SOCIOLINGUISTIC CONSTRAINTS ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN RURAL PAKISTANI CLT CLASSROOMS: A CASE STUDY OF A GOVERNMENT BOYS HIGH SCHOOL IN FAISALABAD

Abstract

This study investigates sociolinguistic constraints affecting government secondary school students’ communicative competence in rural Faisalabad, Pakistani classrooms where Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is officially implemented. The research is grounded in the communicative competence framework which was proposed by Dell Hymes (1972). Further, the study explores how social, linguistic, and structural factors influence learners’ ability to communicate effectively in English. A qualitative descriptive case study design was employed, and data were collected through classroom observations and informal interviews with students and teachers at a Government Boys High School in rural Faisalabad. The findings reveal that students face significant challenges in English communication due to first language interference, particularly the influence of Urdu Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) structure on English Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) syntactic pattern. There is limited exposure to English outside the classroom, and a lack of confidence during interaction. The study further indicates that although students possess some grammatical knowledge, they lack sociolinguistic and strategic competences to speak in the direct and natural way which is  required for real-life communication. The research highlights the gap between Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) policy and actual classroom practice in rural contexts. In the end, the study suggests the need for context-sensitive pedagogical strategies to improve communicative competence.