The project investigates how the gap between home and school languages shapes learners' experiences, academic outcomes, and identity formation in multilingual settings across Pakistan. The ultimate goal is to reduce language barriers for low-income and marginalised learners and communities and to generate evidence-based recommendations that improve learning, social mobility, and long-term economic participation.

The project is led by Dr. Fauzia Shamim, the Chief Academic Officer at Durbeen, with Dr. Aliya Khalid, Senior Departmental Lecturer at the University of Oxford, as Co-Lead. It is funded by the United Kingdom's Data and Research in Education – Research Consortium (DARE-RC) and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

Pakistan's classrooms are linguistically diverse. Many children speak a language at home that differs from the medium of instruction used in school. This mismatch often leads to confusion, weak comprehension, and widening inequities.

By closely examining language-in-education policies historically and investigating how the current language-in-education policies are experienced by learners, teachers, and families, this project aims to ground policy in classroom realities so that it becomes more responsive, inclusive, and effective.

The study is divided into two phases. In Phase I, language-in-education policies are analyzed historically in relation to language activism. In Phase II, the study explores stakeholders' experiences and perceptions of the school-home language gap and its impact on learning and identity among multilingual learners.

It asks how teachers and communities interpret and enact language-in-education policies, how these interpretations influence classroom practice and access to learning, and how policy can be refined to better serve marginalised children. Finally, findings from the desk research and field research are combined to derive actionable policy recommendations.

This is a qualitative study conducted in two districts—Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Hala in Sindh. The research design is intentionally flexible so that sampling decisions and modes of engagement can be shaped by field realities and participant input.

Data collection is carried out by early-career researchers, who receive structured support and training through workshops led by team members from Durbeen and the University of Oxford.

The project follows a collaborative, decentralised model with regional knowledge hubs at the Institute of Education and Research (IER) in Peshawar and Ziauddin University (ZU) in Karachi.

Regional leads guide the research teams, ensuring that local knowledge drives inquiry and that capacity building is embedded throughout the work. The collaboration reflects a shared commitment to locally led, globally informed approaches that can strengthen both policy and practice.

The study draws on Lant Pritchett's stakeholder accountability model (2015) to examine how teachers, communities, and policymakers interact in the development and implementation of multilingual education.

Teachers are positioned as the bridge between policy and practice, while parent and community perspectives illuminate what matters most to families and learners. Connecting these voices to policy discussions is central to designing solutions that are practical and sustainable.

Findings will inform evidence-based policy recommendations aimed at removing language barriers, improving classroom practice, and enhancing learning outcomes for marginalised children.

Beyond policy influence, the project also builds research capacity within Pakistan by training and supporting early-career researchers and strengthening institutional partnerships.

This modestly budgeted project aims to develop high-quality graded vocabulary corpora for Urdu and Sindhi for Grades 1–5. These resources will play a critical role in strengthening foundational literacy in public-sector schools across Pakistan by equipping educators, publishers, writers, NGOs, and policymakers with structured, practical tools to guide curriculum design, learning materials, and instruction.

• Improve children's foundational literacy in Sindhi as well as Urdu, the national language.
• Improve performance in non-language subjects (Grades 1–5) through improved literacy in Sindhi and Urdu.
• Promote multiculturalism in Sindh.

• Compiling graded vocabulary corpora for Urdu and Sindhi, ensuring inclusion of regional dialects and usage contexts to support literacy development in native languages.
• Working on launching a user-friendly web-based platform for educators and researchers, incorporating diverse content to promote multicultural understanding in Sindh.
• Establishing a mechanism for periodic review and updating of the Urdu and Sindhi corpora to maintain relevance and quality.

• Promotion of multicultural understanding through inclusion of diverse regional dialects and content.
• Curriculum and material development for Urdu and Sindhi language education.
• Supporting early literacy programs by providing age-appropriate vocabulary.
• Training and reference resources for teachers, textbook writers, and curriculum designers.
• Research purposes in linguistics, education, and regional language studies.

A series of action research and small-scale classroom-centered projects will be undertaken to understand the impact of corpus-informed curricula and materials for developing foundational literacy skills.