Department wise Listing | NUML Online Research Repository
List of Content
Back to Listing
Title Abstract Action(s)
A Critical Study of the Phonology of a Sub- Variety of Pakistani English under the Influence of Pashto In Pakistan there are several languages which are spoken in different regions as mother tongues. There are four major regional languages i.e. Balochi, Pashto, Punjabi and Sindhi.'In addition to these, Urdu is used as a lingua franca and the national language of the country. Language change is an established phenomenon; it changes horizontally (regionally) as well as vertically (socially) and naturally the same goes for the English language too which is used as a second language in our country. Since Ll influence is a reality, each regional language of the country influences the English language in its own right when it is used by Pakistanis from different regions. In this way, there emerge different varieties of the English language in Pakistan which need to be identified, explored and studied in detail to highlight similarities and differences in them. It will help in getting Pakistani English recognized the world over as a distinct variety and it will project our beautiful indigenous linguistic treasure too. It will help in identifying those difficulties which the speakers of different regional languages face when they learn English. The present study is an effort in this connection with regard to the Pashto language. The phonology of English spoken by Pakistani Pashto speaking people of the country is the focal point of this work. To be able to do it first the participants' loud reading in English was recorded and transcribed to mark all the deviations manifested in their pronunciation. Finally those deviations were judged against the British Standard English (RP) applying Contrastive Analysis (CA). It was done so because in Pakistan we do not have one variety of English accepted and recognized by all. The possible reasons of the deviations found, have also been shown up to facilitate Pashto speaking learners of English. At the end different suggestions and recommendations have been given to address those problems which are within our capacity.
Discursive Reconstruction of the Native American Subject in Sherman Alexie's Works The Native American subject has been misconstructed by the Euro-American historical, media, literary and politico-juridical discourses for the White colonial capitalist agenda. Columbus, the most hated individual by the Native Americans, initiated their genocide in the name of civilization and service to Christ. Onwards from the discovery of the New World in 1492, Euro-American history, geography, politics, judiciary, literature, media and even religion all served as instruments of colonial project to construct Red Indians as a cannibalistic community whose extinction is unavoidable for the preservation of humanity. Sherman Alexie, a Coeur de Alene Native American author’s works reconstruct the Native American subject from tribal perspective. His revisionism discursively brings the Native American subject into interiority. The subject in The Summer of Black Widows and First Indian on the Moon, conscious of domestic imperialism, is proudly rooted in the past, challenges Euro-American misrepresentation without compromise and imaginatively reactivates the old American Indian cultural patterns and practices. It dismantles the historical oblivion and brings to the surface the cultural identity from pre-Columbian context to write back to the imperialist misconstruction. But the subject in Ten Little Indians, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and Flight is simultaneously rooted in both the Euro-American and the Native American discursivities. In the latter case, the subject is realistically conscious of the existing milieu of the United States in which survival without acceptance of the multi-cultural and multi-racial institutionalized bioforce and governmentality is not possible. Flight and Diary offer a solution to the nihilist vision presented in The Indian Killer. The frustrated Native American subject is frequently bogged down into historical trauma, colonialism, alcoholism and racism but the subject in Flight, Diary and Ten Little Indians realizes the need for healing the ravages of traumatic inheritance of genocide. Forgiveness, compassion and empathy emerge as a solution to the imbroglio of agony and suffering. The optimist subject in Alexie’s latter works develops the simultaneous relationship with past and present: the former is necessary to preserve the tribal identity of the Native American culture and the latter is significant in view of the modern multicultural, multi-ethnic and technologized milieu of the United States.
