The Cost of Change: How Ideological Shifts Impact Afghans' Investment in Learning English

Abstract

AbstractThe role of English in Afghanistan has always been contentious, but in 2001 English acquired symbolic capital that provided people with a motive to invest in learning the language. To better understand this investment, this study employed Darvin and Norton's Model of Investment along with the notion of Linguistic Entrepreneurship to investigate how dynamic shifts in the global era can influence people's willingness to invest in a new language, and how this investment is tied to issues of ideology, capital, and identity. Narrative data were collected via frames and interviews to present the experiences of people who had lived through a relatively prosperous time in Afghanistan's recent history, yet who also faced uncertainty due to the sudden shift in power that threatened the conditions which had allowed them to align themselves with more global ambitions. The study reveals how government and western support was influential in Afghans investing in English, which allowed them to accrue economic, cultural, and social capital, transforming them into linguistic entrepreneurs. However, recent events mean this support has been marginalized, diminishing the ability of Afghans to invest in English and leaving the participants in this study in a precarious position as new ideologies which promote opposition to western influence take hold of the country.