A Pragmatic Analysis of Urdu–English Code-Switching in Pakistani Professional Discourse: A Study within Speech Act Theory and Grice’s Cooperative Principle

Abstract

The current research is an exploration of pragmatic roles of code switching in Urdu–English in Pakistani professional discourse in the context of Speech Act theory and Grice's Cooperative principle. The use of code switching is an in-depth communicative tool in the workplace environment, which has not been sufficiently explored in Pakistan from the sociolinguistic and identity perspective. The method used in this research is a qualitative discursive analytic method and the data used is the naturally occurring professional conversation and semi-structured interviews that were recorded in Lahore for about 8 hours. Data were transcribed and analysed for patterns of inter-sentential and intra-sentential code switching and its interaction with speech acts and conversational maxims. The results show that code switching is used strategically to achieve illocutionary changes, politeness, assert authority and create conversational implicatures. Urdu is mostly employed to soften statements and to promote interpersonal relations, while English is linked to accuracy, formality, and institutional power. The study shows bilingual professionals skillfully and creatively uses linguistic resources to improve communicative efficiency. The study combines theoretical approaches from the classical pragmatics and bilingual discourse analysis to better understand pragmatic competence in a multilingual professional context.