A Lexical Pragmetic Study of Neologised Hashtags on Twitter
English language is in the course of morphological variation due to the ongoing and
newly emerging internet features. The change is dynamic as it affects the meanings of
English lexicons. This study takes into consideration one of the trending features of
communication and/or language called hashtag along with their lexical and pragmatic
implications. Generally, people use hashtags as hyperlink to connect with other similar
conversations on Twitter via qualitative approach, the study at hand examines the
processes of new word formation in the form of hashtags in light of Lexical Pragmatics.
It is particularly focused on Pakistani Twitter users who use these hashtags in their
tweets. Pakistani Tweeters adapt these hashtags by relating it to their discussions in
Pakistani context. As a result, these hashtag expressions undergo modifications in their
encoded or lexically specified meanings resulting into becoming neologized hashtags.
The research also identifies and explores the types of hashtags that promote such kind
of lexical and pragmatic change. Moreover, the study analyzes the effectiveness of
these neologized hashtags in propagating a sociological change. For this purpose, a
sample of 30 hashtags and 150 tweets is selected in which each hashtag carries 5 tweets.
All of the tweets are collected between January 2020 and December 2021. For
Theoretical Framework, the theory of ‘Relevance and Lexical Pragmatics’ by (Wilson,
2003) is selected. Additionally, (Crystal, 2001) famous model, ‘Distinctive Features of
Netspeak’ is also used as theoretical basis to deal with hashtags as a feature of internet
language. The Research method used for this study is Content Analysis in which five
diversified codes are created: Pandemic, Politics, Social, Entertainment and Climate. As
per the results, three major types of changes in the encoded meanings of the selected
hashtags are observed. These are: Lexical Narrowing, Lexical Broadening and Category
extension. It is also revealed that certain hashtags sustained their original meaning
despite a change in their contextual information
Tracing Ecopolictics: A Postcolonial Ecocritical Study of Uzma Aslam Khan's The Miraculuous True History Oof Nomi Ali & Muhammad Hanif's Red Birds
Title: Tracing Ecopolitics: A Postcolonial Ecocritical Study of Uzma Aslam
Khan’s The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali and Muhammad Hanif’s Red
Birds
This study endeavors to foreground and investigate the against the grain perspective of
both the authors regarding the Western militarization and neo imperialism. By engaging
both ecocritical and postcolonial theories, the study underscores how the selected works
exhibit humans’ intricate relationship with the environment in Pakistani fiction. After
much deliberation on this topic opened horizons of other critical aspects among which
I have selected the aspect of ecopolitical debate, militarization and weaponization of
the desert areas in Red Birds and Andaman Island in The Miraculous True History of
Nomi Ali as mentioned in the selected fictional works. Both texts will be analyzed
through the lens of Rob Nixon and Elizabeth DeLoughery’s theorization on
Postcolonial ecocriticism. Nixon’s concept of Slow Violence has been employed to
study both texts and DeLoughery’s conceptualization on postcolonial ecology has been
generally dilated upon. Furthermore, the study reveals how environmental degradation
manifests itself in the form of contamination of sea waters and insensate killings of
animals. The study further avers those human activities cause atmospheric crisis and
challenge and subvert the equilibrium of nature. Since ecological damage is not
restricted to any specific geographical region, it has colossal global impacts. The
textual analysis method proposed by Catherine Belsey has provided me the way
forward for completing my research. I have touched upon the military interventions and
the consequences of the political gains of the Western imperial powers in the Third
world at the expense of nature
"The Effect of Metrolingual Context on The Language Practices & Identities of Students: A Sociolinguistic Study"
Title: THE EFFECT OF METROLINGUAL CONTEXT ON THE LANGUAGE
PRACTICES AND IDENTITIES OF STUDENTS: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY
The study analyzes the metrolingual practices of university students in Islamabad. When
students move from their hometowns to metropolitan areas, it greatly influences their
language practices and identities. They interact with people from different backgrounds
and cities with different languages and dialects, which affects their language practices,
repertoires, and identities. The study aims to explore the effect of metrolingual context on
the language practices and identities of university students. Both quantitative and
qualitative methods have been employed for analyses in this descriptive research. 200
questionnaires were distributed to the students of NUML, FAST NUCES, Air, and Quaid-
i-Azam University. The conversational data was collected through group discussions
among students. The model of metroligualism presented by Pennycook and Otsuji (2015)
has been used as a framework to analyze the data. Qualitative data has been analyzed
thematically. Students’ responses and discussion recordings demonstrated that the
language practices and identities of students were modified because of the universities’
diverse and dynamic urban environment. It has been identified that students’ language
practices and identities have become localized and modernized. They transcended the
traditional boundaries of languages and pre-defined fixed identities. They started using a
hybrid language with fixed and fluid language practices and identities. Their language
differs in both speed and manner than in rural areas. They mostly mix and switch languages
unconsciously. English has been enhanced in their language repertoire among other
languages. The study concluded that by employing different linguistic strategies and
through the context of interaction, students’ language practices and identities modify and
reconstituted in various ways. It reshapes students’ language repertoires, which then
become the spatial repertoire of the university spaces. The study suggests a new way of
examining students’ language practices and identities. It discloses the students’ language
repertoires that help to improve the communication process and develop a friendly
environment in the highly diverse spaces of universities in Islamabad. It proposes further
study on the metrolingual language use of employees in the workplace.
