Dr. Vipin Sharma

Teaching and learning have changed tremendously from traditional teaching to teaching integrating social media (SM) because of immense educational technological advancements and pedagogical innovation. Teachers, thus far, use conventional teaching as a seasoning tool and meet adaptability issues to the new learning environment. In this paper, we define SM, its related aspects, the vitality of social media networks (SMN), and how SM facilitates teaching and learning in tertiary education. It also contends with the benefits of their integration into pedagogy by teachers and students and answers a few fundamental questions on integrating SMN in teaching and learning. Accordingly, a few challenges do appear at different stages that scare us to reflect on SM as a distractor to pedagogy. To integrate and identify challenges in learning and teaching, we claim that a curriculum should be designed incorporating SMN as catalysts and managed as a learning community. The resources needed to operate SMN are also illustrated for both stakeholders to utilize and work together to collaborate for the learnercentered approach to teaching where learners use SMN to share, discuss course materials, post their assignments, get feedback, and interact beyond time, place, and location without any restrictions.

The study investigates teachers’ perceptions of the use of online language assessment (OLA) using technology and examines the scope of using online applications to validate the mode of assessment. It looks for EFL teachers’ opinions of OLA to comprehend the many worries associated with the issues and improve the online assessment tools. The researchers included the teachers who taught and assessed their students online using the Blackboard application at Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. The study was descriptive, using an online survey for data collection. Participants were from different colleges and nationalities teaching English to students enrolled in the preparatory course. Descriptive analysis of the open-ended questionnaire and interview data illustrated the salient features of the online assessment were instant feedback, randomized question order, statistical description of the exam, and immediate scores on exam completion. Teachers reported the effectiveness of the online as...

The current study provides a broad overview of intercultural interaction in virtual reality (VR) settings made feasible by technology innovations, cultural components, and the usage of literary texts. The extensive usage of technology and social media by Generation Z molds their individuality and creates a new cultural realm. This study intends to analyze intercultural communication and language use in virtual spaces. It examines how the literary-based-cyber-culture influences, especially Generation Z. Additionally, the study delineates social media and literary texts usage to develop intercultural communication and how the students’ engagement in VR or digital space shapes their perceptions, attitudes, behavior, identities, and culture. A qualitative descriptive technique as a methodological instrument is used to collect information to compare it to other approaches and conceptualize it from the standpoints of different EFL learners. The pedagogical potential of using literary text...

The paper examines ‘The Scarlet Letter’ to determine whether Hawthorne critiques Puritan society’s stringent regulations or supports it in its genuine sense. The article first determines whether Hawthorne agrees with the Puritan concept of sin by examining his perspective on sin. We examined varied past studies using survey method to carry out a descriptive analysis of the author’s justification for Hester’s belief that she is a sinner for the Puritans. Moreover, Hawthorne psychologically analyzes the struggle that exists in the thoughts of the characters as sinners that provokes an endless debate but remains unsolved. Besides, the study explores Hawthorne’s views on Puritanism, which raises a question for academics who are unsure of just how Hawthorne opposes the quintessence of the Puritan way of life. We find that the readers get confused by Hawthorne’s devotion to the novel as they read it and wonder if he was both a Puritanism product and a reaction against it; however, the stu...

This article discusses the teaching of intercultural and transcultural awareness together with language learning in foreign language contexts. Ensuing a brief discussion of what language, culture and its forms mean, we illustrate the relationship between intercultural and transcultural competence, and the development of communication skills in the foreign language framework for teaching EFL (English as Foreign Language) students. The author draws attention to the importance of developing students’ intercultural research abilities utilizing the transcultural communication competence notion. We show how intercultural orientations and transcultural communication competence affect the students’ framework and their career dimensions. The author illuminates the activities and approaches that develop communication skills. The article concludes with an underscoring of the critical challenges that teachers encounter and their potential solutions. Keywords: Intercultural communication, Transc...

