From Home to High Status: A Corpus-Based Examination of Code-Switching and Language Loss in Pakistan

Abstract

The study reveals how language shift and language loss are happening in Pakistan. It focuses on the role of English as a prestigious language among students and the society. The research concerns the increasing dominance of English in education, media and social life which raises concern about the future of regional languages. The study helps to understand how code switching between English, Urdu and regional languages affects people’s identities and fuels the loss of regional languages. Analysis of WhatsApp conversations, class debates, family and daily conversations, news, social media posts and interviews are the sources of data collection gathered from university students and community people. In order to analyze patterns of language use and the impact of English as a prestigious language, the study employs corpus based strategies to estimate how frequently people move between languages and under what circumstances. The results demonstrate that English is prominently considered a language of social mobility, education and status. Societies continuously switch to English in academic and professional settings while regional languages are increasingly limited to home or informal use still with a mixture of English language. This indicates that code-switching is not just a communication strategy but also a factor facilitating language shift and language loss. The study concludes that English holds a powerful role as a prestigious language in Pakistan shaping identity while declining the regional languages. These findings have important implications for education and language policy suggesting that steps are taken to support regional languages and recognizing the practical use of the English language.