Discursive Practices in the Portrayal of Political Speeches in English Newspapers CDA is used in social research for the purpose of depicting the discourse surrounded by complex socio-political issues, and it aims to investigate social inequality as how inequality is expressed and signaled, and how it is constituted and legitimized through discourse. CDA analysts consider Media as an important discursive space. With reference to Pakistan, the role of media in developing public perception regarding the political parties is important. As such, the media has attained a powerful position from where it establishes certain practices and is capable of moulding public opinion in the process of political representation. The speeches of prominent leaders of leading political parties were selected to be reflected through leading newspapers of Pakistan. Three newspapers namely The News, Dawn and The Express Tribune were selected for representation. This study critically analyses news reports of the selected political speeches of prominent political leaders of Pakistan. Following an eclectic approach, the study uses the relevant features from the established CDA models for data analysis. The theoretical framework surrounds the concept of power of discourse in shaping the realities. This study has revealed some significant tendencies and patterns in the media discourse related to political speeches in the context of Pakistan. For instance, the order of the contents of speeches is normally not followed in the reporting of the speeches. A significant difference in the selection of lexical choices is identified in the representation of different political leaders. Different newspapers adopt their preferred setting of arguments in the speech representation of various leaders. The study concludes that exclusion is a very significant feature of the Pakistani newspapers’ reporting style. Moreover, quotations are used as a strong tool in changing or creating perception in political reports. All in all, diversity in the reporting of same contents confirms that practices of newspapers generate different perceptions about various political leaders and /or parties.
A Critical Discourse Analysis of Hugo Chavez' Rhetoric: A Study of Dominance and Resistance The present study intends to explore some of the contemporary issues of Language and Power that are critically embedded in the dialectics of dominance and resistance and being effected through discursive practices. With these underpinnings, this study focuses on the tense and strained relationship between America and Venezuela and the consequences of such relationship in the form of resistant discourse emanating from the speeches and interviews of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Critical Discourse Analysis as a theoretical construct in Van Dijk’s framework will be applied to analyze the resistant discourse of as many as five speeches and two interviews of Chavez in order to view it against the background of the hegemonic discourses of America; is neighbor to Venezuela and economically and politically more powerful. The thesis seeks to explore the implications of the rhetoric of resistance of the former Venezuelan president in order to determine how it forges a counter discourse to the hegemonic discourse. The study also attempts to determine how it not only tries to accuse America of injustice but also seeks to make the world rethink about the socio-political changes that have been brought through resistant rhetoric. From the perspective of CDA, such counter discourses can be of great help towards effecting a viable social change in the present consumerist age of international politics, as such this study is of a valuable contribution to the volume of research already available in this area.
An Exploration of Motivation and Attitude of Teachers Towards English As Medium of Instruction on Rural Pakistan History of medium of instruction in Pakistan is marked by alternations mainly between two languages i.e. Urdu and English, the former being its national while the latter official language. Lately, the government of Punjab took an ostensibly decisive step in this regard by imposing EMI (English as Medium of Instruction) for content subjects in all public sector schools of Punjab. It led to a complex situation because the teachers, expected to use EMI, are in no way different from EFL learners of any level in their proficiency. In view of this situation, the current study was designed to explore the motivation and attitude of the teachers of rural areas towards EMI policy of the Punjab government. A survey from six districts of Punjab (selected on the basis of Human Development Index) was conducted using triangulation as a data collection technique. Following convenience sampling 100 questionnaires were distributed among the teachers from each of the selected districts making it thus a total of 600 questionnaires overall. Interviews of 25 pricipals/incharges of the schools were conducted with at least three from each of the six districts. A hybridization of socio-educational model of R. C. Gardner and WTC (Willingness to Communicate) model by MacIntyre was used for theoretical grounding and for the purpose of instrumentation. Percentages and chi-square were used to find variation on the basis of gender, age and qualification. Correlation and regression analyses were used to discover the nature of relationship among the selected variables. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to confirm the path from motivation to WTC as hypothesized (but found not confirmed) by Yashima (2002). The path from motivation towards WTC was confirmed through SEM. Qualification was found to be the most important predictor of motivation. The teachers were discovered not to be motivated by any means at present. However, a predominantly optimistic view was found existent among the participants about the future of EMI. Training was pointed out as one of the most important requirements by the teachers. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that these teachers should be provided intensive language training to develop adequate proficiency.
