UCP Journal of Languages and Literature is HEC recognized (Y-Category) research journal. UCP Journal of Languages and Literature is a peer-reviewed research journal published by the Faculty of Languages and Literature, University of Central Punjab (UCP), Lahore, Pakistan. It is published bi-annually and aims at investigating and bringing forth innovative research-based concepts and practices at national and international levels, and promotes scholarly research in the domains of Language, Literature, and Linguistics. ISSN Numbers: 3005-6594 (Online), 3005-6586 (Print)
‘Allah’ in Early Modern England: An Analysis of the Occurrences of the Word in Early English Books Online
Since the publication of Nabil Matar’s Islam in Britain 1558-1685 in 1998, much scholarly effort has been devoted to the study of representation of Islam in early modern English writings. The major focus of such studies has been drama and travel writing. Because of this, our understanding has much advanced concerning approaches to Islam in the period. In the recent years, scholars have paid attention to the early modern works dealing with the Prophet Muhammad and the Holy Qur’an in England and have demonstrated the early modern ways of engaging with the figure of the Prophet and the Holy Qur’an. There is, however, a need to look at more deeply at early modern English texts and analyse the content for some fundamental terms and beliefs of Islam. Therefore, this paper looks at the occurrences of word ‘Allah’ and its context in early modern English works that are included in EEBO. The paper highlights the depth of our understanding concerning the conception of Muslim ‘God’ in early modern England.
Allah, Early Modern England, Early English Books Online (EEBO), Representation of Islam
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Migration and Terrorism in Mohsin Hamid's Exit West
This article critically analyzes Mohsin Hamid's Exit West (2017) from the perspective of terrorism as the primary catalyst for contemporary crises including forced migration, identity fragmentation, and refugee displacement. In the post-9/11 literary landscape, terrorism and migration have emerged as interconnected phenomena demanding scholarly attention, particularly within postcolonial studies. Through close textual analysis of Hamid's novel, this study examines how terrorism engenders various forms of displacement, physical, psychological, economic, and environmental. The research draws upon theoretical frameworks from Hannah Arendt, Edward Said, Soren Frank, and Salman Rushdie to interpret the primary text. This article argues that Hamid's portrayal of protagonists Saeed and Nadia provides a site for analysis that deals with the multifaceted nature of forced migration in the age of global terrorism, revealing how terror fundamentally transforms human identity, belonging, and survival strategies in the contemporary world.
Terrorism, Migration, Postcolonial Literature, Identity, Displacement.
Half Motherhood and Beyond: Trauma, Schizophrenia and Resistance in Shahnaz Bashir's The Half Mother
This research paper explores the re-conceptualization and revision of the idea of motherhood in The Half Mother by Shahnaz Bashir (2014). The protagonist, Haleema, is the embodiment of thousands of Kashmiri mothers of the 1990s torn between political violence, personal loss, and social desertion. Her cheating husband abandons her when she is pregnant; she finds shelter with her father Ghulam Rasool Joo and there she gives birth to her only son, Imran. Her future history is marked by traumatic events, first of all the cruel killing of her father by Indian soldiers, and then the kidnapping of her adolescent son by the same forces. The title of the novel is an indication of her fragmented identity as a ‘half mother’ who is in a constant state of limbo concerning the fate of her son. The mental consequences of the long-term trauma and solitude are shown when she slowly falls apart emotionally, and eventually develops schizophrenia. Her psychosis is an expression of the highly personal price of an unresolved loss and the wider phenomenon of the collective silencing of women in conflict zones. This research study applies the psychoanalytic theory of schizophrenia formulated by Fromm-Reichmann (1959) to analyze the factors that lead to the decline in the mental state of Haleema. Furthermore, it adds to the debate about women in conflict literature by showing how the novel by Bashir reinvents maternal identity as both vulnerable and protesting. Therefore, by placing the experience of Haleema into this theoretical context, this study investigates into the overlaps of motherhood, trauma and mental illness whilst pre-empting the resistance of Kashmiri women to systemic violence.
