Search

This study investigates English language teaching (ELT) practices used in the Access Program and public schools. Its main focus is on the effect of the Access Program and public schools ELT practices on linguistic achievement of learners. It is an experimental research in which an experimental group (Access students) was treated through Access teaching model while the controlled group (public school students) was taught through traditional method as used in public schools. All Access students and those public school students who appeared for the test to get admission in the Access Program were the population of the study. The respondents of this study were selected through cluster sampling from the Access Program and random sampling from public schools. A diagnostic test was used as a tool for data collection. The diagnostic test was comprised of two parts: written (assessing reading and writing skills) and oral (assessing listening and speaking skills) parts. It was used as pre and post-test for data collection from the respondents. Data were analyzed through SPSS using independent sample t and dependent sample t tests. There was no statistical difference between the mean scores of the Access Program and public school students in the pre-test while there was a significant statistical difference in the mean scores of the Access Program and public school students in the post-test. The Access Program students showed better linguistic competence and performance than the public school students. Hence, it can be inferred that ELT practices used in the Access Program can bring better results than those used in public schools.

The proliferation of politically motivated hate speech towards rival politicians has been rapidly increasing in Pakistan. However, the literature on political hate speech and its association with extreme ideologies is under‐theorized in the Pakistani context. We have utilized van Dijk's manipulative discourse and Walther's social approval theory to structure political hate speech and its consequences. The data was based on two Pakistani mainstream politicians' public speeches and partisans' comments available on YouTube. Findings reveal that politicians commonly exploit discursive categories, such as name‐calling, offensive metaphors and sarcasm, in their hate speech to dehumanize, ridicule and threaten their rivals. Their hateful slurs showcase extreme ideologies, such as polarization, intolerance, threat and violence. They use the hateful epithets to manipulate partisans, to sell fear of being betrayed and enslaved to the military and foreign powers, and to obtain, in exchange, audience and consent. The study theorizes that Pakistani mainstream politicians deliberately sensationalize hatred in their public speeches to harangue their rivals and foment extreme ideologies for the purpose of increasing their audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to test the effects of corporal punishment and psychological treatment on students' learning and on their behavior. A pilot study, followed with experimental test, was framed in a demographically controlled environment on homogeneous variables at Punjab University Laboratory School, Pakistan over the period of six months. Thirty-two students of grade X were grouped into a Corporal Punishment Group (CPG) and a Psychological Treatment Group (PTG). It was found that the students who were awarded corporal punishment on creating a source of friction and showing lack of interest in their academic work began to show negative behavior and their academic progress showed a gradual regression, whereas the students who were managed with psychological treatment developed their interest in learning, reflected friendly behavior and improved their long-term scholastic performance. (Contains 2 tables, 2 figures, and 3 footnotes.)

Among the media outlets, the newspapers were an important source of information about the COVID-19 lockdown; however, the language chosen to see the pandemic world cascaded surreal psychological feelings. Fewer scholarly studies are available which have investigated the role of language during the pandemic and its implications. This study explores primarily the pandemic language and its contribution to the discourse of fear and anti-Chinese sentiments. Data was collected from English newspaper articles and university students‘ responses to the questionnaires. The discursive themes were assessed, evaluated, and described by codifying the qualitative data. These themes were further analyzed and correlated through quantitative data to seek the goodness-of-fit. Findings revealed that the language used to report the infection perpetuated fear, Sinophobia, and certain psychological ripples. The study posits that linguists must come forward and work with journalists to introduce the language to control fear and encourage empathy and pluralism during the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study grows out of the absence of literature on an in‐depth understanding of dissertation‐writing challenges, facilitating strategies, and causes to develop a more profound understanding of Pakistani doctoral students. This is primarily qualitative research. One of the largest private universities was selected as a case to collect the data. The data were based on 12 Pakistani doctoral dissertations, 49 evaluation reports from 13 countries, mainly from the state‐run universities, and a survey questionnaire responded to by 12 PhD graduates. The data were codified for commonly emerging categories and themes based on the methodological approach of Clarke and Braun (2017). The data revealed that the doctoral students faced challenges concerning mechanics of