LANGUAGE INVESTMENT OF YOUNG PAKISTANIS IN LEARNING CHINESE LANGUAGE

Abstract

Imagined identity is referred to as an ideal entity that the foreign learner aimed to become in the future. The latter notion is counted as a prime influence on the learners to make them invest in the target language for which they believe to earn social capital in return. This study aims to explore the imagined identities of Pakistanis learning Chinese language at a private institute of Karachi and to examine their language investment. Based on the above-mentioned aims, the study attempts to answer the following research questions. First, how do Pakistanis learning the Chinese language at a private institute in Karachi construct their imagined identities? Second, to what extent Pakistani learners are invested in Chinese language classrooms at a private Chinese language-learning institute in Karachi? For this purpose, a qualitative narrative inquiry has been conducted. Data has been collected using purposive and convenience sampling from two Pakistani Chinese language learners through written narratives and semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study show that the factors which were countable for the construction of learners’ imagined identities and the impact of the imagined identities on learners’ investment included institutional influences and practices, foreign language proficiency, and individual experiences that had impacted the construction of participants’ imagined identities and respective language investment in learning the Chinese language. This study provides a future pathway for the role of Chinese language learning in Pakistan and the social impact of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.