Acoustic Analysis of English Lexical Stress in The Disyllabic Nouns and Verbs of Pashto-Speaking EFL Learners
Research literature of acoustic studies indicates that non-native speakers of English face difficulty in producing and perceiving English lexical stress contrasts due to certain factors. This study investigates how Pashto-speaking English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners produce lexical stress in English disyllabic nouns and verbs. It focuses on two key acoustic features of stress: duration and intensity. Ten pairs of disyllabic words, presented in context sentences, served as stimuli for data collection. A total of 720 tokens were created from 120 sound samples of the six Pashto-speaking EFL learners, and interactive labeling through FormantPro.praat, descriptive statistics, and One-Sample t-Test were used to analyze data. Results reveal that Pashto-speaking EFL learners tend to lengthen the second syllable and increase the intensity of the first syllable in both nouns and verbs. This pattern deviates from native English stress patterns, suggesting difficulty in acquiring and producing the correct acoustic features. Specifically, the findings indicate that these learners struggle with marking stress shifts that differentiate stressed syllables from unstressed ones in noun-verb pairs. This highlights the need for language teaching and curriculum development tailored to address the specific challenges faced by Pashto-speaking EFL learners and other multilingual communities in Pakistan.
Acoustics, lexical stress, English, Pashto, EFL learners
Implementation of Pakistan’s Language Policy and Marginalization of Sindhi: Teachers’ Experiences at a Private School in Sukkur, Sindh
Language Policy (LP) plays an extremely crucial role in language management in multilingual contexts. While promoting one language, an LP may disregard or marginalize other (native) languages, creating serious political rifts among communities on linguistic grounds. Given the over-emphasis of LP on English and implicit marginalization of Sindhi, this study investigates the experiences of Sindhi language teachers regarding the implementation of Pakistan’s LP and how Pakistan’s LP affects the teaching and learning practices of Sindhi language at a private school in Sukkur, Sindh, Pakistan. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews from five purposively selected research participants. Thematic analysis of the data was conducted. It was found that teachers believe that Pakistan’s national language policy tends to marginalize regional languages, particularly Sindhi, while promoting Urdu and English as dominant mediums of instruction. The findings also reveal that English is prioritized as the primary language of instruction in schools, followed by Urdu, whereas Sindhi is often sidelined despite its official and cultural status in the province. This paper argues that such marginalization reflects broader socio-political dynamics that favor linguistic capital over cultural heritage. Recommendations are made to ensure a more inclusive language policy that respects the multilingual fabric of Pakistan.
Language policy, regional languages, Sindhi, Pakistan, multilingual education
Comparative Syntactic Analysis of Subject-Verb Agreement in Urdu and English Language
Syntax deals with the combination of words and phrases to construct a sentence. It has been observed that syntax is the core component of linguistics. A significant number of studies are available on syntactic analysis but limited research is available on comparative syntactic analysis of subject-verb agreement. Therefore, applying a qualitative comparative approach by collecting secondary data, the current study aims to explore the comparative syntactic analysis of subject-verb agreement in Urdu and English. The study highlighted that Urdu is more complex and has an inflectional structure of subject-verb agreement as compared to English which has a simpler and more analytic structure. This study contributes to the understanding of the challenges faced by Urdu speakers in learning the English language. A number of practical insights are also prescribed for improving ESL pedagogy.
Comparative Syntactic Analysis, English Language, Subject-Verb Agreement, Syntax, Urdu Language.
Unknowable Futures and Posthuman Consciousness in Anton Chekhov’s The Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard
This research study tends to explore how Chekhov’s plays, The Three Sisters (2012) and The Cherry Orchard (2006) deal with the idea of posthumanism, challenging our traditional understanding of what it means to be human. The characters in these two plays are in constant fear of what the future holds for them. The characters in these plays are unable to grasp evolution, progress, and the crucial role of nature and environment in shaping their life experiences. According to humanism what distinguishes human beings from machines, animals and other non-human entities is that human beings occupy a natural space, they are exceptional, central and essential to the world. Posthumanism disagrees with this notion and challenges man’s authority as the privileged being in the world. Althusser in For Marx (2005) claims that the central status of man is reduced to ‘ashes’ (p. 229). Posthumanists argue that the human being of the twenty first century is no different from animals, machines and other non-human entities. This research study highlights that the rise in capitalism, technology, advancement and science has turned human beings into mere machines struggling for a future that overshadows and ruins their present. The constant fear of an unpredictable future gives birth to existentialist crisis and makes the lives of the characters in the play intolerable, lonesome and miserable. Furthermore, this study argues that human beings are not the only significant beings in the world and the future is unpredictable, hence, cannot be controlled.
