DefinePK

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to look into how university students felt about using English and Urdu in both formal and informal settings. Language is a basic component of human communication and is essential in forming a person’s identity. The study examined how students perceived language choices and how language impacted social situations, interpersonal connections, and academic learning in a university setting. It was conducted at the University of Education, Lower Mall Campus, Lahore. The investigation of students’ language attitudes, communication environments, context, and social identities was done using Social Identity Theory (SIT).Prejudices the participants held about English, the relationship they saw among language and status, as well as the impact on identity occurred in line with the idea of social identity. Fifteen undergraduate and graduate students were interviewed in order to collect data, which was then analyzed to determine the attitudes, language preferences, and topics of the students. Thirteen questions were asked during the interview to find out how university students felt about using English and Urdu in both professional and casual settings. Students from the University of Education, Lahore (Lower Mall Campus) made up the study’s population. The findings demonstrated how a range of variables interact in complex ways to affect language choices, including comfort levels, perceived benefits, cultural prejudices and biases, and identity expression. The research’s conclusions can aid in improving knowledge of students’ language attitudes among educators, legislators, and language academics.