writing, developing an argument in a coherent whole, and structural organization of the dissertation. The examiners recommended the doctoral students to copyedit/proofread the dissertation to overcome mechanics of writing problems, build the argument logically, use formal language, write transition sentences to knit the texts coherently, embed citations to support the claims, and uniform the structure of the dissertation. Five causes of writing difficulties emerged from the survey questions. Despite a mismatch between the academic resources and research support provided to Pakistani doctoral students, their research work is deemed par with foreign universities, which encourage native‐like English. It is hoped that this study will help doctoral students improve their dissertation‐writing quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the most common misinformation topics about COVID-19, people's perceptions concerning disinformation, and its consequences. A purposive sample of 50 posts and thousands of comments on coronavirus was drawn from social media networking sites. The data were also collected through informal interviews of 30 participants of different demographic backgrounds. The selected data were analyzed as dialogic communicative content between the participants. The study reveals that the most common topics regarding coronavirus misinformation are about cure and conspiracy theories. The participants have shown a mixed response towards the misinformation. The study has concluded the severe consequences of misinformation concerning the virus. Hence, I would like to recommend compulsory social media education for the internet users regarding how to respond to such a crisis while Abiding by the Internet regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores cyberbullying prevalence, causes, reasons, and preventive measures from the perspective of victims and bystanders. The data were gathered from 329 male and female students of different age groups through an open-ended questionnaire and cyberbullying confession pages. Constructivist thematic framework was applied to look for commonly emerging patterns in the data. The study revealed that the likelihood to become a victim to cyberbullying decreased with an increase in age. However, there was no association between gender and cyberbullying. The study showed that various linguistic resources were exploited by the aggressors to victimize the participants. However, being sophomoric users of social media sites and having offline disputes were the core reasons of cyberbullying among a majority of victims. The participants valued the support of parents and friends, and showed faith in the preventive measures taken by educational institutes and Federal Investigation Agency, Pakistan against cyberbullying assaults. Findings from this study contribute to the research on cyberbullying, which is still in its infancy in Pakistan and may help in formulating cyberbullying prevention program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims at investigating superimposition of metanarrative by counter narratives in the political tweets of Maryam Nawaz. The data was confined to the tweets of Maryam Nawaz over the period of two months (February and March 2018). The thematic framework of Riessman et.al (2008) was used as a theoretical lens to interpret the data. The study reveals that Maryam Nawaz is inclined to develop counter narratives in her communication through Tweets. These narratives eclipse the often claimed, propagated and manipulated metanarrative (declared in the party Manifesto) in the pursuit of her personal interests. The study shows that the counter narratives are perpetuated against rival parties, institutions and sometimes against the party Manifesto to generate conflict and to instigate the followers for protests. The study also reveals that metanarrative of the party was not communicated by Maryam Nawaz even during significant political events. Not speaking of the party manifesto/metanarrative, she has been using the virtual space interaction to counter attack her rival political parties. This study provides a direction to future studies to investigate the role of social media in helping Pakistani politicians for getting their voice out to a larger community mostly a direct appeal to their voters for information, persuasion and mobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective was to identify the barriers between doctors, nurses and patients that they perceive while communicating with each other in outdoor departments of army and public healthcare hospitals, Lahore, Pakistan. Study Design: Exploratory and descriptive. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and Jinnah Hospital Lahore, Pakistan, for a period of 3 weeks. Material and Methods: Semi-structured interviews of doctors, patients and nurses (2 each, one male and one female in each category) were conducted and analyzed through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Snow ball sampling technique was used to recruit the participants from various socio-economic strata, experience and age. Results: The study reveals linguistic, cultural, behavioral and management barriers in doctor nurse patient communication from the perceptions of the participants. In addition to this, lack of training of medical professionals inhibits the interpersonal communication between them and patients. Conclusion: The results suggest that the quality of healthcare can be improved by introducing interventions in doctor nurse patient communication. The hospitals should introduce communication skills training programme in medical practices, with a focus on the linguistic and cultural diversity