2017

Browse

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 20 of 24
  • Item
    Re-contextualizing of urdu as the official language of pakistan; issues, challenges and prospects
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Zia Ahmad
    The main purpose of this research is to analyze inter-textual and inter-discursive links between former language policies and the Supreme Court (SC) ruling of 2015. Furthermore, this research intends to investigate what are the issues and challenges which emerged in order to re-contextualize Urdu as the national and official language of Pakistan in the current socio-political and educational contexts. The current research is qualitative in nature. This study integrates two approaches in critical paradigm, critical discourse analysis (CDA) and ethnography of language policy (ELP) by introducing the re-contextualization of Urdu as the official language and exploring multiple challenges to Urdu at macro level (National language policies) and micro level (interpretation and appropriation of policy at grass-root level). CDA is applied to examine the inter-discursive and inter-textual connections between the Supreme Court ruling of 2015 and the former language policies. Ethnography of language policy is used to uncover the connections between the multiple layers of inter-textuality in the Supreme Court ruling of 2015, ethnicity and pedagogy in order to reveal the re-contextualization of the Urdu language and its impacts on the current socio-political and educational domains. Thus the combination of ethnography of language policy and CDA is particularly useful to demonstrate how the impact of ideology, power and globalization re-contextualize the position of Urdu as the national and official language of Pakistan in the capacity of symbolic identity and medium of instruction. The first deals with ethnic politics of Pakistan and second with power, social class, deprivation and political Islam. CDA data is collected in the form of contemporary political discourse, language policies (the SC order 2015 and former language policies), educational discourse as well as a scouring of newspaper accounts and scholarly studies. Ethnographic data is collected and recorded through observation and interviews. Ethnographic data is mainly based on interviews which were conducted in March – September 2017 with teachers, students, linguists, and professionals. The current research identifies the actual issues and challenges at micro level in adopting Urdu in social and education domains and further determines the possible prospects.
  • Item
    Cultural hybridity and religio-feminist identity crises
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Yasir Arbab
    This study stylistically analyzes Amra Pajalic’s novel The Good Daughter, published in 2009, to explore its themes of religio-feminist identity crises in the wake of cultural hybridity. The novel focuses on identity problematics of its protagonist Sabhia, the Australian-born teenager daughter of a Muslim family that originally hailed from Bosnia, as she finds herself wedged between demands for cultural conservatism from her mother and grandfather, and a radically westernized stance about cultural freedom that otherwise dominates her environment. The study is constituted of a qualitative interpretative analysis and its theoretical framework fundamentally draws on Sara Mills’ views on Feminist Stylistics and Michael Halliday’s Social Semiotics. In accordance with Mills’ model of analysis, the research dissects the language of the novel’s characters to unravel cultural issues of religio-feminist identities, on the one hand, at the micro levels of phrase, clause, and sentence, while on the other, a study of characters’ usage of pronouns is integrated into the more innovative and contentious macro level, as advocated by Mills, of discourse that designates communication through social patterns larger than specific conversational turns. Moreover, the study adapts Mills’ theory to align it with Wright and Hope’s model for the analysis of noun phrases and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar for syntactic and discourse analyses. The position taken up in this study suggests that, given the specific context of the heroine’s upbringing, it may be difficult, to a certain extent, to justify the criticism levelled by her guardians against her adoption of Australian cultural identity. The analysis probes the protagonist’s divided mind as the story progresses through phases in which sometimes she reflects the Islamic identity favoured by her ancestors without any apparent external motivation from her mother or grandfather, while at other times the persistent pressure on her to cultivate a Bosnian religio-cultural identity only makes her more resolutely rebellious, and how the denouement involves a soliloquy in which she forcefully registers a gesture of repentance over not identifying herself with her family. This research would be an addition to the existing body of literary criticism that draws simultaneously on frameworks provided by theories of feminism, and issues of religio-cultural identities studied through the lens of linguistics.