A plethora of research has considered motivation instrumental in achieving the requisite objectives in learning a language regrettably overlooked the most critical component called demotivation that indubitably affects the learning process substantially. The researchers have taken the daunting task to figure out the demotivating factors that affect Saudi learners’ English proficiency. The research is qualitatively based on the responses obtained from semi-structured informal interviews with twenty-six respondents and classroom observation inputs from over 125 students learning English as a foreign (EFL) language at Jazan University in Saudi Arabia. The sample of this study responded to a self-structured questionnaire to get qualitative data and after twofold data analysis, six demotivating factors related to students; teachers; environment (internal & external); attitude towards EFL learning; course materials, and time constriction were identified. The findings and suggestions recko...

The paper intends to divulge and argue the major reading problems Saudi students face and flaws in contemporary research that affects a lot on developing their reading skills. The problems and pitfalls related to reading skill, prime facie, seem traditional but widely discussed; hitherto, remain unsettled in the arena of language learning. The researcher tries to explore and shed light on these problems while achieving different asymptotic levels of performance, constrained and unconstrained skills to observe and experience how far and fast the Saudi EFL learners master the reading skills in and out of classroom settings at Jazan University. It is solely based on experience and observational data that the researcher has collected on his students' everyday classroom performance. The paper also monitors how far the previous findings contributed to overcome struggling readers' problems and improve their reading abilities and suggests how recognizing these major occurring problems may endow with an authentic and viable initiative for planning reading instruction and interventions. Hence, the present study aims to provide in-depth examination and interpretation of struggling Saudi EFL learners' problems and challenges meting out different texts in structure and related aspects on different reading tasks. The paper concludes with some vital suggestions that would indubitably help learners and teachers practice in realia to lessen anxiety, achieve desired outcomes and evolve educational policies for language instruction, evaluation and assessment.

Language plays a crucial role in the development of human society. It is the main means of communication between individuals, groups and countries. Nowadays, more and more people are learning English as a foreign or second language, and their key objective is to get expertise in English. The abrupt changes in the broad field of economy, business, science, technology and education have triggered the youth and coming generation to improve their communication skills. Language acquisition involves four modules of teaching that includes Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing. The teachers have to be dynamic and updated to teach these language skills to the students. The researcher has interviewed the participants on various aspects involved in teaching-learning process to find out the root cause of the problems encountered by students studying at Jazan University to attain the speaking and the writing skills. The problems are further critically analysed, evaluated to derive at conclusi...

A plethora of research has considered motivation instrumental in achieving the requisite objectives in learning a language regrettably overlooked the most critical component called demotivation that indubitably affects the learning process substantially. The researchers have taken the daunting task to figure out the demotivating factors that affect Saudi learners' English proficiency. The research is qualitatively based on the responses obtained from semi-structured informal interviews with twenty-six respondents and classroom observation inputs from over 125 students learning English as a foreign (EFL) language at Jazan University in Saudi Arabia. The sample of this study responded to a self-structured questionnaire to get qualitative data and after twofold data analysis, six demotivating factors related to students; teachers; environment (internal & external); attitude towards EFL learning; course materials, and time constriction were identified. The findings and suggestions reckon students, teachers, parents, and administrators to give utmost priority to address demotivation factors to facilitate even EFL learning to timely achieve not only the prerequisite learning outcomes but may also lead learners to be autonomous, infuse interest, confident with 21st-century skills, better teacher-learner relationship, and change in cognitive behavior, and non-cognitive aspects which includes perception, attitude, beliefs and willingness to learn English language.

