Linguistics and Literature Review

Effectiveness of Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (TELL) Tools for Phonics Instruction: Implications for Very Young Learners

Sadia Malik, Muhammad Imdadullah, Munaza Javed — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Phonics, as a teaching method, helps the learners to establish a connection between graphemes and phonemes. Moreover, it also improves their reading and pronunciation skills alongside spelling and vocabulary. In this context, the current study attempts to investigate the effectiveness of using technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) tools as a supplementary resource to teach systematic synthetic phonics to a government school's KG- Grade 1 learners. For this purpose, 60 Grade KG-1 primary-level learners were selected through one group pretest-posttest design. After conducting the pretest, learners were taught phonics skills, that is A-Z letter-sound correspondence, blending, and segmenting of CVC words through digital tools for 27 weeks. Afterwards, a posttest was administered. The statistical analysis of pretest and posttest revealed a significant improvement in learning all three aspects of phonics instruction as the dependent paired sample t-test affirmed rather significant results, that is, p = 0.000 for all three categories. Furthermore, the analysis of gender, age, and interest variables exhibited the TELL intervention's positive impact on all the participants. Hence, TELL tools are proposed as supplementary materials for phonics instruction in government schools of Pakistan at the primary level to help the learners and teachers.

An Acoustic Analysis of Vowel Nasalization in Pakistani English

Maryah Khalfan — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Nasalization is allophonic in English but phonemic in many Pakistani languages. This has contributed to different degrees of nasalization in Pakistani English (PakE) vowels in nasal context as compared to British English (BE) vowels. The current study aims to acoustically investigate vowel nasalization in PakE using the parameters of A1-P1 and spectral flattening in a sample of PakE speakers with six different L1s, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Baluchi, Shina, and Urdu, to show similarities and differences with BE. A higher degree of nasalization was observed in CVN and NVN contexts throughout PakE speakers, regardless of L1, as compared to BE sample where nasalization was altogether absent in NVC context. While BE speakers nasalize vowels regressively, PakE speakers nasalize regressively and progressively.

Analyzing Selected Poems of Elizabeth Bishop’s: A Bio-centric View of Eco-critic Attitude

Khaled Alkodimi — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The current study explored the biocentric view in the selected poems of Elizabeth Bishop, highlighting an ecocritical arena of her poems. Furthermore, this idea represented Bishop’s anti-anthropocentric perspective; while prevailing her biocentric view. The study deployed the content analysis methodology to analyze Bishop's biocentric attitude through her representation of animals, environment, natural phenomena, and the abiding relationship of all living things, including humans. In this sense, the study further showed that Bishop's oeuvre reveals a sense of environmental consciousness. Her poetry, particularly the selected poems, demonstrate a biocentric view of life that can be easily perceived in her subjective understanding of the nature and the creatures. This is obvious through her representation of natural phenomena such as seasonal cycles, weather, and physical and ecological elements including air, earth, and water that inculcates poet’s environmental consciousness. Hence, by examining the prevailing biocentric view of the poet through an examination of her poetic language, this study shows that the expected environmental imagination elucidates social responsibility for readers, to understand the ecopoetic relationship.

Context-Specific Variance in PakE Coronal Stop: An Investigative Study of Pakistani English Speakers

Nasir Abbas Syed, Shah Bibi, Sehrish Shafi — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The current study shows a new allophonic split in Pakistani English, challenging the widely accepted assumption that Pakistani English speakers produce /t/ as a retroflex [ʈ], claiming instead that they produce alveolar /t/ in [st] cluster. Speech sound utterances of 15 undergrad PakE students were recorded to test this hypothesis. The participants involved in the experiments had spent more than ten years mastering PakE. From the utterances of participants, VOT of coronal stops and F3 of the following vowels were obtained. The findings showed that PakE speakers produced English /t/ with a roughly 8–10 ms longer VOT in the words beginning with ‘st’ cluster. A significant F3 raising was also seen in the vowels after the coronal stops in ‘st’ clusters on word-initial margins. F3 raising is an indicator of the absence of retroflex gesture from the coronal stops. Based on these results, it is argued that a new allophonic split has emerged in the PakE, that is, it is produced as alveolar [t] in word-initial /st/ clusters but a retroflex [ʈ] elsewhere.

