Abstract
This study investigates how private tutoring centres (academies) in Pakistan position themselves within the linguistic market by targeting aspirants of competitive examinations and students preparing for language proficiency assessments. These academies strategically construct a perceived deficiency in students' English language abilities through carefully crafted advertisements. Given that English operates as the medium for high-stakes examinations, students from underprivileged backgrounds, due to the deep-rooted educational dichotomy, often face challenges in meeting the language demands of these examinations, compelling them to seek supplementary academic support. The research foregrounds how private tutoring centres exploit this need under the guise of “bridging the educational gap,” with their underlying motive of capital gain. Drawing on 12 semi-structured interviews, 20 promotional videos, and 50 pictorial advertisements, the study employs neoliberalism and the sociolinguistics of globalisation as its theoretical lens. Data were analysed using Charmaz's (2000) constructivist grounded theory to generate an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon. The findings demonstrate that academies tactically capitalise on educational inequalities by using persuasive advertising strategies to market their services within a neoliberal framework. The study concludes that educational disparity, the unregulated commodification of English, and the stagnancy of English language learning content collectively perpetuate the growth of English private tutoring.