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Decolonial Feminism and Coalition-Building: The Voices of Household Maids in Rukhsana Ahmad's “A Day of Nuggo”
This paper examines the literary representation of Christian household maids in Rukhsana Ahmad’s A Day for Nuggo, shedding light on their struggles and acts of defiance within a deeply stratified society. Drawing on Maria Lugones’ theoretical concepts of “coloniality of gender”, “coalition-building”, and Mafile’o et al.’s concept of “We Story,” the study highlights pervasive inequities these women face both as household maids and as members of a marginalized community. It critiques the societal tendency to dehumanize or exalt them as superhumans based on their labor. The study uncovers different forms of resistance, such as “coalition-building”, by this marginalized group to challenge oppressive constructs and imposed inferiority. By highlighting the importance of including the narratives of such communities in the scholarships of decoloniality and feminism, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of social issues by centering the marginal groups to such research and literary representations and mildly critiques the unconscious oblivion of Pakistani literary writers to focus on these much-neglected representations.
coalition building, coloniality of gender, Christian community, household maids.
The Relationship Between Performativity of Masculinity and Tragedy in Ibsen’s Selected Plays
This research aims at examining the performativity of masculinity in Ibsen’s plays: A Doll’s House (1879) and Hedda Gabler (1891), with its relation to the tragic fate of men. The textual analysis method along with the theoretical framework of masculinity has been used to conduct this research. Raewyn Connell’s Masculinities (1993) and Judith Butler’s Performative Acts and Gender Constitution (1988) serve as secondary texts. The main focus of the research is the male characters: Torvlad Helmer of A Doll’s House and Jörgen Tesman of Hedda Gabler. By critically analyzing the texts of the plays, this study contends that the male figures of the selected plays are capable of being regarded as the tragic heroes, who meet their tragic ends in an attempt to perform masculinity. Moreover, it is demonstrated that hegemonic masculine culture, whether it is authoritarian masculinity of Torvald or feminine masculinity of Tesman, brings catastrophe not only upon male figures but their partners as well. Hence, Torvald’s tragedy lies in his adherence to the society’s patriarchal code of conduct and Tesman’s tragic flaw is his failure to meet society’s expectations of masculine performativity.
A Comparative Study of Right Collocates of Tiny, Small, and Minute in British National Corpus
The meaning of a word can be established, in part, by looking at the words frequently collocating with it. The present study establishes and compares the various senses and meanings of three apparently synonymous adjectives - tiny, small, and minute - by examining their immediate right collocates. The study draws upon the British National Corpus (BNC), comprising 100 million words. The corpus was accessed through English-corpora.org. The results reveal that the three selected adjectives differ not only in their frequencies and register distribution but also in their sense and meaning. Out of the three adjectives, small is most frequently used in the BNC. Moreover, the positive forms of all three adjectives are most commonly used in the BNC as compared to their comparative and superlative forms. As regards the meaning, although there are some similarities, each of the three adjectives conveys certain sense(s) which are not shared by the others. The study conclude that the three selected adjectives are not strict synonyms and cannot be used interchangeably in all contexts. The findings of this corpus-based investigation were also compared with the definitions and illustrations of the three selected adjectives in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2010). The results of the present study have implications for lexicography and English language teaching.
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The purpose of the present study was to analyze gemination in Pashto. For this purpose, first, data was collected generally from elder native speakers who speak the Yousafzai dialect. The collected data then was verified and discussed several times with elders and experts. Later on, a list of five words was generated and presented to native speakers in Pashto script with English translation. The data was recorded using Zoom H5 and analyzed with the help of Praat. During the acoustic analysis, the data was segmented and found that geminated segments carry twice duration in comparison to their singleton segments. The results revealed that the word /χkar/ means ‘horn’ and it has a voiceless velar /k/ that has 13ms, and the same sound has 22ms in the word /ra:χkkal/. The later carries the feature of gemination. Similarly, the words ‘sammla’ and ‘mla’ were recorded and acoustically analyzed. The results showed that the segment /m/ has 8ms in /mla/ and 15ms in /sammla/ that has got twice duration in later. Furthermore, among phonemes, the most frequently occurring phonemes carrying gemination are nasal, dental, alveolar, and velar.
