat the Pakistani migrant-settlersstudied form part of a world-wide diaspora, and bounded by conditions in the two Europeanmetropolises of Amsterdam and Birmingham. There is also a local context, defined by the particular areas of town where most of the respondents lived. Finally, there is a context of power- relationshipsoperating through community networks, where gender and religion, in this case Islam, play a significant role. The Introduction discusses some historical and political aspects of language issues in the Indian sub- continent and their continuing influence. The first part of the Literature Review and much of Chapter Four, which examine previous studiesof the Pakistani communities