  • Item
    Cultural hybridity and religio-feminist identity crises
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Yasir Arbab
    This study stylistically analyzes Amra Pajalic’s novel The Good Daughter, published in 2009, to explore its themes of religio-feminist identity crises in the wake of cultural hybridity. The novel focuses on identity problematics of its protagonist Sabhia, the Australian-born teenager daughter of a Muslim family that originally hailed from Bosnia, as she finds herself wedged between demands for cultural conservatism from her mother and grandfather, and a radically westernized stance about cultural freedom that otherwise dominates her environment. The study is constituted of a qualitative interpretative analysis and its theoretical framework fundamentally draws on Sara Mills’ views on Feminist Stylistics and Michael Halliday’s Social Semiotics. In accordance with Mills’ model of analysis, the research dissects the language of the novel’s characters to unravel cultural issues of religio-feminist identities, on the one hand, at the micro levels of phrase, clause, and sentence, while on the other, a study of characters’ usage of pronouns is integrated into the more innovative and contentious macro level, as advocated by Mills, of discourse that designates communication through social patterns larger than specific conversational turns. Moreover, the study adapts Mills’ theory to align it with Wright and Hope’s model for the analysis of noun phrases and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar for syntactic and discourse analyses. The position taken up in this study suggests that, given the specific context of the heroine’s upbringing, it may be difficult, to a certain extent, to justify the criticism levelled by her guardians against her adoption of Australian cultural identity. The analysis probes the protagonist’s divided mind as the story progresses through phases in which sometimes she reflects the Islamic identity favoured by her ancestors without any apparent external motivation from her mother or grandfather, while at other times the persistent pressure on her to cultivate a Bosnian religio-cultural identity only makes her more resolutely rebellious, and how the denouement involves a soliloquy in which she forcefully registers a gesture of repentance over not identifying herself with her family. This research would be an addition to the existing body of literary criticism that draws simultaneously on frameworks provided by theories of feminism, and issues of religio-cultural identities studied through the lens of linguistics.
  • Item
    Investigating the impact of ‘washback effect’ on teaching via bloom’s taxonomy in a private school in lahore
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Ayesha Malik
    The aim of the study is to investigate the existence and intensity of washback effect in a selected private school in Lahore. The curriculum of the school is both subscribed and assessed by an international body called Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). Keeping and acknowledging the significance of English as a Second Language (ESL), this qualitative study targets English teachers from Grades 7 – 11. Three observations were conducted for each teacher, preceded and followed by pre and post observation meetings where they were briefed and their concerns were addressed. Along with the details of educational and professional backgrounds, lesson plans were taken from each teacher and Teacher Observation Checklist was used, adapted from a book used in Cambridge trainings. The focal point of the class observations was Reading Comprehensions which were later discussed in the light of curriculum guidelines and specimen papers attached at the end. With the use of Microsoft Excel, results were analyzed which not only proved the existence of washback but highlighted the intensity of it. Apart from this, differences in teaching practices were also interpreted in terms of inapt educational backgrounds and active involvement in professional development.
  • Item
    A comparative study of task based approach and traditional approach in english language teaching
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Nayab Younas
    This study is conducted to examine the usefulness of Task based teaching method in the teaching of English language in government sector colleges of Lahore. Language teaching is never an easy job for English language teachers. The traditional method is still dominating in Pakistani colleges for teaching English and no innovations have been implemented by the educational policy makers and teachers. The traditional method did not provide fruitful results in enhancing reading comprehension skill of the students. The technique is used in this study is experimental and is designed to trace improvement in comprehension and reading skills of low proficient English learners at graduation level. Both pre-test and post-test conducted to measure any improvement in the students’ learning process. The group of sixty is divided into two groups from the local college of Lahore. The Experimental group is given treatment through dynamic intervention comprising of task based lesson plans based activities. The Control group is taught through the traditional method encompassing of Grammar Translation Method. The data collected from the two groups is analyzed using SPSS. The proportional result of both groups (Experimental and Control) illustrated a substantial development in the learning method, comprehension and reading skills of the subjects of the Experimental group. The analysis verifies the suitability of task based teaching approach in an ESL context. The study shows that the constructivism is the effective learning theory in which the TBLT falls should be implemented in colleges. It proves its effectiveness in the enhancement of reading skills of low proficient English language learners.
