Moot on language policy in global pacts

LAHORE : A private education institute held its first international conference on “Language Policy in International Agreements: The Asian Experience with Special Focus on CPEC" here on Saturday in which the collation of three groundbreaking studies was presented with the objective to explore the implications of CPEC International Agreement on the language practices of stakeholders.

The conference comprising four sessions was attended by international and national delegates, including noted scholars, policy-makers, academicians, students and other dignitaries,

The institute’s pro-rector, Dr Azam Chaudhry, stated that one of the key problems in Pakistan related to CPEC was lack of language policy framework.

Dr. Mandana Seyfeddinipur, director at World Language Institute, SOAS, University of London, presented the keynote address where she talked about the synergised and multiplex effects of modernisation, globalisation and urbanisation on the languages spoken in the world today.

A panel discussion for the first session was chaired by Dr Phyllis G.L. Chew while the panelist comprised Dr Shahid Siddique, Dr Tariq Rahman, Sohail Lashari and Dr Azam Chaudhry.

In this session Dr. Sabiha Mansoor, the principal researcher and Ms Maiyda Shahid presented their research study with the fundamental objective to explore the implications of industries and multinational companies that are operating in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under the umbrella of CPEC, on the language practices of both Chinese and Pakistani employers/employees in M-3 City Faisalabad. The data was gathered from seven firms – Chinese and Pakistani - located in M-3 City Faisalabad. The main findings revealed that although a democratic language policy was being implemented in SEZs and upward mobility was perceived by the lower management as a major motivator towards learning a new language, yet, they were not cognizant of the significance of CPEC in future and hence regarded Mandarin as secondary to English. In addition to this, it was revealed that Chinese employers were keen to learn Urdu language diametrically opposed to locals learning Mandarin.

Dr Tariq Rahman chaired the panel discussion for the second session while the panelists included Dr Seyfeddinipur, Dr Fauzia Shamim and Dr Siddidue.

Dr, Fareeha Zafar the principal researcher, highlighted via her research study how CPEC infrastructure development had impacted the class structure of Pakistan through formal and informal language practices. Within broader socio-cultural dynamics, the study focused on education, language and class issues. The two districts of Bahawalpur and Sahiwal formed the research area and the findings of this research study revealed that local languages were used in informal, whereas, Urdu, Mandarin and English were used in formal settings. However, contrary to the findings of the first study, Mandarin was considered as a significant language by those who belonged to lower socio-economic status and particularly those who had a degree in technical education possibly because of the nature of jobs available at power plants.

The findings reveal that Mandarin was seen as a contributing factor towards reducing inequalities among different social classes. The panel discussion for the third session was chaired by Dr Shamim while the panelists included Umer Farooq, Dr Rana Ejaz and Brigadier Manzaoor Qadir. Ms. Shanzay Kamran, the principal investigator and Ms Munaza Hassan, presented the last study which examined the attitudes and motivations of policy planners, teachers and students towards Mandarin.