Saturday 31 March 2012

Effects of education on the sociolinguistics of upper and lower classes of Pakistan

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Language differences are seen to exist between the upper and lower classes. There is a clear difference in accents, sentence structures etc. Even ideas presented through language differ. This difference can be linked back to the educational background of these classes. Education has a major role in the differences in language. The upper class is usually associated with higher, better quality education whereas the lower class is associated with low education. This educational difference is highlighted in not only the way we speak but also in what we speak.
The upper class has finesse and is regarded as well-spoken perhaps through its training and techniques taught at its schools. This is also due to the fact that the upper class is usually associated with private school education, which is said to be superior education in comparison to public school education. This association of the upper class with private school education is a major factor that causes language differences between the two classes.
Furthermore, higher education is usually more prevalent in the upper class rather than the lower class. The lower and middle class have lower proficiency and especially show difficulty in grammar and speaking the English language. But upper class is not only affluent in the English language but also did not find any trouble in grammar.
Another reason attributed to this difference is that the medium of education in public schools, usually, attended by the lower-middle class, is Urdu, due to which these students do not have a similar proficiency than students attending private schools. Moreover, the books taught to the students are usually Punjab Board publications, which fail to compete with the Oxford university publications of the private school curriculum books.
It can also be seen that students belonging to a public school background have less confidence and suffer from anxiety when they are told to present their ideas or some sort of information. Whereas a student from a private school education, finds this activity easier and is able to deliver with more confidence, than the public school student.
So, it can be concluded that yes, indeed education plays a major role in language development and language differences exist between the upper and lower to middle classes due to a difference in education. This difference exists not only in the type but also the mode and level of education as well. These differences in language then highlight differences in personalities and the way one carries himself/herself.



Ultimately, this also leads to disparity in the society, living in one country, one society, even speaking the same language, there are differences that divide the society and set each part of the society apart. These differences are in synchronization with education. You are different in one similar society due to your education.

1 comment:

  1. BA annual exam result 2022 in the month of August. It is expected that result will be announced in the mid of the August

    ReplyDelete

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