Historicising the Anatomy of the Ghost’s Passions and its Religious Identity in Hamlet

Naseer Ahmed — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In the early modern period, the appearance of ghosts carried both religious and pathological connotations in the wake of the twin movements of the Reformation and the Renaissance. According to this belief system, the supernatural was seen as a factor in creating an imbalance in bodily humours, including the black bile, thus resulting in a melancholic disposition. Based on contextual and historical data, this article historicises the religious and pathological identity of the Ghost in Hamlet, which reflects the early modern understanding of the supernatural. This study is separate from existing discussions that focus solely on the role of the Ghost in the play. However, the very nature of the Ghost, a great driving force behind the plot thrust, as understood by Shakespeare and his society, has been fairly neglected. This study, therefore, situates three distinctive aspects of the Ghost in early modern society, warranting attention in Shakespearean criticism. Firstly, the findings of this study underscore the nuanced religious persona of the ghost, encompassing both Protestant and Catholic perspectives, as understood in the early modern period. Secondly, its pathological and melancholic nature is discussed which finds its origins in the theory of humours. This aspect of the Ghost is strongly linked to creating an imbalance in Hamlet’s melancholic humour and driving events to their tragic end in the play. Thirdly, it examines Shakespeare’s exploration of the mind-body discourse through the Ghost’s interactions with the Prince, reflecting the intellectual currents of the seventeenth century. Moreover, as the Ghost belongs to the past, this fact connects the appearance of the Ghost with the idea of the history of the passions—a still-burgeoning field of study in the humanities.

Confluence of Text and Genre in Kincaid’s “Girl”: A Transitivity Analysis

Salma Naeem, Saba Zaidi — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This paper aims to explore “Girl” (1978), a short story by Jamaica Kincaid. Halliday’s theory of transitivity is applied to examine the alliance between text and genre, and how it helps reveal the ideological construction within a colonized society. The roles of the two women in the poem have been analyzed to identify the linguistic choices that play a significant role in emphasizing the character of women as suppressed individuals, symbolizing the British colonization of Antiguan society. The study concludes that Pakistani society, which also remained under British rule, shares similarities with Antiguan culture with regard to the control and suppression of women. Women are depicted as lacking freedom of thought, unable to raise their children appropriately and support others. The study, thus, highlights the issue concerning the status of women in Pakistani society and aims to advocate for change by accepting their rights and granting them freedom for an independent life.

Lexical Load in Class X English Textbooks: A Corpus-Based Comparative Analysis

Abdul Farooq Khan — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

English, in Pakistan, is taught since grade 1, yet the acquisition of receptive and productive skills in the English language by Pakistani language learners remains questionable. The lack of vocabulary is a major factor as vocabulary is crucial for communication. In Pakistan, textbooks are the only source of vocabulary exposure for students. Keeping in view the importance of textbooks, this corpus-based research was conducted to know and compare the lexical load of Class X textbooks that are developed, published and distributed in public schools by the four textbook boards. These textbooks were evaluated on the basis of three parameters, namely the frequency of types and tokens present in textbooks and type-token ratio, the percentage of GSL/AWL covered, and the levels of BNC-COCA 25 present. The coverage of GSL/AWL lists for GSL_2^nd_1000 and AWL750 was alarming. Most of the vocabulary present in these textbooks habituated first three levels of BNC-COCA 25 but rest of the levels had no or minor presentation. The results showed that these textbooks do not fulfill the needs of students as the amount of vocabulary included does not meet the internationally defined standards for vocabulary. Hence, vocabulary should be extended and distributed as per the standards.

Empowering EAP Learners: PBL as a Speaking and Listening Catalyst

Munawer Sultana, Mehwish Arif — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

English serves as a second language in Pakistan and is taught academically across all educational levels. Despite years of formal teaching-learning, English Language courses have become largely ineffective owing to language pedagogy that remains teacher-centric and lecture based. This research paper shares a study planned in this backdrop and attempted at introducing project-based learning method against conventional instructions to teach listening and speaking skills to the college students enrolled in compulsory English course. The study was completed with 200 first-year college students divided into experimental and control groups. Experimental group was taught the prescribed English curriculum using the project-based learning method that provided opportunities for practicing listening and speaking skills. The control group was taught using the existing conventional English pedagogy. The pre-test and post-test quasi experimental research designs were employed for this longitudinal study. Quant-Qual analyses of the data revealed project-based learning method to be a better instructional technique in developing listening and speaking skills.