PARENTAL ATTITUDES TOWARD ENGLISH LANGUAGE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PARENTS WITH DIFFERENT LINGUISTIC BACKGROUNDS

Abstract

The study examined parental attitudes toward English language learning across four first-language groups: Urdu, Punjabi, Saraiki, and other regional languages, in two linguistically diverse cities of Pakistani Punjab. Guided by the tripartite model of attitudes, the research investigated cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions. A total of 351 parents completed a validated parental-attitude questionnaire, and one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to compare group differences. Across the overall attitude scale and each of the three subscales, ANOVA results indicated no statistically significant differences among the four first-language groups. These findings suggest that positive orientations toward English have become widespread and relatively uniform across linguistic communities in Punjab, reflecting English’s symbolic, economic, and educational value in Pakistan’s multilingual society. The study contributes to understanding parental language ideologies and highlights the need for future research exploring sociocultural, economic, and institutional variables that may shape parental engagement beyond linguistic background.