Cultural Conceptulization of Indo-Pak Partition in Literary Discourse: A Comparative Study of Conceptual Metaphors
This study aims at exploring the cultural conceptualization in partition discourse through the use
of cultural metaphors. The data for the said purpose is the text of two novels written in the partition
era. The partition of the sub-continent in 1947, was event of great magnitude which received
immense attention from almost every field of study including sociology, history, geography,
psychology and literature. A number of studies have been carried out on the discourse of partition
with various aims. The present study focuses on the use of metaphors by an Indian as well as a
Pakistani author in their novels about partition. Khushwant Singh is the Indian author whose novel
“Train to Pakistan” is selected for this research, whereas Mumtaz Shahnawaz is the Pakistani
author whose novel “The Heart Divided” is a part of this research. The purpose behind selecting
these two novels specifically was that they are the pioneer English novels written by authors of
South Asia. The Conceptual Metaphor theory (CMT) by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) is the
backbone of this research. According to Lakoff and Jonson (1980) metaphors are a part of our
everyday life and language, we use metaphors consciously and unconsciously. For the
identification of the metaphors in the texts of the selected novels, Metaphor Identification Tool by
Praggel Jazz and group (2017) is used. The main aim of this to focus on the different or similar
types of metaphors used by Indian and Pakistani authors to represent the culture of pre-partition
Indian society and the event of partition itself. Upon comparison of the metaphors used in the two
novels, it came to light that Singh used greater number of war and conflict metaphors, his focus
was more on the tragedies and horrors of the partition. Whereas, Shahnawaz focused more on
political metaphors, giving the reader an insight of the ongoing political events and how it affected
the three religious groups involved. Singh used more religious metaphors as compared to
Shahnawaz, but none of the authors sided with any one of the religious groups involved. They
remained neutral in their stance, not blaming any one group particularly, but exploring what led to
the greatest mass migration in history and its effect on the common people. The use of particular
metaphors gave insight into the author’s point of view and the kind of emotions he/she intended
to invoke by those metaphors.
Interpellation & National Politics: A Study of Markus Zusak's The Book Thief & John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
This research study examines the interplay of ideology and interpellation in
contemporary war fiction. Selected texts i.e. The Book Thief (2005) by Markus Zusak
and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2006) by John Boyne are analyzed in the light of
Louis Althusser‘s concept of interpellation expounded in Lenin and Philosophy and
Other Essays (1971). Benedict Anderson‘s views on nationalism are used as a
secondary lens to conduct this study. The study focuses on highlighting the function
of various institutions i.e., the military, politics, family, and education, and their
effects on the characters in shaping their ideology in the favor of nationalist stance.
