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Item A comparative study of pashto and english linguistic taboos(UMT Lahore, 2010)The present thesis is a comparative study of an ethno-linguistic phenomenon known as 'taboo' in Pashto and English cultures. It is a custom which consists in avoiding mentioning certain words and expressions which is a common practice in more than one society of the world. The stuify has analyzed the nature ofthe approach ofPashto speakers towards some of the well known taboo-words and expressions and has also compared them with English speakers. It is based on data collected through questionnaires, interviews and personal observations. The findings of qualitative data collected through interviews and observations from Pashto speakers were used in support of the quantitative data. Quantitative data were analyzed through the application of statistical software-SPSS. The t-tests revealed that Pashto language is more prone to linguistic taboos than English. Less or no difference was found on the basis of area (rural/urban) in the approach of people of both cultures. Further exploration of the data reveals that almost similar to English, female speakers of Pashto observe their linguistic taboos more strictly than male speakers. The data also shows that the observance of taboos is higher in older age-group than the younger one in Pashto. Due to many reasons the younger generation is less terrified by the linguistic taboos. The present study also confirms the ideas of the previous researchers that these taboos are mostly violated in extreme anger as when one is highly emotional and out of control. On the basis of the pedagogical implications of the study, a dictionary of taboo words in Pashto is recommended.Item Sequential presentation of grammatical morphemes in efl textbooks and its relation with morpheme acquisition(UMT Lahore, 2010) Abdul Qadir KhanThis study is designed to determine the sequence of presentation of grammatical morphemes in English Textbooks prescribed by Punjab Textbook Board for primary level learners (5-10 years) in Pakistan and its relation with morpheme acquisition in yoimg learners. The sequence of presentation of grammatical morphemesjin-^gli^ textbooks has been determined on the basis of order of introduction of these morphemes in these textbooks. The study compares this obtained sequence of presentation to the L2 order of morpheme acquisition presented by Dulay and Burt (1974) and finds a significant difference between the two orders. The study also focuses to explore the relation of this obtained sequence of presentation with morpheme acquisition in Primary level leamers. Three tasks: essay writing, grammar exercise and a translation activity, have been admimstered to thirty grade fifth young leamers. After scoring for morpheme suppliance in obligatory contexts and using the correct percentage method to order the morphemes, no concordance is found between the sequence of presentation of grammatical morphemes and order of morpheme acquisition by primary level leamers. The results show concordance between Dulay and Burt's (1974) order of morpheme acquisition and the order obtained from young leamers in this study. This study also verifies that L2 leamers follow the same order of morpheme acquisition irrespective of their different Lls and different language exposures. The results of the study also show that not even a single morpheme reached minimal acquisition limit that is 90 % accuracy level. The study concludes that the sequence of presentation of grammatical morphemes in EFL Textbooks for primary level leamers in Pakistan is significantly different from L2 order of moipheme acquisition presented by Duiay and Burt (1974). This sequence of presentation of grammatical morphemes has no effect on the order of morpheme acquisition but does affect the rate of morpheme acquisition and it makes the rate of morpheme acquisition slower and hampers cognitive acceleration of the study. This study suggests that the natural order of morpheme acquisition should be followed in teaching that will help in cognitive acceleration of learners.Item Gender prestige and code choices(UMT Lahore, 2010) Moazzam Ali MalikThis study aims at analyzing how the^ociaj parameter of gender affects the choices of the codes* among Punjabi, Urdu and English bilinguais in Pakistan. It examines any possible gender difference in the pattern of choices of codes among these bilinguais. It looks at how this gender difference in the tendency and pattern of code choices is related with the speaker's gender and the social status and prestige of the language. In a bid to verify the existence of what Fasold refers as 'the sociolinguistic gender patt^' (92), and what Labov considers 'the first principal of sexulTdifferentiatioiT" ("Intersection of Sex" 205), this research answers the question that whether or not men and women tend to use higher-status language in different proportions under the similar social and situational contexts and domains. Causal-comparative research design has been opted for this study. The code choices behavior data was collected from the sample population of 180 students, 90 boys and 90 girls purposely selected from the two campuses of Punjab College, Gujrat. The selected population comprised of young (17-21 years old) Punjabi, Urdu and English bilinguais from male and female 'homogeneous' gender groups. Both the gender groups were homogeneous as during the stage