by Ayaz Ahmad and Asghar Khan
Abstract:
This paper overviews the contact of English and Pashto language in Afghanistan, covering the twentieth century and look ahead into the future for the prospects of two languages coming into contact with each other. Research is primarily qualitative and based on archival sources supplemented by a string of interviews conducted during 2010-2016. The study aimed to find the causes, nature and outcome of English, Pashto contact in Afghanistan. As the period and languages involved in the study have an extensive profile, therefore, the researchers limited themselves to the most significant points in the form of overview and leave the details to future researchers to further refine the assumptions and findings provided here. The study finds colonialism and postcolonial globalization as the deterministic forces that compelled Afghanistan to let English flourish in Afghanistan. However, the very factor of the colonial arsenal that powered the introduction of English in Afghanistan also became a major barrier as Afghans were suspicious of the English people and their language. The love-hate relation for English language and its accompanying culture creates a complex contact-linguistic situation where some actors like the Anglophone west and Afghan authorities promote English and provide a rich context for Pashto language to change as a result of this contact, while on the other hand, the resistance to foreign influence and military presence in Afghanistan taints the process of English language acquisition as well.
Reference:
Pashto and English in Afghanistan: An Overview of Past, Present, and the Future of Contact Linguistics in the Planning\protect \RLپه افغانستان کښې پښتو او انګرېزي: د پخواني، اوسني، او راتلونکي وختو کښې ژبپوهنے په اعتبار عمومي کتنه (Ayaz Ahmad and Asghar Khan), In Pashto, volume 48, 2019.
Bibtex Entry:
@Article{2019-Pasht-48-Ahmad-PashtoandE,
Title = {Pashto and English in Afghanistan: An Overview of Past, Present, and the Future of Contact Linguistics in the Planning\protect \RL{په افغانستان کښې پښتو او انګرېزي: د پخواني، اوسني، او راتلونکي وختو کښې ژبپوهنے په اعتبار عمومي کتنه}},
Author = {Ayaz Ahmad and Asghar Khan},
Journal = {Pashto},
Year = {2019},
Number = {658},
Pages = {11-20},
Volume = {48},
Abstract = {This paper overviews the contact of English and Pashto language in Afghanistan, covering the twentieth century and look ahead into the future for the prospects of two languages coming into contact with each other. Research is primarily qualitative and based on archival sources supplemented by a string of interviews conducted during 2010-2016. The study aimed to find the causes, nature and outcome of English, Pashto contact in Afghanistan. As the period and languages involved in the study have an extensive profile, therefore, the researchers limited themselves to the most significant points in the form of overview and leave the details to future researchers to further refine the assumptions and findings provided here. The study finds colonialism and postcolonial globalization as the deterministic forces that compelled Afghanistan to let English flourish in Afghanistan. However, the very factor of the colonial arsenal that powered the introduction of English in Afghanistan also became a major barrier as Afghans were suspicious of the English people and their language. The love-hate relation for English language and its accompanying culture creates a complex contact-linguistic situation where some actors like the Anglophone west and Afghan authorities promote English and provide a rich context for Pashto language to change as a result of this contact, while on the other hand, the resistance to foreign influence and military presence in Afghanistan taints the process of English language acquisition as well.
},
Comment = {<a href="journal/pdf/2019-Pasht-48-Ahmad-PashtoandE.pdf">Get PDF</a>},
Timestamp = {2020-02-26}
}