Emerging Roles of English in Afghanistan

Abstract

This research paper examines the spread of English in Afghanistan. Specifically, it discusses the users and uses of English language in different settings such as educational, social, economic, and political. It explains the prevailing English teaching methods and the Afghan people’s attitudes toward English and English speakers. To characterize the social and cultural contexts, I used autobiographical data such as personal experiences, studies, observations, oral stories, documents, and sources. The sources also include personal diaries, memorials, epistles, videos, photos and encounters to provide accounts of the role of English and its functional allocation in Afghanistan. The result of the research shows that the roles of English are increasing rapidly in some domains and becoming as important as Pashtu, which is the second official and widely used language in the country. However, the consequences of the spread of English suggest that there is a need for proper language planning and educational policy-making to teach English and to give learners in different parts of the country equal access to it. Additionally, to implement a policy requiring English as the medium of instruction in higher education and to extend the use of English in different settings, users of English starting need security, more language training, equipment, and English materials.