"A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF HINDI LANGUAGE ATTITUDE BETWEEN STUDENTS OF URBAN AND RURAL SCHOOLS AT THE SECONDARY LEVEL"

Language attitudes are a critical component of sociolinguistic and educational research, reflecting perceptions that significantly influence language acquisition and usage. In Gujarat, where Gujarati is the primary regional language, Hindi is taught as a second or third language in schools. However, attitudes toward Hindi vary between urban and rural areas due to differences in exposure, resources, and socio-educational contexts. This study aims to compare the attitudes of ninth-standard students in urban and rural schools in Ahmedabad toward the Hindi language. A descriptive survey-based design was employed, with data collected from 130 students (65 urban and 65 rural) across four schools in Ahmedabad using a standardized Likert-scale questionnaire. The findings reveal a significant difference in attitudes, with urban students exhibiting more positive attitudes toward Hindi than their rural counterparts. The results highlight the impact of geographical and socio-educational factors on language attitudes and suggest the need for targeted interventions to bridge the urban-rural divide in Hindi language education.