This paper reports on a study into Saudi students' perspectives on social media usage to promote EFL learning. Sixty Saudi learners of English as a foreign language enrolled at Jazan University were participants in the study. To gauge the participants' perspective; a questionnaire was designed, adapted from Aifan (2015) and previous studies on social media and perceived attitude. We modified the questionnaire to our requisites to accomplish the real response on the use of social media to encourage collaboration and communication. The participants were asked to respond about their perceptions to use English on Social media, affective variables, and hypothetical usefulness of social media applications of what they learned in the class and reflecting on their learning experience in English. Results showed that students had a positive attitude toward social media usage, despite a few barriers, feeling more confident, less anxious, more competent, and more willing to communicate in English on social media. We suggest that the careful construction of tasks, activities and projects based on the use of social media integrate with the curriculum, workshops and faculty development programs on social media usage can have a positive effect on the language learning process.

This article discusses the teaching of intercultural and transcultural awareness together with language learning in foreign language contexts. Ensuing a brief argument of what language, culture and its forms mean, we illustrate the relationship between intercultural and transcultural competence and the development of communication skills in the foreign language frame for teaching EFL students. The author draws attention to the importance of developing students' intercultural research utilizing the transcultural communication competence notion. We show how intercultural culture orientations and transcultural communication competence affect the students' framework and their career dimensions. The author illuminates the activities and approach that develop communication skills. The article concludes underscoring the critical challenges teachers encounter and potential solutions.

The study intends to examine how motivation influences Saudi students' communicative competence in English as a foreign language. A questionnaire blending select items from Gardner's Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) and various other motivational strategies was prepared and administered on two groups of students from different colleges and on EFL teachers at Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. Based on an extensive review of the concurrent research and literature, this work tries to define and discuss the concept of communicative competence and how motivation is affected by several factors-students' integrativeness, students' attitudes toward their teacher and course, and motivational intensity. Factors including teachers' communicative style, teaching strategies supporting motivation, curriculum, course material and class activities also affect directly students' motivation and communicative competence. Based on the research results, the article provides a basis for discussion and research into the use of the blended and collaborative learning learner-centered approach and assimilation of motivational strategies by EFL teachers to develop and improve learners' communicative competence that eventually opens boulevards for future research in the related fields.

There have been several researches going on about using rubrics to foster students' learning in writing context abetting their performance. But there is a dearth of studies on teacher perspicacity to students' rubric use in English as a foreign language context and fewer studies have investigated how teacher constructive approach affects rubric effectiveness endorsing student EFL learning and assessment. The paper reports the findings workshop-based inquiry into teachers' perception of using analytic rubric in students' EFL learning and self-assessment in writing context and the factors affecting its efficacy. The data was collected during the workshop on rubrics that included forty English teachers at Jazan University. Results showed that the rubric was employed professed as a handy evaluative and instructional tool for nurturing students' learning, self-assessment and self-regulation. The teacher should steer students consistently through meticulous planning, guidance, performance indicators and criteria, robust design, evaluation and feedback. The findings are discussed with reference to Saudi students' attitude to EFL and design features of rubrics. Propositions drawn invite attention for seminal use of rubrics in classroom and advance teachers' perspicacity to rubrics. Finally, it promotes students' autonomy, sense of pride and belonging to their work, self-regulation, peer evaluation, virtual learning milieu and efficacy.

Pray for My Egoist

Transform, transform, transform
To guide your follower at dark
....................................................
....................................................
Be a guide and altruist
So transform, transform, transform

Copyright © Vipin Parashar

The point of this paper is to foster an awareness of the varied uses to which scholars are putting the term 'ecocriticism' in varied perspectives today. Thoreau's Walden is such indisputable literary monument on environmental literature to explore, upkeep and strengthen interest in establishing pragmatic relationship between the human and natural worlds. Thoreau lived simply without " modern improvements " which he called " improved means to unimproved ends. " This displays how one places oneself in the nature world, understands nature, and the environmental aspects to cast-off materialism. Thoreau rejects what is profane and superficial but pleads nature as the storehouse of sincerity and impartiality. He proves that society creates loneliness and fear, which can be dispelled by content with Nature. A man is never alone if he is aware of his non-human relationships. The paper perhaps is a seminal attempt to make some evolution toward fostering and legitimizing the sweats of ecocritics in ecocriticism (across) milieu. It sufficiently accounts for the personal connection and sense of responsibility towards self, society, literary studies and nature. Thoreau's Walden elevates the concept of ecocriticism further to have interdisciplinary impact beyond prejudice to create a 'universal discipline' to discuss, innovate and create healthy literature-environment anthology to live in for progenies. This convinces intellectuals to pursue an interest in ecology while enduring literary professionals. Thoreau's belief in nature sets new tenets that address the major ecological concerns to see it 'greening' to prevent 'The Endangered Earth-a virulent veracity' tomorrow.

