Language Shift and Maintenance: A Sociolinguistic Study of the Attitudes of the Youth towards the Local Language in Multan City

Abstract

The present study was survey research conducted in the Multan city, and the purpose was to investigate the language attitudes of the youth towards the Punjabi language and its use in different domains of life. The study used Fishman's Domain theory and was descriptive in its nature. The study used the quantitative research approach and adopted the stratified random sampling technique. The data was obtained through an online survey from both male and female university students. Overall, 384 students were elected from both the private and the public universities of Multan, and the data was analyzed statistically using Microsoft Excel Software. The results of the study showed that the young Punjabis do not have positive attitude towards the Punjabi language. They consider it a useless language and shifting from it. They consider the English and the Urdu language more useful as compared to the Punjabi language. Majority of the respondents never used the Punjabi language for communication in any of the domains of life selected for the study. The future linguistic scenario of the Punjabi language in Multan seems to be in danger. The future researches can be done in different cities of South Punjab to know the status of the Punjabi language thoroughly.