THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND ACADEMIC IMPACT OF THE SUPERIORITY OF ENGLISH ON PAKISTANI STUDENTS IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Abstract

English is perceived as a privileged status and social capital within the Pakistani educational institutes, producing a dominant linguistic hierarchy that inordinately affects students from a regional language background. This study aims to analyze the hierarchical linguistic landscape that thwarts students’ basic psychological needs, leading to negative outcomes.  The unappeasable educational pressure to produce the perfect, errorless, and high-grade English output intended the students to use generative AI tools, which evidences linguistic imperialism. According to BPN, the basic needs of Self Determination are: Competence to confirm the mastery of English, relatedness, in order to relate with proficient English persons and academic environment, students use AI tools; autonomy, which is being reduced if students over-rely on AI tools. Hence, the capability of selfwriting. Moreover, the significance of the study is to explore the language-related issues faced by students in a multilingual environment, where one language dominates over others. Further, it also provides evidence-based recommendations to policymakers and teachers to alleviate the psychological and academic barriers imposed by the authorized status of the English language. This research uses a mixed methodology, quantitatively conducted among university students. This study analyzes the impacts of English dominance on students by employing Self-Determination Theory, Philipson’s Linguistic Imperialism, and Bourdieu’s theory of Linguistic Capitalism. The results confirmed the adverse impact of the supremacy of the English language on students’ academic and psychological conditions. The statistical data mirror that linguistic pressure shifts academic motivation from controlled autonomy of students, brought out by the thwarting of competence and relatedness.