Language Attitudes in a Multilingual Context: Attitudes of University Students in Balochistan

Abstract

The objective of research is to examine the attitudes of university students towards the phenomenon of plurilingualism in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, a region known for its linguistic diversity. However, the linguistic ideology prevalent in the region favors the use of a single language or a “pure” form of a language. The research focuses on the question of whether young multilingual language users perceive the practice of plurilingualism as a strength or weakness. A mixed-methods approach has been adopted to collect data from 100 university students. The results show that the students hold a very positive attitude towards the practice of plurilingualism. The majority of the students do not perceive the practice of plurilingualism as a weakness or a sign of incompetence. This study contributes to sociolinguistic debates on multilingualism by highlighting South Asian youth perspectives that challenge traditional linguistic purism and affirm plurilingualism as an adaptive communicative competence.