Language controversy in Afghanistan: The sociolinguistics of Farsi Dari and Pashtu at Kabul University

Mariam Alamyar, Purdue University

Abstract

This thesis undertakes an explanatory study of the linguistic situation in Afghanistan. In particular, the study has taken two approaches. The first approach seeks to investigate the status of the two official languages of Afghanistan, Pashtu and Farsi Dari, in academic and non-academic settings. By doing so, it sheds light on how the law treats the official languages and how these languages influence social, economic, and political dynamics in a broad spectrum. The second approach highlights the status of the official languages in academic settings and addresses the challenges and problems that learners and instructors struggle with individually and with one another at Kabul University in Kabul City, Afghanistan. More specifically, it focuses on language issues and their impact on students, instructors, and public life. For the first part of the study, data entail mostly library and electronic resources including books and websites, personal experiences, observations, encounters, examples, anecdotes, the media, and a few quotations from the students' and instructors' surveys and interviews. For the second part of the study, the data includes survey questionnaires and face –to- face interviews with the students and instructors. The study posits that language issues have a great impact on the academic life and success of students as well as the instructors. Language discrimination affects students' grades and their future career prospects, and thus creates an unsafe academic environment. As a result, the solution lies in developing of better ways of implementing bilingual language policies in order for effective learning and teaching to take place. In addition, the controversy over the two languages accentuates the need for education about dialects and language diversity for people at all levels of formal and informal education in Afghanistan.

Degree

M.F.A.

Advisors

Berns, Purdue University.

Subject Area

English as a Second Language|Sociolinguistics

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