Pakistani English Language Teachers’ Beliefs About Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Policy: Findings from the Government Primary Schools of Balochistan

Abstract

The globalized world has increased the demand for the English language learning. As a result, Pakistani policymakers have lately updated the 2009 National Education Policy by shifting the monolingual-based educational practices of government primary schools of Pakistan into bilingual education. As a consequence, in the early stage, students are compelled to learn three different languages: their mother tongue (Pashto, Balochi, Punjabi, and Persian), Urdu, and English. But the policymakers revised the policy without addressing the challenges that teachers encounter while implementing policy in a real context. In this chapter, the researcher investigated English language teachers’ beliefs about mother tongue-based multilingual education in government schools of Balochistan. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 28 English teachers of primary government schools in the province of Balochistan. Besides multiple constraints, the findings of the study showed that teachers were optimistic regarding multilingual education/pedagogy in the context of government schools of Balochistan. The teachers believed the mother tongue-based multilingual teaching practice increased the productivity level of the students by incorporating multiple languages inside the classroom. Moreover, the instruction in familiar languages increased the confidence level of the students, and they started participating inside the classroom without any hesitation. Finally, recommendations for teachers, researchers, school administration, and policymakers are put forward.