Exploring English Language as a Social Currency in Recent Intermediate English Textbooks of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

This study investigates the representation of the English language as a form of social currency in recent Intermediate (Grades 11 and 12) English textbooks prescribed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board (KPTB), Pakistan. Situated within a multilingual and postcolonial context, the research examines how the English language is discursively constructed as a marker of prestige, power, employability, and upward social mobility. Looking through the lens of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and particularly guided by Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional Model, the study adopts a qualitative research design to analyze selected textual data extracts from the textbooks. The analysis focuses on linguistic features, for instance, pronoun usage, modality, lexical choices, interdiscursivity, and institutional framing to uncover underlying ideologies. The major finding of the study is that the English language, though often implicitly embedded within broader educational and developmental discourses, functions as symbolic and social capital that regulates access to academic success, professional legitimacy, and socioeconomic advancement. The textbooks encourage beliefs in meritocracy and neoliberalism by presenting success because of personal effort, skill development, and flexibility, while ignoring the social inequalities tied to class, location, and unequal access to English language resources. Learners are positioned as competitive subjects responsible for their own success or failure, reinforcing existing linguistic hierarchies. The study concludes that intermediate English textbooks play a significant ideological role in shaping learners’ perceptions of English as an indispensable resource for mobility and national progress. These findings have important implications for curriculum design, language policy, and pedagogical practices, particularly in fostering linguistic equity and critical awareness in English language education.