The Book
This is the first book-length study of the history of language teaching and learning among South Asian Muslims. It traces the history of language-teaching among the Muslims of north India and present-day Pakistan, and then relates language-learning (the demand) and teaching (the supply) to ideology (or world view) and power. It makes the point that the Muslims in this part of the world, like other people elsewhere, learned languages to empower themselves by acquiring marketable linguistic skills at all periods of history. It also argues that those who determine what languages, and what textbooks, are to be taught, would like to, and are in a position to promote the ideology which, in their opinion, promotes or consolidates their own power, or maintains the status quo. In short, the teaching and learning of languages is linked to the distribution of power which, in turn, is connected to employment, promotion of certain ideologies, shaping of identities, and national interest.
The Author(s)
Tariq Rahman is presently National Distinguished Professor of Linguistics and South Asian Studies, in the National Institute of Pakistan, at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He was a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar at the University of Texas at Austin in 1995-96. He has lectured extensively at many universities as well as academic institutions abroad. He established the Quaid-i-Azam Chair on Pakistan Studies at the University of California, Berkeley (2004-2005). He has published numerous research papers and nine books. His book, Language and Politics in Pakistan has received awards from the Government of Pakistan.
Table of Contents
* Introduction
* Theoretical Framework
* Arabic
* Persian
* English and Indian Muslims
* Urdu in British India
* Urdu in the Hindi Heartland
* Urdu in Pakistan * English in Pakistan
* Sindhi
* Pashto
* Punjabi
* Balochi, Brahvi and Minor Languages
* Foreign Languages
* Language Texts and World View
* Conclusion