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| Title | Abstract | Action(s) |
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| Exploring the Intersection of Formal Literacy and Self: A Critical Social Analysis of Written Discourse Among Public and Private Schools | The present research explores the intersection of formal literacy and self-identity, its construction and representation through written discourse among students of grades 5th and 8th belonging to Public and Private schools in Multan, a District of Punjab, Pakistan. The present research employs CSA (Critical Social Analysis) that amalgamates functions of language by Roman Jakobson, 3D models of Fairclough for discourse analysis, and socio-cultural theory by Lev. Vygotsky. The introduction carries a context literacy, historical evolution of formal literacy, and its importance in personal and professional growth. And the division of formal literacy based on their educational institutional background. The difference between formal literacy (that encompasses reading, writing, communicative skills) is found in the present group among both institutional groups, which distinguishes on the basis of different acquisitions via formal education and its intersection with self-identity that involves the understanding of an individual’s emotions, behaviours, and thoughts. Formal literacy is acquired through education, and education helps to construct Self-Identity through personal growth and representation of self. All this is done through language. The absence of formal literacy can lead to many issues related to personal, professional growth, societal growth, and growth as a human being. So, language through formal literacy helps to cope with all these issues. The present research aims to explore the formal literacy impact on the construction and representation of students’ self-identity through written discourse in the form of essays on “Self”. The methodology carries a qualitative descriptive approach employing a 3D model, functions of language, and socio-cultural theory by using written essays by students in the 5th and 8th grades as a source of primary data. A sampling technique of stratified sampling provides the foundation to choose participants from public and private schools, and critical social analysis with comparative observation is applied to analyze the written essays. The results contribute valuable insights into distinctions among the Institutions of formal literacy. The students of Government schools construct nondynamic, cohesive self-identities, and students of non-government schools construct a dynamic and individualistic self-identity. Their self-identity representation vary from each other. Government school students represent strong, internalized, cohesive thoughts; on the other hand, non-government school students represent broad, critical, innovative, and accepting practical self-identity. The present research not only expands its understanding towards the intersection of formal literacy and self-identity but also provides recommendations for policymakers to fill the gap between both groups. |
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| The Impact of CAPT on Pronunciation Accuracy: An Experimental Study of Pakistani English Language Learners | This study explores the effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Pronunciation Training (CAPT) in improving the pronunciation accuracy of fifth-grade students at Falcon House Grammar School in Multan, Pakistan. This research included 50 students from the 2023-2024 academic session who were divided into control and experimental groups. Quasi experimental design was used for study, and purposive sampling was employed to select participants. Cambridge Online Dictionary was used as the primary reference for pronunciation, ensuring a widely accepted and standardized source for evaluation. A pretest was taken to evaluate students' pronunciation accuracy level before the CAPT treatment, then a six-week CAPT program was delivered to the experimental group. During this time period the experimental group of students carried out focused pronunciation exercises using CAPT software, whereas the control group continued to use traditional instruction, without technological enhancement. After a six week period both groups were given post tests to see if there had been any improvement in pronunciation. An analysis of test scores showed that test scores of the experimental group were exceedingly higher than those of the control group, thus suggesting that CAPT enhances pronunciation. These findings show that CAPT is a potential and practical tool to enhance English pronunciation, in Pakistani contexts of education, especially where pronunciation has normally been taught by rote learning but without any technological aid. Moreover, the study also suggests that CAPT could also be used and integrated within the broader educational policies and curricula to solve the pronunciation challenges in non native English speaking countries such as Pakistan. |