  • Item
    Multimodal semiotic and semantic analysis of advertising billboards
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) TOUSEEF YOUNAS
    Situating the current study in the paradigm of Visual Literacy, the researcher has employed method of qualitative descriptive research to make analysis of advertising billboards not only to explore the meaning of signs but also to find out in what manner different types of semiotic resources with the combination of linguistic process convey specific meaning in a particular social setup. In addition the researcher’s intention is to discover hidden ideology of persuading and beguiling the target viewers in a particular social context with the combination of semantics and different types of semiotic resources. Before doing the analysis of advertising billboards, a detailed and meticulous literature review has been done of previous researches’ studies in order to validate not only the importance and significance of the topic but also highlighting and evaluating the current study from new and different perspective. The researcher has chosen three aspects i.e. ‘gaze’, ‘salience’, and ‘vector’ of multimodal social semiotic approach by Kress and Van Leeuwen (1990, 1996 and 2006) to explore the meaning of sign in visual composition of advertising billboards and Leech’s (1981) semantic theory; associative meaning to make analysis of Urdu slogans in the wake of manipulation of language to beguile the target viewers. In this connection the researcher has analyzed 25 advertising billboards, erected on different sites of Lahore city. After analysis it is evident that by combinations of these two approaches, the producers of the advertisements beguile the target audiences’ at large extent. Besides this the combination of different semiotic resources in right direction not only creates elements of social affinity and involvement for the viewers but also clutches the attention of the target audience. The producers communicate effectively by using different colours, 3D effects, gestures, image, layout, typography and Urdu slogans. Furthermore, the researcher discovers how ideology is being developed and this ideology is not only changing the living standards of the general public but also shaping the new ideas related to life styles of the public.
  • Item
    Communicative language teaching versus transmission models of teaching in a government college
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) MAIMOONA RANA
    This study is conducted to investigate the effectiveness of Communicative Language Teaching Approach in Public sector colleges of Lahore. English is treated as a second language in Pakistan and Transmission Models of teaching based on Grammar Translation method is the main approach towards ESL context in Public sector colleges in Lahore. The nature of the study is experimental and is designed to trace improvement in comprehension and writing skills of low proficient English language learners at Intermediate level. An Experimental group and a Control group are used to study the effect of implementing Communicative language approach for this purpose. A pre-test and post-test is carried out to measure any improvement in the students’ cognitive learning process. The Experimental group is given treatment through vigorous interventions comprising of Communicative Language Teaching based activities. The Control group is taught through the traditional method comprising of Grammar Translation Method. The data collected from the two groups is analyzed using SPSS. The comparative result of the Experimental group and the Control group shows a significant improvement in the learning process, comprehension and writing skills of the subjects of the Experimental group. The analysis proves the appropriateness of Communicative Language Teaching Approach in an ESL context. It proves its effectiveness in the enhancement of comprehension and writing skills of low proficient English language learners.