prevailing in the country and how to improve management skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the sociolinguistic construction of women's identity by solicitors in five murder trial arbitration at the magistrate courts located in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan of Punjab, Pakistan murder trials. Ryan's (2004) narrative inquiry and Shi-xu's (2005) Socio cultural Communication Approach (SCA) were taken as theoretical lens to interpret how far the narratives of solicitors are motivated by cultural dynamics. The study reveals that the solicitors constructed the socio legal identity of women such as weak and submissive, caregivers and respectable. Furthermore, they constructed socio cultural tethered narratives, which in many ways tend to empower women in the legal discourses. The study has attempted to unfold the socio cultural dynamics which are used to exploit the judicial discourses in the favor of women as victims or victimized in the murder trial cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Identify to the explores: the main causes of verbal abuse of patients by nurses and nurses by patients and to steps needed to promote positive nurse-patient interaction at hospitals. Study Design: A qualitative study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the University of Health Sciences, Lahore for a period of one week, in Aug 2017. Material and Method: A sample of six senior nurses pursuing Master degree in Health Sciences was selected to address the research questions. In addition to this, a sample comprising six patients and faculty members was taken to counter check the narratives told by the senior nurses. Results: The study revealed that verbal abuses by nurses and/or patients are situational and fragmented. Lack of time and space, lack of resources and lack of training were the predisposing factors leading up to the verbal abuse of patients by nurses. Conclusion: The study recommends introducing professional training program of nurses in communication skills for nurse-patient conflict resolution. Moreover, the State must provide an environment complete with resources that can be conducive for an efficient health care delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Episodes of ideological concern related to honour norms and construction of social meanings depicted through paintings are pertinent in foregrounding the social realities of Pakistan. This paper analyzes the grammar of paintings from the perspective of gender roles assumed in the context of honour. The grammar of the visual design of five paintings painted by male and female Pakistani painters belonging to different areas of Pakistan have been qualitatively studied in the light of the social semiotic framework suggested by Kress and Leeuwen (2006). The results show that women are represented as helpless, outcast and oppressed beings; while men have been depicted, indirectly through signs, as oppressors. Paucity of research in this area and implications of the analysis for gender studies, anthropological linguistics, violence studies and visual literacy, make it a significant contribution to the existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explores the causes of honour-based crimes through the narratives of victims, aggressors and bystanders, which were unfolded in documentary films: A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015) and Saving Face (2012). Selected narratives are interpreted by taking the sociocultural perspectives that draw on the cultural manifestation of honour crimes. The study shows that the „ideology of honour" is one of the major causes of honour-crimes in Pakistan. Unlike Western discourses, which empower a woman institutionally to resist honour crimes, Pakistani women are either hushed or forced to compromise despite the presence of law to punish the aggressors. The study recommends that state and nonstate institutions play an effective role through the local councils of Pakistan in dealing with honour crimes and rehabilitation of victims through the provision of remunerative work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims at revealing the linguistic realization of legitimation in the discourses of Zia and Musharraf during the Afghanistan wars for the periods of 1979-1988 and 2001-2008. The data comprises of their official discourses on Afghanistan war during their respective regimes as head of the state. Using the Nomination strategies suggested by Discourse Historical Approach by Wodak and Meyer (2001) and Van Leeuwen's Social Actors Representation model (2008), this study reveals the linguistic realization of legitimation through the dichotomous construction of self and Other representation. Moreover, it is argued in the study that different social actors have been constructed in their discourses through the categorization of Inclusion/Exclusion and Activation/Passivation to rationalize the perspective of self/ in-group, in order to justify their respective policies on Afghanistan issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how linguistic practices of Urdu/English bilinguals influence linguistic typology particularly in terms of linguistic simplicity and complexity. The data was sampled from the Bachelor of Science students (who had Urdu as their primary language of communication and English as one of the academic languages or the most prestigious second language) of five universities located in Lahore, Pakistan. The data was primarily from their Facebook communication on the wall. The procedure for analysis was conceived within the current theoretical work on text analysis. At any given moment in time, interpersonal communication of Urdu/English