Visual Communication in Advertisement: A Social Semiotic Analysis of Selected Billboards in Awka Metropolis
This paper examines the use of visual communication in advertising, specifically focusing on the social semiotics analysis of selected billboards in Awka metropolis. The research explores how billboards use visual signs and symbols to convey meaning, and how these meanings are interpreted by the target audience. The study adopts a qualitative research design, using content analysis and social semiotics and multimodality as frameworks for data analysis. The finding of the research contributes to our understanding of the role of visual communication in advertising and provides insights into the effectiveness of billboards as a medium of advertising in the Awka metropolis. The study also has practical implications for advertisers, on how to use visual communication effectively on billboards to reach the target audience.
Analyzing Post-Traumatic Transformation in Tara Westover’s Educated through Transitivity Analysis
This study aims to study the role of transitivity processes in Tara Westover’s memoir, Educated to explore the post-traumatic transformation of the female protagonist who experiences various traumas and distress. This paper utilizes Halliday’s transitivity analysis and Richard Tedeschi’s post-traumatic growth as its analytical and theoretical framework respectively. The analysis explores post-traumatic transformation in the life of the female protagonist Tara. A total of 284 clauses are extracted from the text Educated. All the extracted clauses are categorized into processes and participants etc. to conduct an in-depth analysis of the depiction of the post-traumatic transformation of the protagonist. The study reveals that the material process is the dominant process counted as 137; the verbal process is 63; the mental process is 43; and the behavioral process is 41. It is evident from the findings that the material processes of Tara’s journey from victim to empowered woman reflect a linguistic and psychological shift. Furthermore, the mental processes demonstrate Tara’s belief in her strength and the support of her brother; the behavioral processes reflect Tara’s physical and emotional transformation; and verbal processes indicate Tara’s ability to express herself and engage and connect with others after experiencing different distressing situations thus uncovering her resilience and growth. So, the writer's use of material and other transitivity processes in her text unveils the post-traumatic transformation of the protagonist Tara. This study draws attention to understanding the function of language by creating meaning in the text, hence, signifies the importance of transitivity analysis.
Relationship of Vocabulary Knowledge with Reading Comprehension of Undergraduate Level Pakistani EFL Learners in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Vocabulary knowledge plays an important role in successful reading comprehension. This study aimed at exploring the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension gains of undergraduate level Pakistani EFL learners in the selected public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In addition, the study also investigated the strength of association between their vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension gains. The sample of the study consisted of 300 undergraduate students, selected from six public sector universities. Pearson’s Correlation, ANOVA, and descriptive statistics were run to analyze data. Results revealed statistically significant correlation between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension skills of these learners. The strength of association was found to be medium or typical according to Cohen’s (1988) guidelines. Results also revealed statistically significant difference in the reading comprehension skills between male and female participants. Both these groups do not differ on vocabulary knowledge. Findings of this study provided important insights and empirical evidence about Pakistani L2 learners’ vocabulary knowledge and its role in their reading comprehension abilities. Findings of the study have important implication for developing effective materials and pedagogies for L2/EFL learners in Pakistan.
Grammar Instruction through Task-Based Language Teaching: Pakistani EFL Teachers’ Cognitions and Practices
The research and implementation of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) in Pakistan remain relatively unexplored, with the approach neither explicitly favoured nor rejected by language teachers and institutions. To gain insights into teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, and pedagogical practices regarding TBLT, this study investigates the cognitions and practices of English language teachers in grammar instruction through TBLT at the undergraduate level in Pakistani universities. A qualitative research approach was adopted, involving 20 English language teachers from five public and private universities in Lahore, Pakistan. Data were collected through classroom observations, interviews, and stimulus recall discussions. The results indicate that while most teachers claimed familiarity with TBLT—primarily based on conceptual understanding rather than formal training—a smaller subset of teachers (n=6) with English literature background exhibited limited comprehension of the approach. Despite this, the majority expressed support for integrating TBLT into Pakistani English language classrooms, albeit with an awareness of contextual challenges. Many participants perceived TBLT as a meaning-focused approach, potentially unsuitable for explicit grammar instruction. Moreover, a significant discrepancy was noted between teachers’ stated beliefs and their observed classroom practices, with only two teachers demonstrating partial implementation of TBLT. The findings highlight a prevailing ambiguity among teachers regarding TBLT. Based on these insights, the study recommends comprehensive teacher training to facilitate the effective integration of TBLT in Pakistan.