Firstly, the texts are analyzed to see how the characters are interpellated through
nationalist ideology and then the researcher has examined how inversely these
characters contest the idea of nationalism, building a counter-discourse. Anderson‘s
criticism of nationalism is significant because it throws light on the fact that the nation
is an imagined political community and still people sacrifice their lives for it. It serves
the state‘s purposes in times of social, political, and economic crisis. In World War II,
Hitler‘s use of interpellation affected a large number of native German populations in
a way that people started to lose control over their personal choices. In the novels,
Hitler‘s forceful execution of nationalist ideology is portrayed by the novelists. Both
novels deal with various institutions promoting the ideology of nationalism. This
study aims to highlight the dangers imposed by the growing use of nationalist
ideology and how characters get motivated to contest this ideology, building new
spaces for countering interpellation. This whole investigation of interpellation and
nationalism is significant to highlight that besides the display of revulsions of war,
war fiction cannot be void of certain ideological schemas which explain the impact of
warfare on the sociological existence and endurance of humans.
The Use of English Swearwords by Pakistani Youth: A Culturo-Linguistic Perspective
Thesis Title: The Use of English Swearwords by Pakistani Youth: A Cultural-
linguistic Perspective
Males and females have differences in their speech in terms of style, choice of words and
pronunciation. Due to globalization, people have become multicultural and multi-lingual,
and now they tend to use the swearwords of other languages in general and English in
particular. Based on the purpose of the study, the current study explored the differences
between the speech of males and females concerning the use of English swearwords in
the context of Pakistan. Moreover, the study investigated the influence of culture on the
educated male and females-Pakistani youth concerning the use of English swearwords
which is one of the purposes of the study. The study used a mixed method approach by
means of using questionnaires, interviews and causal group conversations in order to
collect qualitative and quantitative data from the undergraduate students of six public and
private universities in Pakistan. The results of the study show that both males and
females-educated Pakistani youth use English for swearing, and females swear more in
English than males; however, the difference between both the genders regarding the
frequency of swearing is not significant. Furthermore, the study found that due to cultural
and religious restrictions, the educated youth of Pakistan feel it easy to swear in English
instead of their native language. The culture of universities encourages the educated
youth of Pakistan to swear in English. In addition, the study found that the educated
youth from the Sind province use English more for swearing. Moreover, the study
concluded that swearing in English among the educated males and females-Pakistani
youth is common, and due to substantial cultural influence, they tend to choose English
for swearing to express their feelings and emotions instead of their mother tongue as
swearing in their own languages is made prohibited by the their cultures.
Social Media Hashtags: A benefical discourse perspective
Title: SOCIAL MEDIA HASHTAGS: A BENEFICIAL DISCOURSE PERSPECTIVE
This study investigates the use of beneficial discourses related to ecology in social media
and the type of interest promoted by them. For this purpose, ten social media hashtags
were selected from various Facebook and Instagram pages and groups. The technique used
for data collection was purposive sampling. The main purpose of the study was to identify
various framing techniques used to enhance eco-sensitivity through environment-friendly
hashtag campaigns on social media. The collected data were analyzed to determine the
positivity in the discursive patterns constructed through framing techniques in order to
evaluate the positive dimensions of the beneficial discourse of the selected hashtags. The
analytical tools propounded by Arran Stibbe (2015) were used for this purpose whereas,
for the critical insights and interpretation, underpinnings of ecosophical perspective were
used. In view of the multimodal nature of the data, Arran Stibbe’s analytical framework
was combined with the concept of visual grammar propagated by Kress and Van Leeuwen
(2006). Analysis of comments is done by following the Thematic content analysis
technique of Braun & Clarke’s (2006). After the analysis, it was found that techniques such
as negative framing and metaphorical expressions are used to enhance eco-sensitivity. The
positive dimensions reflected in the discursive moves are; the ecologically conscious use of
language, alarming/awakening the people, and also purposefully or deliberately promoting
environmental protection or stability. It has been found by doing the data analysis that
these beneficial discourses(hashtags) are ecosophically sound and are purposeful advocates
of environmental stability and eco-consciousness. The researcher suggested the need of
exploring more of these beneficial discourses and the use of big-size data for a large-scale
investigation to create a wider social impact. It is also recommended that there can be other
research studies based on indigenous discourses in the same domain. The future researcher
may conduct a multimodal study on other promotional techniques such as posters and
cartoon representation where identification of new aspects of beneficial discourse
perspective must be done
Renegotiating Kitsch and Rhizome: A Post-Identitarian perspective on Milan Kunders's The Unbearable Lightness of Being and The Festival of Insignificance.