De facto, literary studies before 1990s, unlike other related humanities disciplines, have apparently remained oblivious by environment concerns. Literary studies are in a hasty, and impenetrable state covering major aspects of literature except essays on ecological approach to literature. It often responds to contemporary pressure so exist in the state of relentless unrest. Its needs wide range disciplines like other humanities, to break the shackles to move beyond the boundaries to deal with global warming and global predicaments. We need a sensible ecological approach that inculcates a greater sense of environmental concern, and awareness in literary studies to crush 'The Endangered Earth' myth in entirety before it turns into reality. Ecocriticism serves this precise purpose that studies the literature and the environment where the scholars of vary realms discuss, analyze and formulate texts on environmental concerns and challenges on the subject of nature. This article tries to explore more in the major critical works of Emerson that fall into ecocritical fold to prove further that ecocriticism may be new discipline but immensely reflected in the works since centuries.

Language has no boundaries and, with globalization resulting in the mingling of international economic and cultural systems of different countries making the entire world ‘a global village’, the notion only gets further. This has obviously provided a common ground and opportunities to the people of different nationalities, cultures, religions, dialects and languages to communicate effectively to attain their business objectives. Translation bridges the language gap by comprehending, analysing, reformulating, and retextualizing the source language texts to attain grammatical, syntactic, and sociocultural equivalence. Translation evolved into a modern faculty with scholars’ exemplary works making it hitherto more ambiguous and complicated as I. A. Richards claims, “Translation is probably the most complex type of event in the history of the cosmos” (Nida 1993: 1). As we realize a need to develop a holistic perspective, this paper makes a seminal attempt to cover three vital aspects: addition, omission and deletion (AOD) in translation to ensure a precise, correct and judicious dissemination of current knowledge and information that will facilitate not only the development of translation studies but also to keep pace with the factors of both globalization and localization.

Keywords: AOD, translation studies, globalization, acculturation, intercultural, localization

My teaching philosophy is: "To create students-techno-centered ambiance wherein students learn through fun, doing activities, active participation, and a spirit of cooperation and collaboration in the peer group or teamwork to make them autonomous with full sense of pride and confidence." My teaching practices empower students to realize their full potential by providing opportunities, support, feedback, and guidance to achieve the learning outcomes. I plan various activities based on given curriculum, students' learning styles and real-life situations with an aim for the students to comprehend, engage, practice and construct products to display and reflect on tangible progress and desired results. This enables me to bring about the paradigm shift from rote/memorizing method to widen cognitive skills and think critically and apply it in real-life situations to tackle problems creatively. I, through these classroom practices, endeavor to make the classroom an arena for students to learn, develop and demonstrate the productive and the receptive skills. We pass through a revolutionary phase of rapid technological advances bringing in new challenges. Today, teachers should not only extend beyond delivering the lecture and passing on information but also go through training, seminars, workshops, and conferences to acquaint, develop, analyze and communicate new knowledge. Mostly, I found the students learn more effectively in informal discussions during office hours and interacting on social media beyond classroom settings. I adopt the co-teaching approach to learning much from my colleagues and students. I still foresee to ongoing teaching, research, training and learning en route from my peers and students to grow and learn new things. I believe that teaching is not about one individual student, but about hopes, expectations, and aspiration of many students. And when the institution exists to impose faith and empower its teachers with autonomy, good curriculum, evaluation standards, and encouraging environment to teach rather to put obstacles in their path, progress is

