Sociolinguistic Over-Correction and Pragmatic Failure Among University Graduates of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the Global Gig Economy

Abstract

The paper examines why many graduates of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are unsuccessful in translating their academic English into a professional career on online platforms like Upwork and Fiverr, despite Pakistan being one of the leading countries in the global gig economy. It specifically explores the issue of over-correction among these graduates, that is, the overuse of formal, archaic, and obsequious language in casual-professional communicative settings. This study employs a concurrent mixed methods research design. A Written Discourse Completion Task (WDCT) was administered to 50 recent graduates from universities in KP, while the instructional content of the prescribed Functional English textbooks was analyzed. The responses of the students were compared with those of the Top-Rated freelancers on these platforms. The results of the quantitative analysis indicate that over 80% of the respondents produced high-imposition honorific expressions, Respected Sir and Humble Request, in low-stakes online communication, leading to pragmatic failure. The qualitative analysis, however, points out that this rigidity in communication style is linked to the templates in textbooks, which focus on colonial-bureaucratic letters rather than the modern digital genre. The study claims that although the graduates of KP possess structural grammatical competence, it is their digital sociolinguistic incompetence that creates a hurdle in their way to professional English career in the global arena. Finally, the study recommends a methodological shift from form-focused instruction to instrumental pragmatics in the Business Communication courses taught in the universities of KP.