Language Attitudes and Language Choices among Undergraduate English Language Learners: A Comparative Study of Sindhi and English Language at University of Sindh

Abstract

The current research study aims to analyse the language attitudes of undergraduate English language learners (ELLs) towards both (Sindhi and English) languages. It aims to investigate the language choices of undergraduate English language learners (ELLs) in different domains of language use.  The study uses the quantitative research design, the questionnaire survey was distributed among 150 participants who were selected through purposive sampling. The results show that participants have almost the same attitude towards both (Sindhi and English) languages. Exploring their attitudes towards the Sindhi language, they stated that Sindhi is our mother tongue, it’s our childhood language, and it should be used in all domains of language use, it must be used in all domains of language use, nevertheless, they indicated that Sindhi should be taught side by side with the English language. Moreover, by exploring their attitudes towards the English language in comparison to the Sindhi language, the participants stated that it's important for them to speak English in all the domains, English should be learned everywhere because it’s the official language of the state, Knowledge of English made possible for them to advance academically, its necessary for their success in career, lastly, they even declared that learning the English language improves their economic status. Furthermore, while talking about language choices, the participants stated that they prefer to use mostly the Sindhi language with family members and relatives. In the domain of language use at university they declared that mostly use both (Sindh and English) languages at university, in terms of language use in the domain of media, the participants said that they use both (Sindhi and English) languages. Lastly, for the domain of language use for emotional expression, they indicated that they mostly prefer the Sindhi language.