The Chinese ‘Gold Mountain’: the Chinese Immigrants’ Experience in the West in Kingston’s The Woman Warrior and Tan’s The Joy Luck Club
The aim of this paper is to highlight the way the Chinese people perceive the West: the region of liberty and the land of opportunity. This study will be conducted in the light of Chinese American writer, Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior. The paper proposes that the Chinese immigrants are no more in need of “Anglo- conformity” in modern America (Kymlicka 14). The extent of space, America gives to her immigrants, is making this State of America “gold mountain” for those who find themselves “slaves” in their indigenous land (Kingston 1- 11). Furthermore, this paper will bring forth the circumstances, under which these Chinese immigrants see America as a place giving space to individuals, to discover their identity in the adopted land through “dialogue with others” (Bakhtin 116; Taylor 34). The nature of socio- cultural gap between these Chinese and their indigenous land-living, leading to fascination for America, is also a prime focus of this paper. Thus, presenting forth America as a tract of diversity, this paper will place the Chinese people as observers in the West. Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club will be used as secondary text. For an in-depth analysis, theoretical frame work comprising Will Kymalick’s Multicultural Citizenship and Bakhtin’s ‘dialogism’ will be applied to approach the literary texts.
A Comparative Study on Gender Identity Construction in Item Songs of Lollywood and Bollywood
Songs have the ability to construct and reinforce gender identity when they are exposed to young audiences. It conveys these identities to the adolescents in such a way that they adapt them unconsciously. Past studies have analyzed Lollywood and Bollywood songs separately but did not compare them. The purpose of this study was to find the role of Lollywood and Bollywood, in particular, their item songs, in gender identity construction. Furthermore, the study compared the representations of men and women in Bollywood and Lollywood songs, which gives insight to the embedded similarities among them. The data analysis involved the thematic analysis of 10 item songs from both the music industries i.e., Lollywood and Bollywood, selected through the purposive sampling technique. The analysis was conducted according to Clarke and Braun’s (2017) method of thematic analysis. The results disclosed several elements of sexist language in the selected item songs. The major themes found in the data were misogyny, magnification of one-sided love, biasness towards men and women, and stereotypical description of men and women. The findings of this research may help scholars to comprehend different types of sexist element constructing gender and make suggestions to remove this component from the entertainment media.
Psychosocial Dimensions of Migration in Ndubuisi George's Woes of Ikenga
Studies have shown that the relationship between psychology and literature experiences is intricate and multi-dimensional, encompassing the emotional, cognitive, and social aspects of an individual's life. In this way, a number of researchers have applied the concept of psychology in the analysis of literary texts. In view of the above, this paper provides a psychosocial analysis of migration as depicted in Ndubuisi George's Woes of Ikenga. By examining the protagonist's psychological and social struggles, the study elucidates the complexities of identity formation, cultural dislocation, and the pursuit of belonging within the Nigerian diaspora. The study adopts a qualitative research design. Utilising Erikson's Psychosocial Theory of Development, the research explores themes of alienation, resilience, and cultural conflict, and how these themes manifest in the experiences of Nigerian migrants. Through a detailed literary analysis, the paper highlights the psychological, emotional and social dynamics of migration, offering insights into the broader implications of diasporic life. This study positions Woes of Ikenga as a critical text for understanding the psychosocial impacts of migration, contributing to the discourse on migration literature and the lived realities of the Nigerian diasporic experiences. Findings from the study offers valuable insights into the psychosocial dynamics of the Nigerian diaspora and underscores the profound impact of migration on identity, relationships, and personal growth. Also, the study enhances our understanding of how migrants navigate the challenges of cultural dislocation and social integration, highlighting the critical role of resilience and support systems in their psychosocial development.
A Quest for Balance: Reconciling the Apollonian and Dionysiac Poles in Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
This research article examines Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance using Nietzsche's theory of Apollonian and Dionysiac impulses as a framework. It sees the motorcycle journey in the novel as an Apollonian quest for balance and harmony in the tumultuous world of 1960s America. Apollo represented rationality, clarity, and order while Dionysus symbolized irrationality, ecstasy, and chaos. This tension between order and chaos fuels the evolution of the narrator’s consciousness through the motorcycle journey to unity and a holistic understanding of life. Applying Nietzsche’s dichotomy between Apollonian and Dionysiac, this article studies the novel as a quest for balance between order and chaos, reason and emotion. The study investigates the conflict between the character of the narrator and his alter ego, Phaedrus, as a reason for the quest for Apollonian harmony and understanding. Moreover, it examines Phaedrus’s trajectory from madness to reconciliation and the role of Chris in facilitating the narrator’s reconciliation with Phaedrus through memories and flashbacks. The methodology involves close reading and textual analysis of the novel’s quest narrative by the character of the narrator throughout the motorcycle journey. The approach elaborates on the natural imagery of plains, mountains, and oceans, which is symbolic and parallels the novel's plot. The approach analyses the author's perspective on the conflict between the counter-culture and the mainstream culture. The narrator's first-person narrative is examined for the quest narrative technique of the novel, which pursues balance and harmony. The study also highlights Pirsig’s criticism of Western culture and the modern human condition. Hence, the study seeks the reconciliation of Apollonian and Dionysian impulses within the narrative, offering insights into the human condition and Pirsig’s recommendation for the pursuit of Apollonian understanding. The research contributes to the understanding of modern humanity's pursuit of balance and harmony in the twenty-first century.