  • Item
    The effects of urdu punjabi and english on mewati lexical items in pakistan
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Muhammad Kamran Arshad
    The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Urdu, Punjabi and English on Mewati lexical items in Pakistan. Mewati speech community migrated from the current state of Delhi, Haryana and Alwar, India and settled across various parts of Pakistan in 1947. After the migration, Mewati speech community eventually met various dialects and languages spoken across Pakistan. It seems as Mewati has been depleting ever since. There are striking differences in the speed of change across the various linguistic levels, such as phonology, lexis, syntax and semantics. The present study investigates intergenerational lexical shift in the Mewati language. Labov (1963, 1966) argues that language change can be observed through different age groups. Thus, the Apparent Time Hypothesis was considered for studying intergenerational lexical shift in the Mewati language. The data was collected from 60 participants belonging to three different age groups. The three age groups were composed of participants whose ages were between 10-25 years, 35-50 years, and 70-90 years, respectively. All the participants were residents of the province Punjab, which is in a way representative of the target population. A list of items of daily use along with their images was administered to elicit their responses. The study shows that there is more likely a significant lexical shift between (10-25) years old Mewati speakers. The second age group (35-50 years) was quite successful to retain some words. However, those who were between 70-90 years seem true representatives of the Mewati language because their responses were correct in all instances presented to them. There is reason to believe that the Mewati language would suffer badly after the death of last person in this age group. Nevertheless, with these findings we can safely speculate that the Mewati language is endangered.
  • Item
    Misrepresentations of eastern elements in disney’s cartoon series aladdin (1992, 1994, 1996).A critical discourse analysis approach
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) KHALID SAIFULLAH
    Cartoon movies, as cinematic and cultural products, have long been the subject of academic research along the second half of the 20th century. The present study aims to investigate the misrepresentations of Eastern cultural values in the Western cinematic discourse, which is often biased and imperialistic. The present study investigates the triangular connection amongst the Aladdin series, the Orient and certain Western (USA) political agendas in order to answer the research questions regarding the relationship between the Aladdin series and the Orient, different devices used to present the distorted image of the Orient and lastly the effects of the misrepresented reality on the minds of the audience. The primary texts of the present study are the three Aladdin cartoon films. Critical Discourse Analysis is used to study the phenomenon of mis(representations) of social and cultural values in the Aladdin series (1992, 1994, 1996). The selected content (text) and cultural signs (scenes and images) are analyzed through the semiotic analysis method. A considerable block of literature related to the “Disneyization” of the Middle East and to the political-cultural hegemony of America has been reviewed, in order to establish the theoretical grounds for this study. Upon a close analysis, the results of the present investigation indicate that different types of violence, bias, gender inequality and vilification of the Middle Eastern culture have been discovered in the Western cinematic discourse regarding Eastern values. In the selected primary texts cultural (mis)representations of dress codes, language symbolism, moral values and social relations are found. Therefore, the present study concludes that the Aladdin series contains misrepresentations of the Eastern cultural values as well as stereotypes regarding the Oriental realm. The Middle East is presented as inferior, over-sexualized, underdeveloped and as a dangerous place to live in. All three movies of the Aladdin series are simultaneously focused and analyzed in the present study. Its knowledge addition consists in the fact that this epistemological endeavor will be beneficial for the students of cultural and media studies as well as for the senior generations, such as their parents. They will have access to a better comprehension of the cartoons’ connection to cultural values, as well as to the political agenda(s) behind them. The study contains original work except as specified in the acknowledged citations. The present study is part of a growing body of research on cartoons in their cultural contexts. Future researchers may investigate the post 9/11 abrupt change in Disney’s and Hollywood’s interest to produce ‘West-specific’ cartoons and films. These post
  • Item
    Critical discourse analysis of the text produced by hijra community located in lahore
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Neelam Nazir