Title: Renegotiating Kitsch and Rhizome: A Post-Identitarian Perspective on
Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being and The Festival of
Insignificance,
This research aims to trace the patterns of Kitsch and Rhizome in Milan Kundera’s The
Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984) and The Festival of Insignificance (2016) to
interpret aesthetic and identity marginalization, identity metamorphosis, and post-
identitarian Rhizome in postmodern (con)texts. To explore the relationship between
Kitsch and marginalization, and the metamorphosis of rooted identity into post-identity,
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s concept of deterritorialization, reterritorialization,
and Rhizome, and Catherine A. Lugg’s concepts of Kitsch and resistance and
subversion of kitsch together supply a theoretical framework to this study. In the
selected novels, Kundera’s characters exhibit nomadic strains that go from the
peripheries to the centre and from there to new peripheries. This shifting of centre and
periphery not only dismantles the binary but creates yet another binary. Focusing on
renegotiation of kitsch, I argue that kitsch promotes marginalization. Lugg’s
perspective on subversion and resistance against Kitsch helps rationalize the impacts of
political Kitsch on aesthetic and identitarian marginalization. Broadening this milieu to
the identitarian context, this research aims to analyse the centre/periphery and
rooted/rootless binaries and subsequently conceptualizes post-identitarian Rhizome.
Through textual analysis of the selected texts, the study attempts to explore the
renegotiation of kitsch to develop a debate on identity in postmodern (con)texts. Hence,
the major purpose of this research is twofold: to explore the relationship between
political kitsch and marginalization, and the shift from rooted identity to post-identity
to explore the emergence of rhizomatic identity in the postmodern era. The study will
contribute to the debates on post-identity with reference to kitsch and rhizome to
renegotiate the underpinnings of these concepts and rationalize post-identity.
Stem and Survival: a futurist- humanist critique of Margaret Atwood's the Maddaddam Trilogy
Title: STEM AND SURVIVAL: A FUTURIST-HUMANIST CRITIQUE OF
MARGARET ATWOOD’S THE MADDADDAM TRILOGY
This is a futurist-humanist study of Margaret Atwood‘s trilogy comprising Oryx and
Crake (2003), The Year of the Flood (2009), and Maddaddam (2013). Futurology has
functioned as one of the chief interests of speculative fiction in Contemporary
literature. In such fiction, the representation of rapid advancements in STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) appears as a persistent and
pathological challenge to the future of the Homo Sapiens inhabiting the planet. Hence,
speculative literature and futuristic theories are laminated by the adverse effects of
STEM. The dystopian feature of speculative fiction leads to the nightmarish
predictions of the end of the world where human beings become helpless before the
technology that they have crafted themselves. However, they are also focused on
finding a middle way for the safety of the planet. The purpose of my research lies in
studying the interplay between the future of humanity and scientific progress in
Atwood‘s speculative texts. The futurist-humanist study of MAT is significant because
it promotes the belief that keeping the safety of humanity intact alongside the
thoughtful application of scientific and technological knowledge should be the
primary priority of humankind. This research invokes Gerd Leonherd‘s theory of
digital transformation that deals with algorithms, androrithms, and Hellven (which is
a portmanteau for hell/heaven). This study uses textual analysis as a research method
for the study of selected texts.
