Code-Mixing in Pakistani Newsrooms: A Critical Perspective on Unfolding the Political Ideology

This study provides insight into assumed phenomenon that code-mixing is being practiced by every multilingual and bilingual society and can be assuredly observed in all day to day conversations. Besides all other areas of society, it frequently occurs in media as well. This paper more specifically reports on code mixing done by the speakers in Pakistani Urdu news room talk shows. The data collected from selected news room talk shows tends to explore the strong influence, frequency and function of borrowed English vocabulary. The explorations also suggest that majority of the speakers use English vocabulary just to lay emphasis on some viewpoint to maintain their say, for direct linguistic avoidance and to show authority. Critical Discourse Analysis divulges that how choice of linguistic elements helps the speakers to convey such meanings which are always implicit for the listeners. Further it explores that how speakers practise wordplay to veil ideology and power. The work is based on Van Dijk’s (2002) socio cognitive model of Critical Discourse Analysis. Findings reveal that how power and dominance is reflected in the language.