    This study is an attempt to shed a light on the linguistic choices of the Hijra (eunuch or hermaphrodite) communities responsible for discursive practices within their communities located mostly if not all in the suburb of Lahore. A sample comprised 25 members of the hijra communities was selected to investigate what kind of discursive practices they carry out in their everyday interaction within their communities. The data was elicited through interviews and observations of the target communities. The analysis procedure was conceived from three-dimensional model of Fairclough (2010) to unpack some discursive practices produced by them. The results show that their unique discursive practices (e.g., daira for circle, castration, singing, and dancing) in many ways different from others are characteristics of their group formation such as chandni dera, rawana dera, muhatia daira, marjaye daira, and arrwana daira. They communicate through a vernacular dialect of Punjabi, may be labeled as hijra vernacular. They claimed switching into the garbled Urdu sometime for communication outside their group. Their community of practices cover registers (e.g., khol for home, luri for girl, khondi for mother, santla for clothes, jog for hair and so on) are exclusive to them. They prefer to use highly contextual masculine and feminine pronouns (e.g. mera guru sahib for my teacher, meri behan for my sister and, mera beta for my son) to mark their group formation. Gender is not a fixed category for hijras and they use masculine and feminine pronouns according to the masculine or feminine roles assigned to them in their groups. In addition to linguistic features, they express them through paralinguistic features (e.g., clapping, facial expression, and gaze) as a meaning making source in their discourses. The study motivates future researchers to investigate how social practices are influencing linguistic choices of Hijra communities at their workplaces. Key terms of the study: Hijra, Eunuch, Hermaphrodites, Discursive Practices and Gender
  • Item
    Interpersonal communication barriers
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) MUHAMMAD IRFAN
    ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate the interpersonal communication barriers that may limit or hinder interpersonal communication in police department. Several empirical studies have investigated interpersonal communication within and between the professional organizations educational institutes and other workplaces; however, few have explicitly sought to uncover the possible problematic aspects linked to the interpersonal communication barriers in the police department. A sample of 25 policy officers of different ranks was selected to reveal communication barriers while disseminating and implementing security threat memos, which are composed in the English language. To find out the linguistic constraints and communication barriers, five security threat memos circulated by the higher authority over different time periods were given to the participants for reading. They were interviewed to express the barriers. Thematic analysis was used as a theoretical cover to analyze the data. Given the linguistic barriers, pronunciation, vocabulary and comprehension of the memos were among the most emerging challenges they are facing. The finding suggests providing basicEnglish language training to police department regarding how to communicate the exact message present in security threat memos. Future research can be undertaken to investigate the psychological and physical barriers that may limit or hamper interpersonal communication in police department.
  • Item
    The teaching of phonetic transcription and its effectiveness at secondary school level
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Um-ul-Huda
    This dissertation is aimed at analyzing the effectiveness of teaching of phonetic transcription for the purpose of pronunciation development at secondary school level. The inclusion of the part of pronunciation skills has been recently increased in the text books, at secondary school level, with the topic titled as ―Dictionary skills‖. This project is specifically directed at identifying the current status of phonetic transcription teaching and its learning outcomes in a typical secondary level classroom of mainstream schools of Punjab. The data was obtained in two steps from both students and teachers. A test based on phonetic transcription was conducted at both less-developed area and developed area schools for boys and girls in Lahore. In addition to that, a questionnaire showing a range of 5 options at Likert scale was developed in order to collect data from 44 teachers from public schools. The ultimate goal for this project was to find out the status of teaching and learning strategies in practice for the acquisition of transcription skills.
  • Item
    A critical discourse analysis of donald trump’s pre- and post-election speeches
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Muhammad Khalid Zeeshan
    This study focuses on the critical discourse analysis of the speeches of the US President Donald Trump in order to explore his ideology about the Muslims. Van Dijk's (2004) framework from politics, ideology and discourse is adopted in order explore how he fits the Muslims in US vs THEM binary. The dataset consists of the transcripts of Trump's five political speeches as the presidential candidate from January 2015 to July 2016 and five speeches as the president of the USA from January 2017 to September 2017 available on the internet. The macro strategies of 'positive self-representation' and 'negative other- representation' (which are intimately tied up with 'Polarization' of in group vs. out group ideologies or US-THEM) have been used for the evaluation of Trump’s speeches. This study will add to the existing body of knowledge in the field of critical discourse analysis of speeches of the US president.
