LANGUAGE POLICY AND PLANNING: ATTRIBUTING URDU FOR SOLIDARITY AND CULTURAL FUSION

Abstract

The present research presents the researchers’ point of view based on a wider perspective on Pakistan’s language policy to attribute Urdu as Pakistani and its role in bringing cultural solidarity across the country. It also sheds light on the language policy goals and motivations that can manoeuvre Pakistan’s language policy to create a uniting language that can be accepted by the indigenous cultures. So far, the language policy says that Urdu is a national tongue so it is still not accepted by the indigenous cultures, where rifts due to languages are common. The researchers are of the view that if Pakistan’s language policy declares the name of Urdu as ‘Pakistani’, many cultural disputes regarding language can be resolved, as Mahboob (2015) supports the idea that ‘Pakistani’ is the solution to bring cultural unity. The research is quantitative in nature and uses 11 goals of language planning by Nahir(1984) and motivations for interdependence of language by Fishman(2000) to support researchers’ view. The data is collected using questionnaire and the research tool is based on the prior mentioned goals and motivations.