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| A Corpus-Based Study of Green Discourses in UNEP: An Eco-critical Perspective | As ecolinguistics is an emerging field, it applies different linguistic frameworks for the analysis of environmental texts, highlighting hidden ideologies. These ideologies are cognitive models that have an effect on human behaviours, and people are unaware of their effects. There is less research that investigates the global plastic pollution discourse from different nonpolitical organisations in this regard. This study explores the ecological stories that are propagated through speeches within the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) by employing a corpus-based approach. For this purpose, 23 speeches were selected, resulting in a corpus of 20021 words. This study focusses on the discursive strategies that are applied within the speeches at UNEP, aiming to analyse the representation and formation of plastic pollution discourses. By using an eco-critical lens, this research has focused on the ways in which UNEP‟s text contributes to forming global environmental awareness and policy frameworks related to combating plastic pollution. The researcher has used a mixedmethods approach and Stibbe‟s (2015) analytical framework to analyse the data critically. The findings reveal that grasping the green discourses that are propagated within the UNEP is important for understanding the global environmental narrative and speeding up the formulation of decisions that contribute to the formulation of environmental awareness and policy frameworks at the global level. By analysing UNEP‟s text from an eco-critical perspective and applying corpus, the research analyses the data qualitatively and supports the qualitative data with quantitative analysis as well, which shows that identity formation strategies like use of pronouns, different frames and metaphors, erasure (the void, the mask, the trace), evaluations (good or bad), conviction, salience (demonstratives, lexical choices, parallelism, etc.) have been applied in the formation of complex environmental rhetoric, which has an influence on shaping attitudes and policies effectively related to the environment. |
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| ‘Stories’ in Poetry: An Eco Linguistic Study of English Textbooks in Punjab from Primary to Higher Secondary Level | The term "environment" refers to all the factors that affect and have an influence on the growth and sustainability of life for all living things on Earth. It exists and functions in the immediate environment of other living things. The current study examines the impact of eco-linguistics on poems included in English textbooks from grades 1 to higher secondary level. It explores how eco-linguistics influences students' understanding, mindset, and perceptions toward the environment and nature. Data, which is collected from English books published by the Punjab Textbooks Board from year 2021 to year 2023.These poems were analyzed using Stibbe's framework, "Stories in Poetry We Live By" (2015). The analysis employed qualitative document analysis approach focusing on ideology, framing, metaphor, identity, evaluation, conviction, erasure, and salience within the poems. Moreover, it brought under discussion how poems help children to understand the impact of the environment and how PTB incorporated poems to connect learners with nature and promote environmental awareness. The finding revealed that Stibbe's eight points aided the young minds to shape their thought process by influencing their ideology and changing their perceptions and behaviors towards the environment. This enhancement in perception strengthens poetic ideas and literary concepts related to environmental behavior and nature. The study also demonstrated that students improve their cognitive abilities, usage of vocabulary, processing of information, and the application of poetic devices. This leads to a more organized and effective implementation of eco-linguistic principles in their work. |
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| The Branding Culture in Pakistan: A comparative Study of Visual and Verbal Practices used in Advertisements | Now a days advertising uses every possible media to get its message through. It does this via several means of communication with a vast use of either visual or verbal practices or by both at a time. This research presents a comparative study of visual and verbal branding practices in clothing brand’s advertisements in Pakistan, using different linguistic terms, aiming to unravel the hint of interplay of visual and verbal practices. Through a multi modal approach incorporating content analysis, semiotic analysis and its impact, the research examines how visual and verbal elements are used by brands to communicate their ideology to the target audiences. The researcher has chosen three prominent Pakistani clothing brands, namely SANA SAFINAZ, GULL AHMED & AL-KARAM. Drawing on examples from diverse sectors such as fashion and telecommunication, the research elucidates the cultural meanings embedded in visual and verbal practices, used in media advertising campaigns. Moreover, it investigates the effectiveness of different approaches and the relative significance of visual and verbal communication in branding culture, this study offers valuable insights for linguists seeking to construct culturally resonant advertising strategies for the dynamic audience of Pakistan. The methodology of the study used by the researcher is Kress and Leuwen’s Multimodal Discourse Analysis for the data analysis and Krueger's (2000) model of focus group discussions for the validation of findings of semiotic analysis. |
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