  • Item
    The inversion of binaries through violation of gricean maxims in the bastard of istanbul by elif shafak
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Aneeza Khan
    This thesis aims to apply the Gricean maxims on The Bastard of Istanbul (2006), a novel by the Turkish author, Elif Shafak. The researcher strived to unearth the implications of applying the Gricean maxims on the text speech of the above-mentioned novel and see to what extent the violation of Gricean maxims leads to the formation of privileged binaries. The focus was on the two main characters in particular, Mustafa and his sister, Zeliha. For this purpose, an incident from the story of the novel was selected, and the speech portraying that incident was analyzed by the researcher. Content analysis was used as a linguistic tool to analyze the emerging patterns in the selected speech. The research paradigm is purely qualitative and uses content analysis as a method, taking help of its relational and conceptual parameters. The researcher argues that no potential research has been conducted on the selected novel, despite the fact that it is quite rich linguistically as well as in a literary sense. The findings suggested that the violation of the Gricean maxims does lead the characters to the formation of privileged binaries between them, however, it is not the sole reason for this emergence. Certain other factors like gender, social pressure, and psychological well-being of the individuals also, lead to the formation of binaries based on privileged and underprivileged constructs. The researcher is hopeful that this work on the genre of literature would pave way for the future researchers to explore linguistic dimension of other texts. e
  • Item
    Phonemic variation experienced by pakistani immigrants in sweden
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Javaria Shafique
    This dissertation attempted to investigate the similitude and differences of Swedish and Urdu vowel inventories for the benefit of Pakistani immigrants living in Sweden. The participants of this study were Pakistani immigrants between 25-30 years of age and were regular students of SFI (Swedish for Immigrants). They were selected by using purposive sampling technique. It is a basic requirement for immigrants in Sweden to have at least basic level of knowledge of Swedish. Considering this fact, learning Swedish is very important for Pakistani immigrants. By using the exploratory research design, comparative analysis was used to answer the research question. Analysis shows that Urdu and Swedish are entirely different from each other with respect to phonological aspects that caused differences in vowels articulations. These differences made learning difficult but some similarities are also found in the mid-rounded and back rounded vowels that provided ease to learner in learning Swedish. The results of this study manifested that Swedish government needed to draw new language learning policies for immigrants that help them to learn Swedish language (with the accurate accent). Moreover, research studies reveals that there is a great need to open new SFI institutes in every commune so people could get admission on immediate bases. It is hoped that this research thesis would make some contribution in the field of linguistics.
  • Item
    Language attitude of adolscent shinaspeakers towars shina, urdu and englis
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) RumanaNazir
    We are not a sitar with a single string, and our music take more than one chord to make. We are convergences of languages and cultures, all of which are simply too lustrous to be overshadowed by a single one. (Anonymous) Pakistan is a multilingual country with more than 64 languages in use .Paradoxically, the only institutionalized languages are English and Urdu throughout the country. English, being the official, most prestigious and powerful language is ranked highest in the hierarchy of languages in Pakistan. On the other hand, Urdu is the national language of Pakistan. Urdu is spoken in almost all the regions of the country, it serves the purpose of maintaining national identity but it also poses a threat for the existence of the minority languages of Pakistan. One of these minority languages is Shina that is under tremendous pressure not only from Urdu but also from English. Several words of English and Urdu are already entrenched in Shina language. Nowhere in the domains of power and educational sectors Shina is being used which itself a big threat for its existence. This research has primarily focused on measuring the language attitudes of the native adolescents of Shina towards their own language. For this purpose, a group of fifty adolescents was selected as respondents of this research. Matched guised technique was used to elicit the unconscious responses of the respondents toward different languages under investigation(English ,Urdu and Shina languages).A brief language attitude questionnaire was also used to enhance the authenticity of the research. The collected data was statistically analyzed by using the SPSS software. The result clearly showed that the respondents evaluated English and Urdu languages positively as compared to Shina language. Different reasons related to the low evaluation and rating of Shina was discussed along with the consequences. Finally, some recommendations were given to improve and safeguard the status of Shina language.
