What is it about?
Pakistan is a highly multilingual country with more than 60 indigenous languages, yet higher education—especially in urban universities—operates largely through English and Urdu. This study explores how students from linguistically diverse backgrounds experience classroom participation in an English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) setting at a private university in Pakistan. Many of these students have had limited exposure to English and Urdu during their schooling, which creates barriers when they transition to tertiary education. Using a qualitative approach based on classroom observations and interviews with Humanities students, the study examines linguistic challenges such as difficulty understanding vocabulary and scientific terminology, lack of fluency in the target language and feelings of marginalisation among students with weaker English and Urdu proficiency. Although some instances of translanguaging (drawing on multiple languages for meaning making were observed, these practices were not systematically implemented. The limited use of translanguaging was largely linked to instructors’ lack of awareness and training in leveraging students’ full linguistic repertoires.
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Why is it important?
This article sheds light on the relationship between language, power and equality in multilingual higher education classrooms in Pakistan. In contexts where English and Urdu dominate academic spaces, students who are more proficient in these languages often hold symbolic and academic advantages, while others may feel excluded or silenced. By highlighting the linguistic capital disparities within private university classrooms, the study shows how language can function as a subtle yet powerful mechanism of discrimination. It also emphasizes that translanguaging is not merely a teaching technique but a potential tool for promoting inclusion, participation and equity. The findings suggest that without institutional recognition and teacher training in translanguaging pedagogy, multilingual resources remain underutilised and that inequalities persist. The study calls for the development of inclusive classroom ecologies and structured teacher training programs that embrace linguistic diversity rather than suppress it.
Perspectives
“We wrote this article to draw attention to the hidden inequalities produced by language practices in multilingual higher education classrooms in Pakistan. While English-medium instruction is often viewed as a marker of quality and progress, it can unintentionally marginalise students from rural and vernacular-medium schooling backgrounds. We wanted to explore how language operates as both a resource and a barrier in these settings. Our qualitative approach allowed us to closely examine classroom realities—how students struggle, how teachers respond and how moments of translanguaging emerge organically. We believe that recognising students’ full linguistic repertoires is essential for fostering equality and meaningful participation. Ultimately, this study advocates for a shift from monolingual norms toward transformative translanguaging pedagogies that promote inclusion and educational justice.”
Josephine Alexander
University of South Africa
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Language and equality inside the classroom, Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts, February 2026, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/ttmc.00176.muh.
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