Oppression of Women in Patriarchal Societies: An Analytical Study of Anita Shreve's Novels The intention of this study is to show how language is used to represent women’s oppression. Women are oppressed in patriarchal societies and this theme provides the theoretical framework for the study i.e. feminist theory, which is applied to the texts of two novels of contemporary American novelist Anita Shreve, namely All He Ever Wanted and Body Surfing. Text of the novels is represented with the view to see how certain linguistic features are meaningfully used to show women as an oppressed group and are denied their due rights. Analytical perspective of the study is post-structuralism, in which various meanings having ideological significance for women’s oppression are reached upon. A detailed discussion on the theoretical significance for the study with an extensive critical review of related literature has been provided with the aim to show how certain aspects of language show power, gender, identity, representation, and ideology, leading to women’s oppression. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is used as methodology for the study and its significance for textual analysis is also highlighted. Norman Fairclough’s Three Dimensional Model (TDM) of CDA is used as strategy for the interpretation and analysis of text. Various paragraphs and dialogues covering different research questions from both the novels are analyzed under the treatment of Fairclough’s TDM. The analysis of each paragraph and dialogue is followed by critical discussion with a possible relation between language use and implied meanings, leading to women’s oppression. Interpretation and analysis of text is done to show how various textual and linguistic features are critically analyzed to outline their importance for the construction of social realities i.e. the seemingly neutral language is covertly and deliberately treated to oppress women; and how these realities are normatively coded in belief system and are taken for granted. The critical discussion is made in line with readers’ own conceptual world by referring to the commonsensical beliefs, to make them realize the ideological implications. Finally, the conclusion shows language a multi-dimensional process which socially oppresses women in various fields of life. The critical discussion reveals that such patriarchal oppression of women in narratives, is actually made real when applied to the society. The suggestions enable the reader to go ahead in the matter by basing his/her knowledge on the information gained so far.
Representation of The Muslim In Qurratulain Hyder , E.M. Forster And Ahmad Ali : A Discourse Analysis The research investigates the nature and form of the colonial encounter in colonial and postcolonial fiction in the Subcontinent. The colonial fiction develops the stereotypes of the colonized whereas these stereotypes are challenged by the postcolonial counter-discourse. The representation of the colonized Muslim in India in the colonial discourse is a stereotype which is a jumble of fact and fiction. The identity of the colonized Muslim is established in the counter-discourse by the Muslim fiction writers in the Subcontinent. Their representation of the colonized Muslim counters the representation of the colonial discourse. The focus of the research is to draw a comparison between the two representations to investigate the nature of colonial encounter between the West and the Indian Muslims. Situated in the postcolonial theoretical perspective, the researcher has analyzed the novels of E. M. Forster, Ahmad Ali and Qurratulain Hyder to understand the identity of the colonized Muslims in the Subcontinent. Chapter one sets out the nature and the scope of the work, explaining the purpose of examining the representation of the colonized Muslims in the postcolonial novel, and outlining the theoretical context and the orientation of the study. The theoretical framework of the research and the methodology are also explained. The method of the investigation in this research has been a combination of the narrative analysis and the critical discourse analysis. Chapter two explores the postcolonial perspective of the research explaining the issues in the postcolonial theory regarding the identity of the colonized people. In this regard the various models of the postcolonial literature are discussed. Chapter three describes and interprets the text of A Passage to India to explore the stereotypes of the colonized Muslims in the colonial discourse. Chapter four and five describe and interpret the texts of Twilight in Delhi and River of Fire respectively, to explore the modes of writing back the colonial discourse in the postcolonial counter-discourse. Chapter six compares the representation of the colonized Muslims in the three novels and draws conclusions. The identity of the colonized Muslims appears to be discursively constructed, multilayered and polyphonic, and dialogically constructed in the power struggle in the colonial world.