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Entrapment of Dualistic Binaries in William Golding’s Lord of The Flies
This essay analyzes how William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies creates the dualistic binary of culture versus nature and women versus men. I draw upon Marti Kheel, Val Plumwood and Sherry B. Ortner’s studies to examine how the novel reinforces the problematic dualistic binary of culture versus nature and men versus women. Through qualitative analysis of textual references, this essay discovered that selected fiction by situating masculine characters in dominant position and by placing feminine characters in an oppressed state, establishes the dominance over culture over nature and men over women. In addition, this essay uncovered how the novel by using feminine metaphors associates nature with women and culture with men and reaffirms the subjugation of nature and women in the hands of culture and men. This essay helps in identifying the crucial role of literature in constructing and maintaining the structures of domination leading to inequality in society.
Pragma-Rhetoric Analysis of Political Discourse: A Case of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s Victory Speech
Political discourse (PD) plays a significant role in disseminating political ideologies. Previous studies mainly examined PD from a critical discourse perspective ignoring the significant contribution of the pragma-rhetorical approach that provides systematic tools for multi-level analysis of discursive contextualization of political power struggle and confrontation. The current study investigates the use of different speech acts and modes of rhetoric used by Pakistan’s PM Shahbaz Sharif in his victory speech, for effective persuasion, and to detect communicative and persuasive intentions. In the current study, qualitative data analysis is conducted through thematic analysis by utilizing Searle’s (1969) speech acts theory, Lucas’s (2009) persuasive appeals, McQuarrie’s and Mick’s (1996) rhetorical devices as theoretical frameworks. The findings reveal that the representatives were the most frequently used speech acts, in contrast, the least frequently used speech acts were expressive. Moreover, the frequency of persuasive intention was 59% which is higher than the communicative intentions that showed the speaker was inclined to persuade his audience by asserting facts and making promises.
A Study of Karen Horney’s Neurotic Crisis in Nadeem Aslam’s The Golden Legend (2017)
This research paper tends to explore the anxiety caused by the absence of love and affection, which generates complexes in the personality of the sufferers. The Golden Legend by Nadeem Aslam is a satisfactory illustration of the neurotic crisis, presented by Karen Horney. This paper highlights the calamity of “basic anxiety” (Horney) caused by interpersonal and mutual relationships. It leads a person to develop the yearning for compliance, withdrawal or aggression (Horney), as all the characters in the novel develop their personality with the urging desire for stability, while the trauma is instilled in their minds by the dominant societal factors. It is an exorbitant novel about the mental trauma executed on the minds of the margins of society by the intolerant and aggressive attitude of the majority class. This novel revolves around the character of Nargis, who after her husband's death is in search of stability and tries to find solace in the people around her but the society and norms cause neurosis in her personality. The neurosis disturbs the basic health and energy of the mind, which leads to the alienation process. The same crisis is with the other characters of the novel, as Imran, Helen, Lily and Ayesha are going through the same struggle to fit in society but the strict beliefs do not allow them to have their basic right of love and affection. This deprivation creates mental illness, which develops the traumatic situation. This paper views the novel through the character’s yearning for company, love and kindness. The gap is created in the formation of healthy relationships due to fixed societal prejudice and anger against the marginalized class, causing evil in the society "Basic Evil' (Horney). This gap widens when these people start hiding themselves under the veil of aggressive and compliant attitude. So this paper analyses the fear in the hearts of the people due to societal build boundaries.