bilinguals shows linguistic simplicity and complexity. The linguistic features which involve complexity are generally avoided and linguistic simplicity is emerging as the norm. The diachronic analysis of the data supports non-complexity axiom and further shows that the linguistic variations which used to occur over a period of decades are presumably spreading in a matter of years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the lived experiences of the death row inmates to trace their traumas, fears and pain of the inflicted punishment of execution. Husserl's (1970) notion of intentionality and Heidegger's (1975) concept of existentialism under the umbrella of phenomenological constructivism were used to explore the post-penalty feelings of the death row inmates. A sample of 20 letters written by the death row inmates was selected to address the research questions. It was found that the last words do not simply reflect expressions and feelings of remorse, guilt, fear and repentance but also document that crime mainly belonged to the marginalized section of society. This study suggests preservation of the last words in the form of an official document for prisoner's education system that would eventually help reduce ideation of crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urdu and English have been in contact for about four centuries but their virtual contact has raised a fresh question regarding the impact of English on the Urdu language. Based on the ethical framework suggested by Mann and Stewart (2000, pp. 40-47) data was sampled from 200 BS students (who had both the Urdu and English as national languages) of five universities situated in Lahore, Pakistan. Moreover, the data was delimited to their Facebook conversations 'on the wall'.The analysis procedure was conceived from theoretical works of British linguists for text analysis as specified by Stubb (1996, pp. 22-50). The study reveals a fair number of English words that has been pouring into the system of Urdu language with ever increasing gravity since the proliferation of Computer-Mediated-Communication. Including socio-political factor, linguistic and psycholinguistic reasons may not be over-looked whilst studying code-mixing/borrowing as a regular phenomenon.The study suggests taking rather a cautious stance in the context of e-discourse while extrapolating features regarding contact languages that we have been debating over the years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study assumes: (a) Post-colonial literature in English provides the impetus for the emergence of a Pakistani variety of English, and (b) the Pakistani variety of English generalizes Urdu phrases to anticipate its various forms and functions in discourse. Pakistani English post-colonial writers have opposed imperialism while generalizing Urdu phrases to anticipate various forms and functions in discourse. A purposive sample consists of four short stories and one novel chosen to address the aforesaid standpoints. While studying these assumptions, factors such as translation and borrowing were considered. The analysis shows that post-colonial literature in English manifests a variety of English. For example; Ahmad Ali writes in his novel, Twilight in Delhi, "If husband and wife are willing, what can the Qazi [justice] do?" (p 95). This is a mere translation of the Urdu proverb: jab mian bivi raazi tuo kia keray ga qazi. Talat Abbasi repeats the same phenomena intermittently in his short story, "Simple Question": "But it's like weights placed on my eyes," which exists in Urdu as lakin aisey jese meri ankhoun pe wazan rakha hua hai. This phenomenon is common and long standing in post-colonial literature. It deviates from the norms of standard English, thus marking legitimately a new offshoot of English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores English as Second Language Teaching and Learning strategies at the secondary level of education. The study hypothesizes that there is no correlation between English as Second Language teaching and learning strategies. A sample of 100 ESL learners of grade IX and X was drawn to administer Strategy Inventory Language Learning. A sample of 40 teachers, teaching English as Second Language was also chosen to seek their responses on SILL. Mean Average was calculated to draw comparison between teachability and learnablity. The study reveals that the balance is off-centered between language teaching and learning strategies. The study suggests that the teachers should develop language strategies cohesion and positive supportive learning environment to improve the learners' fluency and competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aphasia is considered as an acquired neurological disorder of communication, which is characterised by the symptoms on all levels of language dysfunction. The current study was planned to explore the outcomes of script training in a patient with Broca's aphasia through quantitative approach using a single-subject-multiple-baseline research design across behaviours. The probes were obtained during the baseline, treatment, maintenance and generalisation phases for tracking the spoken use of scripted content. All the probes were transcribed verbatim and no value of Cohen's Kappa Coefficient (K) was below 0.61, indicating robust inter-rater reliability. The subject learned all six scripts successively and over 80% of mastery level on all dependent variables was achieved. The largest effect size, above 10.1, was reported for the percent of intelligible scripted words (PISW). Script training was found to be an effective therapy for rejuvenating lost communication of patients with severe Broca's aphasia.