Identity and Power Issues: A Study of Voice in Discourses in Khaled Hosseini’s Novels This study is a critical exploration and evaluation of identity and power issues as discursively constructed, communicated and represented through multiple voices in Khaled Hosseini’s novels (Discourses): The Kite Runner (2003) and A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007). Using the concept of ‘Voices in Discourses,’ this enquiry aims at examining voices of the narrator and mostly major characters in discourses about the Pashtun identity, the Hazara identity issue, the Afghan national identity, the representation of the Taliban, power exercise and resistance in gender and ethnic relations, ethnic and sex/gender discrimination in the novels under study. Fairclough’s dialectical-relational analytical model namely Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is applied on the selected data for the analysis of the texts assumed as discourses, as discursive practices and as social practices. Moreover, the selected discourses are analyzed from the perspectives of critical discourse studies and feminist critical discourse studies at the macro level. The research unfolds the role and politics of voices in discourses, and it also unveils Hosseini’s ideological and political stance regarding the issues under study. Since CDA is problem-oriented and useful for viable research, therefore it is applied on the selected data to reveal the interplay between discourse and the issues under study. This critical discourse analytical study views language of the selected data as a non-neutral, ideological, political and subjective construction, communication and representation of the issues under study. The selected data consist of 40 passages (discourses) selected sequentially from the novels under study with focus upon the discursive construction and representation of identity and power issues. Hosseini’s works unfold the socio-political and historical saga of multi-ethnic Afghanistan in a chronological way covering the Afghan history from 1973 to 2003, i.e. Karzai government. However, the study has investigated the root causes of dynamic identity and power issues in Afghanistan, and has suggested some views for the future reader about the issues under study.
Trauma of Holocaust in the Fiction of Saul Bellow This study attempts to analyze the fictional writings of Saul Bellow, the Jewish American writer in the backdrop of the trauma theory presented by Cathy Caruth. Saul Bellow wrote novels and short stories which are representative of the second generation Jewish immigrants. This study uses the Historical Biographical method of research to show how far Bellow’s fiction represents the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The focus of the research is Bellovian protagonists Herzog, Leventhal, Fonstein, Mosby and Lustgarten. It also discusses the extent to which these protagonists exhibit their trauma through action, speech and behavior. I have also analyzed how these characters represent their traumatized historicity, haunting flashbacks and the recurring memories of torture and brutal treatment of the Jews that continue to haunt them in contemporary America. The connection between Bellovian fictional characters and the Holocaust testimonies is also tied into the basic theme of the trauma of the Holocaust. In order to establish a link between the fictional account and the factual, a detailed study has been made to analyze the extent to which one supports the other.
Impact of 9/11 Events on Contemporary English Novel This study is an attempt to register the post 9/11 literary response to the terrorists' attacks on WTC and Pentagon on September 11, 2001. It aims to explore the aftermath of 9/11 and investigate how successfully contemporary writers have managed to portray the impact of these events on both American and Non-American societies. The research design for this study is qualitative and the resources used are novels written in the aftermath of 9/11 by both Muslim and Non-Muslim American writers, including The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid; Once in a Promised Land by Laila Halaby; Falling Man by Don DeLillo and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. The events of 9/11 engendered trauma throughout the world especially in the US, therefore trauma and terrorism are core topics in most post 9/11 novels. In order to answer my research questions, I have used the theoretical apparatus of Jean Baudrillard, the French social theorist, although my main theorist is Kali Tal, a literary trauma theorist, who considers the responses to traumatic experience, including cognitive chaos and the possible division of consciousness, as an inherent characteristic of traumatic experience and memory. For this purpose I have used Fairclough’s Discourse Analysis to look at the writings of American writers as representatives of fiction produced in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. This research focuses on the reactions and responses of American writers, taking as its premise that since Americans are the direct victims of the attacks, American writers have written more than any other nation. The focus of these writings is death, loss, trauma, mourning and violence and most of the survivors are injured and shell-shocked as a result of the death of a loved one. The focus is on how the different characters learn to deal with personal tragedy in the face of a national loss and the similarities and differences in the treatment given to the subject by Muslim and Non-Muslim writers.
