TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF USING REGIONAL LANGUAGES IN A PAKISTANI UNIVERSITY CLASSROOM

Rooh Ul Amin; Fasih Ahmad; Shazia Gulzar

Rooh Ul Amin Assistant Professor, Department of English, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan
Fasih Ahmad Humanities Department, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad
Shazia Gulzar Department of Humanities, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore

Keywords: Regional languages, Code-switching, Teachers’ perceptions & Multilingualism

Abstract

This study examines how teachers perceive use of regional languages in content courses in a Pakistani classroom at both undergraduate and graduate level. Results of a survey (five point Likert-type), administered to 120 teachers from both natural and sciences at a public sector university in Islamabad and three public sector universities at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa indicate that use of regional languages is significantly frequent in Pakistani university classrooms. In addition, an excessive use of regional languages escalates teachers’ consciousness about the limiting role with regard to practicing TL. Participants strongly advocate maximum use of TL in classrooms for preparing students to achieve the required level of proficiency in TL. This study has both policy and classroom implications for maximizing use of TL in Pakistani university classrooms.