Impact of Sociolinguistic Factors on Pashto Language Use in Relation to Identity and Sense of Community in Multiethnic Social Settings
Keywords:
Pashto language, sociolinguistics, minority language, mixed-method, identity, linguistic familiarity, multiethnicityAbstract
This study explores the sociolinguistic factors influencing Pashto language use among Pashtun students in multiethnic university settings in Pakistan. Despite growing research on language maintenance and shift in multilingual contexts, the linguistic dynamics of Pashtun communities within Pakistani higher education remain under explored. The study examines how emotional comfort, cultural pride, linguistic familiarity and intra-ethnic solidarity shape the linguistic choices of Pashtun students studying at a multiethnic campus. It further investigates the role of social identity and community solidarity in sustaining Pashto use in an environment where Urdu and English hold institutional dominance. The findings aim to contribute to the broader sociolinguistic literature on minority language maintenance in South Asian contexts and to inform future research on language, identity, and ethnicity within Pakistan's multilingual landscape. This mixed-methods study collected questionnaire data from 50 Pashtun students and semi-structured interviews from 30 Pashtun students at COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, while qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that identity, community solidarity, emotional comfort, linguistic familiarity, cultural pride, and language-maintenance concerns are the principal motivations for using Pashto in multiethnic settings.
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