Foucault's Power Knowledge Discourse and Panoptical Strands in the Construction of Psyche and Decoloniality in Light in August
This research paper intends to explore the revolting resistance by the blacks and the problematic domains of reconstructionist movements and white ostracism under the dominant ideology of white supremacists. The black existential crisis and search for identity has led a creation of 'black burden' through the ironic conception of the white man's burden. The American literature is engulfed with the dominant thematic concerns of racial traumas, identity crisis and white superior regimes under their colonial matrix of power. Contrarily to this notion, Light in August represents a revolutionary rebellion and violent case of resistance against the privileged ideologies in Mississippi through the protagonist Joe Christmas. Significantly, the selected text, Light in August is a unique masterpiece as it introduces the notion of black Xenophobia against whites who are already labelled with their white xenophobic concepts. In this regard, this paper utilizes the theoretical framework of power, knowledge and panoptic theory represented by Michel Foucault. It highlights that both white power produces their knowledge and discourse upon blacks to make them feel, inferior and subjugated under the dominance of their white color who keep an eye on the negroes. The paper brings into account sadomasochism and psychoanalytical neurotic stratifications in the blacks through Foucault's perspectives. Besides the exploration of black racial resistance, the paper puts forth the issue of white religious fanaticism in context of white ostracism in order to call for the decolonial agenda as its fundamental motif. Thus, this research paper provides some solving strategies to the questions regarding the methodologies of black resistance and white ostracism.
An Estimation of Test-Retest Reliability of the Verbal Section of Entrance Test for M.Phil at the University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffarabad
This study examines the consistency of test scores as a gauge of test takers' performance on the verbal section of two editions (administrations) of the MPhil entrance exam at the University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The objective was to find out the extent to which test takers performed similarly in the two administrations of the same test. For this purpose, the verbal section of University Graduate Aptitude Test (UGAT) was administered to thirty students twice with an interval of eighteen days. The results indicate that students' overall performance on the test was constant between the two administrations. However, on each of the five activities in the verbal portion of the test, students' performance was less consistent as compared to their performance in the overall test. The results have important implications for future research and pedagogy.
A Corpus-Based Linguistic Analysis of the Menus in Lahore's Elite Cafes and Restaurants
Food makes a strong connection between a person and his culture. However, the culture is greatly influenced by the language, and a person can be easily identified by his food choices. Food is also a source of globalization, for example, we can easily find Chinese, Japanese, and Italian cuisines in Pakistan. The elite cafes and restaurants in Pakistan are offering menus with unique languages that do not represent our culture and social norms. One cannot find Pakistani cuisine with its traditional name on the menus of elite cafes and restaurants. They are under the influence of cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism is the attempt to dominate another culture in our own traditions and values. This resulting cultural homogenization affects the lifestyle of people too. The menu writers are using international languages and cuisines to attract consumers. The names of the dishes and beverages are so weird and bizarre that a person can’t get an idea of what the actual dish is without reading the description of the food item. The research aims to study the menu cards of fifty-five (55) elite-class restaurants and cafes in Lahore, Pakistan. Using purposive sampling in this corpus-study, we have analysed 200 names of different dishes and beverages from these upper-class eateries. The study clearly reveals that Pakistani cuisine and its traditional names are subservient to the international cuisine in Pakistan. This is a major threat to Pakistani food culture and lifestyle that needs to be taken into consideration by the restaurant owner and menu writers. They need to dwindle the availability of international cuisine more than our Pakistani food and the use of international language in naming their food items. The results of this research are an eye-opener for the protectors of Pakistani food culture.
Postmodern Plurality in Terrell's The Personal Librarian
The current research is motivated by the need to examine and bring to light the postmodern phenomena of Subversion of Metanarratives in Terrell’s The Personal Librarian. This research study seeks to achieve insight into the overarching narratives in the story, and the process of disrupting those ideas to assert mininarratives. To achieve this objective, the Theory of Mininarratives introduced by Jean Francois Lyotard in his book The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (1979) is employed. Through an in-depth theoretical analysis, it is found that Terrell’s text exhibits varying grand narratives such as Subjugation of women, Art for Art’s sake as well as the metanarratives of Family and Relationship, which are overthrown by postmodern characters. This research study does not concern itself with other aspects such as Hyperreality, Identity Crisis, Historiographic metafiction and Diaspora. Future researchers can study these features in Terrell’s novel. The research has significance as it expands on prior research that was carried out using postmodern views. Furthermore, it enhances the understanding of postmodern theory, and of the novel's status as a postmodern work of literature.
