Identities in Flux: English as Cultural Capital and a Rationale for Investment in a Pakistani University Classroom

Amin R.U. Haidar S. Manan S.A. Ahmed F.
May 2025 John Wiley and Sons Inc

International Journal of Applied Linguistics (United Kingdom)
2025 #35 Issue 2 873 - 884 pp.

This study investigates the connection between access to English during early schooling (Urdu-medium public schools and English-medium private schools), the impetus of investing in a graduate classroom, and their role in shaping learners habitus, and identities. Using cultural capital and investment as the conceptual lens and students interviews as the data, collected from a Pakistani university graduate classroom, the study explores access to English (cultural capital) and sees whether it symbolizes a privileged position in an all-English milieu classroom setting. Grounded in a phenomenological design, the thematic analysis of the data demonstrates that English is not only perceived as invested capital but is also instrumental in (re)shaping the learners self. The extent of access to learning English in schools not only facilitates (dis)advantaged positions but also defines symbolic power and the sense of (not)belonging to the classroom setting. The findings also exhibit that the learners perceived positioning has a direct relationship with their investment in English and the potential returns in the form of capital valued in the social market. Having socioeconomic prestige associated with access to English, it is essential to revisit education policies, train teachers, and introduce inclusive curricula for promoting equitable access to learning English—the dominant language in Pakistan. This study suggests that English has considerable social consequences for learners in Pakistan, the degree of convergences with and divergences from this studys findings in other contexts may also be explored.

classroom discourses , cultural capital , investment , language policies , power relationships , students identity

Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи

Department of English, Rawalpindi Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Department of Education, College of Human Sciences and Education, KIMEP University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Graduate School of Education (GSE), Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan (Astana), Astana, Kazakhstan
Humanities Department, COMSATS University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Department of English
Department of Education
Graduate School of Education (GSE)
Humanities Department

10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель

Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026