Code-Switching and Social Prestige: A Study of English–Urdu Bilinguals

Abstract

This quantitative research paper looks into the correlation between code-switching and social prestige among English-Urdu bi-lingual learners at Women University of Bagh, Azad Kashmir. The multilingual the Pakistani context has popularly viewed English as the language of power, education and social mobility although the Urdu is the national language and an identity marker. The research has a goal to investigate the perception of English-Urdu code switching in students and whether it is related to increased social status, confidence, and academic competence. A questionnaire was designed based on a Likert-scale format to collect data on 300 undergraduate and postgraduate students using a structured questionnaire. Statistical analysis was used to investigate language use and perception of prestige with statistical analysis, both descriptive statistics and correlation statistics. It is believed that the findings will indicate that there is a positive relationship between code switching to English and perceived social prestige, especially within the academic and formal settings. The research also adds to the sociolinguistic literature because it offers empirical data on the prestige-related motive of the code-switching among female university students in Azad Kashmir.