Abstract

Studying the areas where minority languages can be strengthened through their use and promotion as functional languages is crucial right now. The purpose of the current research is to examine the institution of media in multilingual communities. Multilingual, multicultural, and multiethnic populations can be found in Jammu and Kashmir, a union territory of India, particularly in the region of Kashmir division. In addition to the linguistic diversity, there are two non-indigenous languages—Urdu and English serving various practical domains at present. This essay aims to provide a thorough explanation of how media is crucial in forming the linguistic repertoire of Kashmiri multilingual society. And to what extent does the media influence Kashmiri society’s shift in linguistic preferences and cultural paradigms? The statistical analysis of the data demonstrates the perceptual shift in the direction of language preferences by three different age groups in favour of three languages: English, Urdu, and Kashmiri. This demonstrates how Urdu and English are progressively replacing native languages in the media, especially among young people in Srinagar.

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