LANGUAGE IDEOLOGIES IN PRACTICE: NEGOTIATING IDENTITY, POWER, AND BELIEF THROUGH PRINT MEDIA DISCOURSE

Abstract

The role of ideological maintenance is practiced in language and print media discourse which is one of the platforms in different dimensions of language. This study aims to explore the strategic pathway to operate language ideologies within print media discourse which reveals how newspapers produce, maintain and reflect beliefs about power, identity and social hierarchy. The study is a qualitative in its approach and takes insights from critical discourse analysis approach to investigate how linguistic choices, lexical selection and discourse framing construct ideological meanings and shape views of the public. The qualitative textual analysis examines the use of language in negotiating identity, political authority and cultural belonging in English and Urdu newspapers. The results indicate how dominant ideologies are reinforced in the media discourse such as gender, class, and hierarchy. Further, the results illuminate the space of resistance, power abuse and alternative voices. The results explain language in print media that are not only limited to reports but the basic purpose is that how the social realities are constructed through them. Finally the research contributes to understand the deeper meanings of language for the construction of ideology, communication power, certain dimensions of social relation and political identity in Pakistan.