Inferences and Interpretations: A Relativist Based Study of English Novels The course content of M.A. English literature taught at Pakistani universities is written by foreign authors is culturally loaded and the kind of set of cultural values represented in these novels is diametrically opposed to the set of cultural and moral values of Pakistani society. To mitigate the difference arising out of such variance requires the readers to entail more effort to appreciate the text on literary grounds so their interpretation and inference process might not be compromised at the cost of keeping their culture superior. The purpose was to identify how the difference in the practices, norms, values and customs portrayed in the selected novels is being viewed by the Pakistani students in their own relative cultural framework and whether or not it affects their process of interpretation and inference. The survey among the students of post- graduate level, studying in both the segregated and co-education system, brought forward many such parts and scenes that students found difficult to talk about and to discuss in the classroom environment and ultimately influence the process of interpretation and inference of the readers having cultural values different from the writer. Further involving the teachers as research participants, the research explored the strategies students and teachers adopt to cope with the challenges that emerge during the course of study. Using the triangulation of the research tools i.e. textual analysis, questionnaire, interviews and focus group discussions, the study discovered various aspects associated with the study of English literature at Pakistani universities.
A Linguistic Study of The Psychological Aspects of Aphasia This is a cross disciplinary study as it draws upon ideas from neurology, linguistics, developmental psychology and philosophy and examines the effects of emotional security on the process of language recovery after aphasia. Language recovery after aphasia is generally studied by using the standardized terminologies from the domains of first language acquisition and second language learning. This orients and controls the ways in which researchers look into this phenomenon ignoring its own uniqueness. Overemphasis on concepts such as neural plasticity and critical period has resulted in neglecting the emotional and psychological aspects of the process. The neurological and linguistic debates over aphasia support the existence of a critical period till which the human brain can retain its plasticity. This study challenges these ideas by discovering the positive effects of emotional stability and security on language recovery of an aphasic even when s/he had crossed the so-called critical period. The study covers one year of the linguistic recovery process of the research participant. The data collection methods included audio recordings of the research participant’s speech, diary notes about her linguistic performance and discussions with her physician about the same. The insights drawn in the end strongly support the positive effects of emotional security on language recovery after aphasia. The study concludes with grounded theory that emerges from the data. The researcher has named it as her theory of emotionicology. This theory is based on the serendipitous discovery that not only initiation of positive emotions help in language recovery but also inclusion of the negative emotion, that is, aggression in controlled and mild forms (at advanced stages of recovery) can be used for further fuelling the speech production process. It is, however, suggested that aggression has to be employed with caution and should be applied only by a trained caregiver in brief episodes (of say 10-15 seconds) when the aphasic is emotionally and physically secure. This study also stresses that for the betterment of the aphasic, the caregiver has to acquire emotional competence as a skill. The understanding in the end is purely subjective, and situated. Thus, no generalization claims follow.