Effect of Aging & Linguistics Dominance on lexical Retrieval in Urdu-English Bilinguals: A psycholinguistics Study
The shift from local to global world order has inclined people to acquire more than one
language. This shift has opened various domains for scholars from different areas of
research, which may include linguistics, psychology, anthropology and sociology. The
study is based on the exploration of the impact of aging and linguistic dominance on lexical
access among bilinguals. It intends to find out whether aging affects lexical recall or not,
and whether linguistic dominance in any of the two languages (L1 or L2) affects lexical
retrieval in the non-dominant language or not. The theoretical framework for this study is
based on the study conducted by Rossi and Diaz (2016) for studying the impact of aging
on lexical retrieval. Moreover, this study challenges the work of Sullivan et al. (2018), who
claim that the reason behind slower lexical retrieval among bilinguals is the competition
account and not the weaker link hypothesis. However, this study uses weaker link
hypothesis proposed by Gollan et al. (2007, 2008, 2011) to find out the impact of aging and
linguistic dominance on lexical retrieval. The data has been collected from bilinguals
having Urdu as their first language (L1) and English as their second language (L2). These
participants are further sub-divided into four groups such as: young bilinguals with L1
dominance, old aged bilinguals with L1 dominance, young bilinguals with L2 dominance
and old aged bilinguals with L2 dominance. Lexical retrieval is measured using
psycholinguistic experiments: Translation Task, and Semantic Written Fluency Task in
Urdu and English. Moreover, a comparison has been made between the results of these
tasks based on age and linguistic dominance. The scores are measured, and their mean
values are calculated. The findings of the study reveal that there is no effect of aging and
linguistic dominance on lexical retrieval. The results of the study have important
implications for the applied linguists working in the field of Second Language Acquisition
(SLA), English Language Teaching (ELT) and bi/multilingualism.
Professional Identity Construction of Female English Teachers in Rural Khybar Pakhtunkhwa: A Narrative Inquiry
Professional Identity Construction of Female English Teachers in Rural Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa: A Narrative Inquiry
This qualitative study inquires into the meanings female English teachers make of the
professional identity they have developed under the collective impact of nativity,
gender, and rural context of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Using narrative inquiry
as the research method, it examines how the four participant female language teachers
connect their professional identity construction with their English language teaching,
and thus form their language teacher identity. The theoretical foundation of the
current work is based on Barkhuizen’s (2016) conceptualization of Language Teacher
Identity (LTI), while the analytical framework has been borrowed from Barkhuizen’s
(2008) conception of the three-pronged conceptualization of ‘story’. The design of the
current work is such that the theoretical and analytical lenses and the methodology all
form a nexus whereby they have been derived from the work of the same theorist (i.e.
Gary Barkhuizen) and all of them deal with the narrative investigation of language
teacher identity. The findings of this study foreground the dynamic and fluid nature of
LTI by emphasizing the intersection of gender, non-nativity, and the rural context.
Further, the findings provide evidence of how LTI starts developing at the very onset
of the teaching profession and then grows in tandem with one’s additional identities
as the person goes through life. The participants’ emotional and historical attachment
with English and their perceptions that English is a subject that can set them apart
forms their initial LTI. Another key finding reveals how LTI is formed under the
effect of social expectations of what career path a lady residing in a rural area should
go for. Exploration into the third point of interest i.e. non-nativity throws light on the
challenges that non-native language teachers face in a rural context as they are
aggravated by the lack of support and opportunities for the female gender, but it also
shows how the participants’ non-native status was not found to be a hindering factor
in the participants’ LTI development. Rather, their LTI was more a product of their
observance of socio-cultural ideologies about women, work, and the English
language, and the limitations posed by the rural context, as well as their gendered
identity.
Organizatinal word patterns in the Mental Lexicon: A Psycholinguistic Study
Title: ORGANIZATION OF WORDS IN THE MENTAL LEXICON: A
PSYCHOLINGUISTIC STUDY
Mental lexicon refers to the part of the brain where word learning, storage, and retrieval
occur. Lexical relation is a method used in psycholinguistics to look at how peoples’ mental
model networks are set up in their brains. The current research has attempted to find out
organization of words in the mental lexicon of grade 4 students. For this purpose, hundred
students have been selected of grade 4 from the selected schools. This study employs
quantitative method. The responses of the hundred students in word association test have
been analyzed by using Fitzpatrick’s (2007) model of ‘classification of association
response’. This model is applied to find out how the English language learners of grade 4
make position-based and meaning-based associations between the words through word
association response. The research also sheds light on how the lexical networks of the
English Language learners of grade 4 are characterized and influenced by the lexical class
of the words. This work is important because it makes a significant advance to the
understanding of the organization of words in the mental lexicon. Position-based
association, which accounted for 56.95% of the total collected data dominated the
distribution of the data. The outcome indicated that just 17.95% of connections are
meaning-based. Collocation associations have been prevalent in position-based association.
