LANGUAGE, POWER, AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ENGLISH PROFICIENCY ON SOCIAL MOBILITY

English proficiency can be a social mobility resource, or a marker of socio-economic disadvantage and impact psychological experiences and educational and occupational opportunities. This study explored the correlation between English ability and perceived social mobility in terms of self-confidence, language anxiety, linguistic insecurity, social status and socioeconomic background of university students in Pakistan. A quantitative cross sectional design was used at Kohat University of Science and Technology Pakistan. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire with 360 students in the university (convenience sampling). Descriptive statistics, pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were used for analyzing the relationship between the variables. Of the 360 participants, 194 (53.89%) were male and 166 (46.11%) were female. Most participants, 119 (33.06%), reported intermediate English proficiency. Overall, 267 (74.17%) believed English proficiency influenced employment prospects, while 270 (75.00%) considered unequal access to English education disadvantageous. English proficiency was positively correlated with self-confidence (r = .48), sociological advantage (r = .41), and perceived social mobility (r = .46), and negatively correlated with language anxiety (r = −.32) and linguistic insecurity (r = −.29); all correlations were statistically significant (p < .001). Regression analysis showed that English proficiency positively predicted perceived social mobility (β = .28, p < .001), with the model explaining 38% of its variance (R² = .38). English proficiency was associated with greater perceived social mobility and confidence, alongside lower language anxiety and linguistic insecurity, while socioeconomic inequalities remained important. Keywords : English proficiency; social mobility; linguistic capital; language anxiety; socioeconomic inequality; Pakistan.