Linguistic Pluricentricity, Transcultural and Revitalization

The Case of English in Pakistan

Abstract

Motivated by the current studies (Wodak, Krzy?anowski, & Forchtner, 2012) on multilingualism and language ideologies, this article examines the Pakistani linguistics repertoire in the wake of diverse vernaculars. On the basis of my data collected from newspapers, I focus on multilingual practices in order to elucidate the current situation35*- of English in Pakistan, as well as evaluate Pakistani plurilingual society as transcultural. Referring to diverse cultural habitats and relating linguistic constraints to issues of power and identity, I argue that the differing functional settings govern plurilingual practices. Along these lines, I propose a linguistic configuration as well as a socio-cultural stratification, which together aid language repertoire and language stabilisation. This configuration and stratification correlates with transcultural phenomena and therefore question the general revitalization of Pakistan.