Major Problems Faced by the EFL Students in Reading and Writing skills Developing strong reading and writing skills in medical students are some of the key goals of the EFL teaching curriculum ENG 181. It is through reading that students expand their vocabulary and then put into practice in writing to develop ideas and perceptions about the real world and then excel in other communication skills as well. We have observed that a few students have problems with literacy skills, which affect their learning in the new curriculum and demotivate to learn English. Moreover, the students have multiple intelligences and different learning styles, also struggle in reading and writing respectively. A few students' learning was slow and lack in pre-literacy skills. These students were imparted with essential English knowledge like alphabets and phonic awareness that facilitated their learning of sounds to letters and sound out words. Then, with direct instruction, practice (reading out loud), awareness of unfamiliar and high-frequency vocabulary, consistent guidance, one-on-one interaction, and time-management, they picked up whole word recognition, sentences and finally understanding complex sentences, texts and handling more information in short time. Besides, the students had faced with the issues of decoding (put sounds to letters), poor comprehension from the letter and word recognition to understanding meaning at the phrase, sentence, and paragraph and essay level. This makes reading hard, consequently making reading more cognitively challenging and frustrating. Thus, the teacher has to travel extra miles with a concrete strategy to assist and motivate students to complete tasks that require extensive reading. The teacher should plan a lesson that contains the use of silent letters and unexpected sounds. The activities must be interesting enough to match students' prior knowledge of a topic, initiate guessing about the next information by analyzing pictures, heading and sub-headings or skimming a text to derive the main idea. Pre-reading can be taken-up as a solution to create mind-maps, asking some questions, involving students to prepare for the actual text reading. Teaching vocabulary and glossary together with a text before reading develops more depth in meaning. The students may be given assignments, worksheets, exercises on the text taught to gain exposure to high-frequency words making them read more quickly and efficiently. These problems are interrelated and commonly attribute to poor writing skills.

Moving on from academic institutions responding to the COVID-19 crisis and adapting their remotely online teaching at virtual platforms and operationalize it further, post-COVID is a grave issue to discuss forth. The paper discusses how educators and schools would address the complex challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic when it reopens. In fact, students have become habituated and engrossed in attending virtual classes as they seek more ways to learn, remain safe and progressive during a longer COVID phase. The institutions should shift their mindset and perception to boost teachers' and students' engagement levels through this new medium and maximize their potential, as the new teaching-learning process is more than just an online version of face-to-face teaching. To continue the students' learning process, the institutions must look to develop more multi-media and digital resource sharing options, become more proactive in initiating discussions on health, redesign a robust curriculum, school environment, address teachers, students and parents concerns, opportunities to collaborate at global platforms, government guidelines on reopening academic institutions, and have a pre-and post-COVID student-centered class-engagement-strategy in place.
Keywords: COVID-19, remote learning, virtual platforms, online teaching, post-pandemic, school reopening

The sharp pang of coronavirus has exponentially swept globally shutting doors of academic institutions. This abrupt unforeseen pandemic has forced teachers, students, and parents to reflect upon their decisions and practices and dictated the virtual delivery on digital platforms possibly overnight to facilitate students' learning across disciplines. The goal of the study as a whole is to provide policy-makers, administrators, and educators with research-based guidance about how to best implement virtual online classes for students and teacher groundwork. The education system faces enormous challenges conduct virtual and digital learning. The article underscores the major challenges and opportunities the teachers and students perceive post-COVID and analyzing a few similar articles in an educational context. Finally, the suggestions are put forward to compensate for the damage rendered to students' learning trajectory as normalcy retains giving implications of the study in education to overcome pandemic problems.
Keywords: Digital learning, Virtual teaching, Curriculum, Assessment, Covid-19 pandemic