Abdul Ghani Khan’s Pushto Poetry: Evaluation of Themes and Implications for Cross-Linguistic Literary Studies
Abdul Ghani Khan is a revered poet of Pashto, but he is widely unknown to both Pashto and non-Pashto readers in Pakistan. This study is an attempt to introduce Ghani Khan as a poet to Pashto and non-Pashto readers both nationally and internationally. For presenting Ghani Khan's themes and unique style, descriptive qualitative approach was adopted. Five poems were selected purposively from his English translated collection “The Pilgrim of Beauty” and were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's six phases of thematic analysis. The phases included familiarizing with the data, code generation, identifying initial themes, and refining the initial themes, as well as defining the final themes. As a result, 12 "latent themes" were identified and discussed which included love and beauty as blessings, mortality/beauty and immortality/love, love: affliction vs remedy, big questions: absolute truth, sacrifice, escapism, misery, honor, past-glory, rejuvenation, self-realization, and Panther. The study ends with a storyline that was developed to integrate the themes and stylistic individuality of Ghani Khan. The study has implications for the cross-cultural study of literary genres and for applications in Literature classrooms in Pakistani universities.
Introducing Discourse-Based English Teaching in Pakistan: The Systemic-Functional Grammar and Visual Grammar Perspectives
In Pakistan, English is taught as a second language at all tiers of education. But the goal of a desirable discourse competence has never been attained despite several attempts to overhaul syllabus and material development process. The purpose of this reflective paper is to explore an approach to English that will invigorate the efforts being made to develop discourse competence of Pakistani learners. Communication is developed through communication and a concrete model of communication was offered by Halliday in form of his Systemic-Functional grammar. The model has successfully been employed in Australia, Asia, Europe, and even USA. As communication is rapidly shifting to multi-modal means, Visual Grammar is also worthwhile in suggesting the way out to deal with new communicative challenges faced by Pakistani learners of English. To achieve this purpose, an overview of the notion of discourse, main developments in the field of discourse, models of integration of discourse studies with English Education, possibilities and challenges in implementing discourse oriented practices in English learning in Pakistan were discussed with a critical and professional lens. The reflection on the purposefully selected literature reveals that a shift to the discourse paradigm is inevitable for developing discourse competence of the learners. The deliberations in the paper conclude with suggestions for planning and implementation of discourse based English teaching in Pakistan.
Transitivity Analysis of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of United Nations (UN)
This study develops on the concept of Ecolinguistics addressing the issues of environment and human beings and their interactional impact through language. The Systemic Functional Linguistic (Halliday, 1994) approach has been applied to inquire about the transitivity aspects in the language used in documenting the history of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Any phenomenon investigated from the standpoint of what it means – everything is considered as a piece of information. The view is that language is actively creating reality by shaping involvement and transforming our perceptions into significances. With the help of transitivity involving six processes, participants, and circumstances. The analysis of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), documented in the Column called "History", shall be conducted to examine the ecological perspective as employed in their goals’ target achievement, considering the intricate relationship between language,
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The Role of Cartoons, Nursery Rhymes, and Adult-Child Conversations in Cultivating Multilingual Proficiency in Children: A Perspective from Pakistan
The researcher opted to utilize cartoons and nursery rhymes as the focal point of this study. The theoretical framework employed includes Vivian Cook's theory of Universal Grammar (UG) support in Second Language Acquisition (SLA), as well as his Multi-Competence model, alongside Rod Ellis's model concerning the role of input in second language (L2) learning. The primary objective was to ascertain the influence of cartoons and nursery rhymes on the L2 acquisition of children. Employing a qualitative research approach, the researcher employed interview guides and conducted in-depth interviews to gather rich and detailed insights. The qualitative data collected was subsequently quantified and subjected to descriptive statistical analysis. Convenient sampling was utilized to select a group of 11 mothers of 5-year-old children residing in Nawab Town, Lahore, who participated in the study. As young children might not possess the capacity to provide extensive self-information, the mothers were interviewed to gain comprehensive information through their perspectives. The findings of the study indicate that cartoons and nursery rhymes indeed play a significant role in facilitating children's acquisition of their second language. These media also contribute to the assimilation of L2 culture, intertwined with the L2 learning process. Furthermore, the study reveals that exposure to cartoons and nursery rhymes can influence children's behavior, yielding both positive and negative impacts. The extent of these impacts is contingent upon the parenting style of the children's caregivers, whether they adopt a lenient or strict approach in handling their children's affairs.