of sampling a Sociolinguistic Questionnaire was used to make sure that both the gender groups were almost similar to each other in their social, psychological, ethnic and linguistic background. The code choice behavior of our selected sample population was studied at two levels, i.e., a) at societal or domain level and b) at the inter-personal level. The code choice behavior data under the similar social and sitiiational situation was measured at societal or domain level by using a Language Behavior Questionnaire. On the other hand, code choices behavior under the influence of internal and personal factors was measured by generating and recording a discussion between 4-5 member friends' groups on a given topic within the same-gender conversation. Our data was qualitatively analyzed to work out the frequencies of code choices both at domain level and interpersonal level. The results verified the existence of sociolinguistic gender-pattern of code choices among Punjabi, Urdu and English bilinguais. •Code Is a widely used term In soclollngulstie researeh and lu meaning ranges from language, dialect, variety to lexis and motpttemes. In this study, while discussing language hehavlor at societal or domain level, I have used the term code to mean language and hence code choice as language choice. Wheteas, 1 have used the term 'code' to mean the lexis and hence -code choices' as -lexis choices' for the discussion regarding the corpus analysis of the recorded data.Item The image of colonized indians in colonial writings(UMT Lahore, 2010) UZMA ASMATThis research examines how the web of the discourse images colonized Indians in the text of the novel ‘A Passage to India’. It analyses how the discourse of the novel re-describes and re-contextualises the colonial cultural values as supreme and ideal whereas colonized cultural values as inferior and ordinary. It also investigates how these ideologically constructed values are claimed as the central and universal for the rest of the world. The objective of the study is to understand the representation of unequal power relations and the process of ideological construction in the web of colonial discourse. ‘Discourse’ is used here in Foucaldian sense of the term in which knowledge and power are joined together. Knowledge for Foucault is ‘the product of certain discourses’ and this knowledge is produced by power. As the power of white skin colonizers turns their statements as ‘factual knowledge’ and the production of this knowledge from power is used as a ‘way to define and categorise others’ (Bertens, p. 154-157). Norman Fairclough’s model Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) has been applied for the analysis of the text. The procedure for the critical analysis of the discourse is based upon three stages: description, interpretation and explanation (Fairclough, 1993). The analysis of the text has been conducted in Postcolonial and post structuralists’ paradigm. Critical analysis of the text of the novel manifests that ideologically charged vocabulary items, metaphorical expressions, dichotomous pair, hierarchical oppositions etc. have been used to image British colonizers as ‘Centre’ and colonized Indians as ‘periphery’. These Ideological framings have been constructed for imaging British colonizers as civilized, ordered, rational, enlightened and masculine; whereas, Indian colonized as uncivilized, chaotic, irrational, unenlightened and feminine. Ideological constructions have been formulated as Commonsensical assumptions to image British rulers as superior and Indian natives as inferior. The interpretative analysis of the selected statements, taken as building blocks of colonial discourse, shows the constructed social identities by the colonizers as false assumptions. This analysis finds constructed realities as the imaginary representation of the Indian natives, their culture and also of their country. The web of the discourse of ‘A Passage to India’ as a colonial discourse structures not only the image of colonized people but it also images colonizers, their relationship and the colony. The statements, which image the colonizer as ‘Self’ and the colonized as ‘Other’, appear as commonsensical assumptions. Ideologically constructed Social conventions have been presented as common sensical. For the projection of colonial practices as common sensical and universal, ideological power has been used. The explanation of the statements shows hierarchical binary oppositions as just western discursive constructions. The analysis, in postcolonial context, manifests Indian natives, the colony and its cultural values as vigorous, healthy and robust as they are in any other culture of the world. The image of colonized Indian natives constructed in the novel is imaginary and representational. The stereotypes, created in the controlled knowledge, exist nowhere in the subcontinent; and the Indian cultural values formulated in the systematic arrangement of the statements of the discourse are seen just representational. The analysis of the selected statements reflects that the image of British colonizers as ‘Self’ and Indian colonized people as ‘Other’ in the web of the discourse is just discursive construction. Description, interpretation and explanation of the statements display the novel “A Passage to India” as colonial discourse which not only constitute and construct the image of Colonizers as the ‘Centre’ of the world; but also Indian natives as ‘Peripheral’.