TOWARDS PSYCHO-IDEOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION: AN ANALYSIS OF PAKISTANI DIASPORIC FICTION ABSTRACT Thesis Title: Towards Psycho-Ideological Transformation: An Analysis of Pakistani Diasporic Fiction The present study proposes a theoretical conjuncture between diaspora and ideology. I engage myself conceptually with the idea of diaspora in the current context by putting forth the proclamation that diaspora can be viewed as the agent of constructing trans/national ideology that is transformed and universal. Diaspora is a psychological imbibing of immigrants in new socio-cultural environment that affects immigrants’ ideological construction. Ideology is fundamentally a psychoanalytical relocation/understanding of the way people become part of the social group that forms an ideology. For the purpose of this study, I assume that the operation of ideology in human life primarily involves the psychological process of be/coming human subjects. I also assume that the construction of ideology involves cognition, which entails the psychological process of accepting social individuality and it is human psychology that shapes ideology. In the light of these debates on diaspora and re/constructing and re- trans/formation of ideology, this study attempts to explore psychological relocation of people living in diaspora through the application of Lacan’s psychoanalytical theory. This study attempts to examine and analyze the representations of socio-cultural, national and religious ideological construction in selected literary texts of Pakistani British/American diaspora writers. The purpose of this study is to present an alternative way of analyzing diasporic ideological transformation through applying Lacanian psychoanalytical theoretical framework particularly Lacan’s theory of mirror stage or construction of self identity. Through an analysis of the various nuances of immigrant experiences depicted in the selected literary texts, this study concludes that diasporic displacement is a psychological process of the formation of humans into social subjects. Diaspora is not merely the physical relocation of human beings but also focuses on the psychological repositioning of immigrants in new surroundings.
Influence of Social Class on Cognitive Development of Syntax: A Study of Pakistani EFL Learners ABSTRACT Influence of Social Class on Cognitive Development of Syntax: A Study of Pakistani EFL Learners There is an undeniable link between language and social class of the learners. This study explores the link between syntax and social class of the learners by studying correlation between the two variables. Cognitivists considered language a cognitive construct but social cognition theories believe that human cognition is a social phenomenon, and so is language. Social class, which is a social variable, not only affects cognition, but also language. Based on this approach, this research project explores correlation between social class and the cognitive development of syntax among the learners of English language in Pakistani universities. The research also explores the link between cognitive and social approaches to language acquisition and highlights the social nature of language development. The study followed correlational method of research to find out the relationship between social class of the adult learners of English and cognitive development of syntax among them. This study also took into account gender, marital status and age as extraneous variables and studied the relationship of these with the sample’s performance in syntax based test. The population for this study consisted of male and female students of language courses belonging to three universities of Pakistani capital Islamabad. To collect social class data and test syntactic skills of the sample, two research tools were designed; a Socio-economic Index (SES Index or SEI) and in the Syntax-based test. The SES Index consisted of five social class variables. These are occupation, income, educational qualification, medium of instruction, and property. The sample was asked to provide details of the said variables about three family members; the subjects themselves, their fathers and mothers. The second tool designed for this research was Syntax based test which aimed to test various syntactic skills of the learners. Students’ performance in the syntax based test was considered an indicator of their cognitive development. The participants were required to fill up the SES Index and solve the test. Both the tools had equal marks, that is, 100. This class score of the respondents was studied for its correlation with the syntax score. SPSS was used to study correlation between social class score / SES score of the individuals and their syntax score. The results yielded moderately significant positive correlation between social class of the individuals and their syntax score and the hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between the two variables was retained. Further, the population was divided into three social classes on the basis on 33% percentile and regression was run to see mean score difference, which pointed out significant mean difference in three SC groups. Apart from social class, gender, marital status and age were identified as extraneous variables. T-test and Mann Whitney were run in SPSS to study the relationship between each of the said variables and syntax. The data were categorised according to these variables and then the tests were applied. In case of gender, which is the first extraneous variable, the mean difference between males and females was significant with females scoring more in syntax test than males, but SPSS showed that these results were statistically non-significant, so the hypothesis of unequal variance between males and females was rejected. The t-test regarding married and single population proved statistically significant difference with married scoring higher than the singles in syntax test. Unlike gender and marital status variables, age variable had three groups, and due to non-homogenous population in these three groups, non-parametric Mann Whitney test was run. No statistically significant difference was found in the mean rank of age group 1 and 2, and 1 & 3. Also, no statistically significant difference was found in the mean rank of the two age groups, which proved equal performance in syntax test by both groups.