  • Item
    An evaluation of assessment tools for secondary level english language classes of all bises of punjab:
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) MUHAMMAD ALI
    The present study aims to investigate the quality of the assessment tools of English administered by BISEs in Punjab for the award of Secondary School Certificate. These assessment tools serve as sole criteria to assess the learning of the students, therefore, their quality affects the quality of learning of the students and they have potential wash back effect on the system of education. A mixed method research design was adopted in the present study. The English language assessment tools for secondary classes of all BISEs of Punjab were evaluated with reference to the levels of cognitive domain of Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Three raters rated the test items of these assessment tools using a rubric based on action words for each level of cognitive domain with the help of frequency tables. The consolidated data was analyzed for determining inter-rater reliability and frequency distribution along with frequency percentage. The analysis of the data revealed that most of the test items of the assessment tools were based on lower order thinking abilities and skills. The study could be beneficial for the improvement of assessment tools of English language for secondary classes of BISEs which, in turn, may lead to the improvement of the learning of the students and the education system at larg.
  • Item
    The role of social parameters in the choice of address forms used in kinship domain in punjab, pakistan
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) SAMRAH HIDAYAT
    This study examines the role of social parameters in the choice of address forms used in kinship domain in Punjab, Pakistan. The study targeted 140 respondents from four different regions that are Central, Northern, Southern and Western regions of Punjab, Pakistan. To reveal the association of different social factors in the choices of address forms in kinship domain, the impact of different social parameters like age, gender, social class, education, income and regional differences based on use of kinship terms are analyzed. In order to test and investigate the impact and influence of social factors along with the regional differences in the choices of address forms in kinship domain, statistical analyses is done by applying t-test for gender in relation to choices of address forms and ANOVA for age, income, education and social class. The study finds out that there is a strong connection of different social parameters not only with language use and practice but also in choices and use of address forms especially in kin terms. The other related finding is that gender and the participants belonging to young and middle categories show no significant difference with regard to the choices of address form despite the fact that all the factors and parameters exert influence on the choices of address forms. The present study is not only innovative but also helpful for future researchers to work more in this domain.
  • Item
    Oral skills development in group work dynamics
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Rizm-ul-Zafa
    This dissertation aims to explore how group work may be effectively utilized as part of the classroom dynamic to aid in developing oral English language skills. Specifically, we will look at one hundred under-privileged students studying English in the US funded English Access Microscholarship Program in Kasur District. In recent educational research, there has been great emphasis on the impact that group work can have on students' confidence, improving it to the point where they can exhibit their abilities without the interference or assistance of the teacher. The present exploratory study follows quasi-experimental methods to investigate the impact of group work on the speaking skills of these Access students over a period of three months. Research data has been collected through a pre-test and a post-test and two survey questionnaires designed for both the Access students and their English language teachers. We have adopted an objective approach to analyze and describe the data statistically. The major finding indicates that if group work is included in the classroom dynamic while teaching L2 speaking skills in PELT context, language teachers can raise the confidence and fluency of their students both in a classroom setting and social discourse. To conclude, if institutes and ELT experts put more emphasis on group formation in the classroom, students’ fluency in L2 can be considerably enhanced.
  • Item
    Animated cartoon movies
    (UMT Lahore, 2017) Zara Saleem
    In Pakistan English language learners face many difficulties while they pass through the process of learning another language. Especially it is very difficult for the children to keep in mind all the rules of language use at an early age. In order to facilitate language learning in particular story writing skills, this study aims to target students’/subjects’ creativity through inspirational and interesting animated cartoon movies. During the study the learners are given a free hand to formulate an expression devoid of reluctance towards learning the language and its rules. An experimental and purposive sampling technique was used to find out the effect of animated cartoon movies on students’ story writing skills. After making the female students of grade VIII of a semi-government school watch cartoon movies, a series of story writing tests including a pre and post-test was conducted to find out its effect on English language learning. These tests were assessed on four different criteria including the assessment of language, vocabulary use, organization, and narrative techniques. The results of these scoring rubrics consisted of five points which were shown through graphic and numeric presentations.