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Images have the potential to both alienate and unite. Due to their ideological power, images can both create and clear misconceptions. To analyze the semiotic variation in the portrayal of women in contemporary art in relation to feminine identities and ideological representations, the study analyzes the choice of ideational signs in the contemporary Chinese and Pakistani paintings on the basis of the social semiotic approach of the grammar of visual design suggested by Kress and van Leeuwen. Considering diversity of themes and portrayal of women, 30 Pakistani and 30 Chinese paintings, painted by 17 Chinese and 17 Pakistani male and female painters were selected through an information-rich sampling technique. Results suggest that loneliness, waiting, leisure, and love for nature are the common themes related to Chinese and Pakistani women which the painters have creatively modeled. The images vary in the sense that Chinese women have been represented in constructive gender roles, such as working women, ballerinas, sports women, and hardworking farmers, etc., while Pakistani women have been represented in terms of resistance, oppression, victimhood, religiosity, and protection. The study has implications for gender studies, multimodal representations, and the way we comprehend, describe, and construct the interconnected yet fragmented fabric of our world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A list of 350 words that deviate in pronunciation from the standard English pronunciation of these words has been suggested in the present study. To highlight the deviant pronunciation of these words from the standard pronunciation, a wordlist based on observation has been suggested. Transcription of the words according to the British, American, and Pakistani phonetic variants has been given. The general phonological patterns of the pronunciation of these English words by Pakistani speakers as non-native learners of English have also been suggested. The deviation can be found in terms of the elongation of sounds, insertion or omission of schwa, pronunciation of diphthongs as monophthongs, stress patterns, and focus on spellings than sounds. The study not only highlights the unique phonological features of Pakistani English but also offers an opportunity for Pakistani teachers and learners to focus on these words while teaching or learning how to pronounce English words correctly. The study has implications for TESOL, EFL, SLA, and contrastive phonetics and phonology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]