Interplay between Socio-Economic Factors and Language Shift: A Study of Saraiki Language in D.G. Khan

Abstract

Pakistan is among those very few multicultural and multilingual countries which are celebrated for their ethnic as well as linguistic diversity. From the coastal areas of Karachi to the mountainous terrain of Gilgit Baltistan six major and more than 70 minor languages are spoken in various parts of Pakistan. Urdu relishes the position of National Language whereas the official language of the country is English and is mostly used by the power-wielding strata of the country namely the government functionaries, corporate sector, and education sector. The purpose of the study was to find out the interplay between socioeconomic factors and the phenomenon of language shift. The present research is descriptive in which 300 Urdu speaking children of Saraiki families of D.G. Khan District were selected for data collection. A multiple-choice questionnaire was devised and administered to collect the required data. The results insinuated a strong interplay between socio-economic factors and the language shift.