The findings of the word association test showed that the participants’ mental lexicon was
impacted by their comprehension and use of the target term. Hence, it is concluded that in
the participants’ mental lexicon, position-based association is the strongest lexical network.
Persuasive Strategies in Pakistani Travel Guide Discourse: A Corpus Based Multimodal Analysis
Title: Persuasive Strategies in Pakistani Travel Guide Discourse: A Corpus Based
Multimodal Analysis
Travel guides are the authentic source of promoting tourism in and across a country. These are
the pre tour documents that may guide and convince a reader/tourist to visit any place for
traveling and adventure. Travel guides either in soft or hard form not only provide the cultural,
historical and traditional accounts but also provide suggestions and tips to choose the best place
for visit. Using the mixed method approach the study evaluates the use of descriptive adjectives
in the text and also explores impact of these adjectives on the intended receivers. Moreover, the
study also investigates the frequency of overused and underused adjectives in the travel
discourse. In addition, the study also explores how linguistic and non-linguistic strategies are
deployed in the travel guides. The data for this purpose was collected through six top-browsed
travel websites of Pakistan. Quantitatively, the data has been analyzed by using the theoretical
framework of Biber et al (1999) whereas, qualitatively the data has been analyzed using the
multimodal framework of Kress and Leeuwan (2006). The findings of quantitative data show
that under and over used descriptive adjectives vary in different contexts. However, some
overused descriptive adjectives include ‘beautiful’, ‘green’, ‘attractive’ and ‘old’. The findings
of qualitative data reveal that multimodal techniques are aptly deployed in the travel websites
which not only contain sensuousness but also express the positive depiction of the travel sites.
Resultantly, it not only emanates the emotional effect but also increases the persuasive force of
the travel guide text. The study concludes that Pakistani travel discourse makes use of both verbal
and non-verbal strategies to achieve persuasiveness and is simple in its diction, style and layout.
In addition to this the study also provides implications for the website content writers and
designers in terms of spellings and structure of text and about the style and layout of the images
and webpages.
Cosmo-Feminism or Feminism-lite?: Postcolonial Visibility Politics Behind The Portrayal of Muslim Women in Contemporary Graphic Novels
Title: Cosmo-feminism or Feminism-Lite?: Postcolonial Visibility Politics Behind
the Portrayal of Muslim Women in Contemporary Graphic Novels
This study is a postcolonial critique of three graphic novels; Persepolis: The Story of
Childhood (2003) by Marjane Satrapi, Habibi (2011) by Craig Thompson, and Lissa:
A Story about Medical Promise, Friendship, and Revolution (2017) by Sherine Hamdy
and Coleman Nye. As all the selected works are published in the West and, in one way
or another, advocate Muslim women's rights, the researcher has analysed the
postcolonial gender concerns presented by the authors. Lila Abu Lughod’s postcolonial
gender debates are used as a primary lens to scaffold the theoretical underpinnings of
the study. Furthermore, to analyse the authenticity of these gender concerns, the theory
of cosmo-feminism is adapted by contrasting it with the feminism-lite concept. This
cosmo-feminism vs. feminism-lite debate is used as a touchstone to decode writers'
portrayal of postcolonial visibility politics. The research methods of Qualitative
Content Analysis (QCA), Comparative Analysis, and Biographical techniques are used
to analyse the selected hybrid texts. The researcher also adopted the codes from Raina
(2009), which helped form the criteria for the analysis. As the writers of the selected
works belong to different milieus, it is found that each novel implicitly presents a
different image of female Muslim characters. The cosmo-feminism vs. feminism-lite
debate shows that the portrayal of a Muslim woman in Habibi (2011) is inclined to
feminism-lite agendas and indirectly promotes the idea of ‘sexualization of the Orient’.
Whereas the depiction of female Muslim characters in the other two novels adheres to
the true spirit of cosmo-feminism. The distinctive histories and sociopolitical situations
create the lived experiences of Muslim women. Hence, it important to understand the
complexity of Muslim womens’ problems while advocating their rights. The adaptation
of the cosmo-feminism vs. feminism-lite concept can be refined and exploited in future
research.