Developing Pakistani university students’ English proficiency: A five-point agenda for the Pakistani language policymakers

Abstract

English occupies a topmost position in the linguistics hierarchy of Pakistan. Due to its highest position, it is initiated as a subject in Grade 1 onward in Pakistani public education in addition to using it as the medium of instruction in Grade 11 onward. Despite this, Pakistani public students are found weak in their English proficiency. They face problems when they reach at the university level. English is offered to them as one of the compulsory courses to cope up the university challenges. How can such an English course help the students to face the challenges? This conceptual paper attempts to answer the key question. It looks into the current second/foreign (L2/FL) learning theory and research and offers a five-point agenda that can be taken in account by the Pakistani policymakers for designing a curriculum of the course that is taught to the student in their first/early semesters, which could help them develop their English proficiency. The paper underscores an eclectic approach for designing the curriculum of the course involving multiple theories of language learning and teaching. It suggests that the agenda suggested may fail to produce the expected results if implications attached with the agenda are not adequately dealt with.