Language-in-Education Policies in Pakistan: Evidence for an Equity-Driven Multilingual Framework for Urdu, English, and Regional Languages

Language-in-Education Policies in Pakistan: Evidence for an Equity-Driven Multilingual Framework for Urdu, English, and Regional Languages | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Systematic Review Language-in-Education Policies in Pakistan: Evidence for an Equity-Driven Multilingual Framework for Urdu, English, and Regional Languages Maryam Arif This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8292807/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The language in education environment of Pakistan is still defined by complicated historical, ideological, and sociopolitical conditions that still determine access to education, equity, and identity. The systematic review will be a synthesis of evidence on 5 important studies in the period between 2012 and 2025 to analyze the effects of medium-of-instruction (MoI) policies, which are working with English, Urdu and regional languages, on the learning and social inclusion. The overall analysis of narratives can point to three themes that are interconnected, Stigmatization by colonialism Past legacies continue to perpetuate the order of language and Nothing seems to bridge the gap between the official policy and the realities of Pakistani multilingual classes. New suggestions There are new proposals emerging of equity based multilingual reform. Results indicate that English is still a language of gatekeeping that is linked to a sociodemographic privilege, whereas Urdu strengthens the principles of national identity along with being unable to embrace the linguistic diversity of the nation. Regional and minor languages are worn out, even though their pedagogical and cultural importance has been proved. Informal multilingualism is evidenced, however, in classroom practice where teachers mix languages to facilitate understanding and highlighting the discrepancy of expectation of policy and the realities. The most progressive reform paradigm, the so-called 3+1 multilingual model, provides a logical policy framework combining the role of regional languages, Urdu, English and languages peculiar to individual communities. The conclusion of the review is that Pakistan requires a holistic, contextuallyspecific, and equity-oriented multilingual policy that will help minimize the structural disparity and make the education system responsive to the linguistic reality of its multinational population Educational Philosophy and Theory Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8292807","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Systematic Review","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":556133527,"identity":"3cbe801c-5d11-462b-a394-813d6e6e92c9","order_by":0,"name":"Maryam Arif","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYNCDBBsbIMnYeIAELWlpIC0NJGhhSDsMpvBqMW8/e/DTjZp7if3TDj/78CDhvN3a9sNAW2psonFpkTmTlyydc6w4ccbtNOMZCQm3k7edSQRqOZaW24BDiwRDjoF0DltCYsPtBGOGxB+3k80OALUwNhzGrYX/jfHvnH8JifNvp39mSEg4l2x2/iEBLRI5ZtK5bQmJG27nGAO1HLAzu0HIFok3Zta5fQnGG2/nFAO1JCeY3QDakoDPL/w5xrdzviXIzrudvpnxR4Kdvdn59IcPPtTY4NQCA44wBYlgRgIB5SBgj8EYBaNgFIyCUQADAFZaZmsq6+NAAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3047-3012","institution":"COMSATS University Islamabad, Pakistan","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maryam","middleName":"","lastName":"Arif","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-12-06 07:24:51","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8292807/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8292807/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":97900243,"identity":"bf6e5dee-afe2-4f12-b55e-beecd1938061","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-10 15:45:20","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":463184,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"EvidenceforanEquityDrivenMultilingualFrameworkforUrduEnglishandRegionalLanguages1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8292807/v1_covered_fc2a5b67-c250-4d7a-a78b-2f133055eae1.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eLanguage-in-Education Policies in Pakistan: Evidence for an Equity-Driven Multilingual Framework for Urdu, English, and Regional Languages\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8292807/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8292807/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe language in education environment of Pakistan is still defined by complicated historical, ideological, and sociopolitical conditions that still determine access to education, equity, and identity. 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