Asmara Shafqat
NED University of Engineering and Technology, Humanities, Faculty Member
- ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5928-5915 Asmara Shafqat is PhD in Applied Linguistics and completed her MS in... moreORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5928-5915
Asmara Shafqat is PhD in Applied Linguistics and completed her MS in Applied Linguistics. She is associated with English, linguistics, applied linguistics and corpus linguistics research for many years. She is “reviewer” of internationally recognized research journals. She has been teaching at different levels, currently, she is teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Not only that, but she is supervising undergraduate final year projects and supervising master’s theses. Her areas of expertise are learning styles of the learner, academic writing, research writing, corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, pragmatics, etc.edit
Teachers’ instruction receives immense impact from multiple factors and among them awareness of learning styles’ preferences is significant. Shea (1983) found a strong relationship between styles of learning and reading comprehension.... more
Teachers’ instruction receives immense impact from multiple factors and among them awareness of learning styles’ preferences is significant. Shea (1983) found a strong relationship between styles of learning and reading comprehension. This study attempted to explore correlation between reflective and impulsive styles of learning and scanning information in text scores. 382 undergraduates engineering students (male and female) were selected from a Public sector Engineering University. Andrew D. Cohen, Rebecca L. Oxford, and Julie C. Chi’s (2001) questionnaire was used to explore the patterns of learning styles along with its relevance with the role of gender. A reading test was also conducted along with the questionnaire based on scanning skills. Pearson product-moment correlation test was applied to ascertain the correlation between the variables. The findings will be useful for teachers to determine preferences of learning style of students which will impact educational policies an...
Research Interests:
Language, discourse and communication reveal social and cultural inclinations of human civilization (Van Dijk, 1997). Language behavior is exhibited through communication which is extracted from three main categories of language;... more
Language, discourse and communication reveal social and cultural inclinations of human civilization (Van Dijk, 1997). Language behavior is exhibited through communication which is extracted from three main categories of language; “ideational, interpersonal and textual” (Halliday, 1978, 1985). Hedges are interpersonal metadiscourse markers (Hs), lexical devices that authors employ to arrange their discourse and communicate their standpoint about the substance for the reader. Cultural and linguistic background of the author may affect the employment of hedges in the discourse. The present study investigated the interpersonal metadiscourse marker-hedges- in the Culture section of European English Newspaper (CEEN) and Pakistani English Newspaper articles (CPEN) based on Hyland’s classification (2004). The quantitative corpora-based study contained 32 articles from culture section of Pakistani English newspaper: Dawn News (DN) and 32 articles from culture section of European English News...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The syllabus of English in Pakistan has been revised at some point of times, but the problems persist and impede the students' learning performance, but the problems persist and impede the students' learning performance, but the... more
The syllabus of English in Pakistan has been revised at some point of times, but the problems persist and impede the students' learning performance, but the problems persist and impede the students' learning performance, but the problems persist and impede students' learning performance, but the problems impede the students' learning performance. The syllabus designers have developed it without considering the needs of the students and the instructors' abilities. The researcher has focused on evaluating the imperfection in syllabus designing that hampers learner to learn and instructors to teach. The objectives of this study are understanding, evaluation, and development of syllabus in English language skills. This study has been conducted at the primary school level to understand the learners' problems at an initial level. The selected material for analysis is the textbook of English taught at grade 1 in public schools of Pakistan. The analysis of the conten...
The purpose of this corpus-based study is to compare the use of hedges and associated linguistic constituents in the linguistic research articles authored by Pakistani English Writers (PEWs) and native English writers (NEWs). NEWs hedge... more
The purpose of this corpus-based study is to compare the use of hedges and associated linguistic constituents in the linguistic research articles authored by Pakistani English Writers (PEWs) and native English writers (NEWs). NEWs hedge more than their PEWs peers, as per the outcomes of the two corpora (20 linguistics research articles by PEWs and 20 linguistics research articles by NEWs). Nevertheless, the statistics revealed that both corpora employed hedging types that were quite similar. To minimize the legitimacy of their assertions and arguments, both factions relied primarily on lexical and hedging strategies, and both groups avoided utilizing hedges such as adverbs of frequency. Likewise, neither group used epistemic nor possibility hedging much. Nonetheless, the use of linguistic elements of hedging by PEWs and NEWs authors differ considerably. PEWs are more committed to their opinions being more appealing and persuasive, owing to the clear impact of first language and cult...
Metadiscourse is considered as one of the significant rhetorical features and strategies in the production of any piece of written or spoken discourse. It establishes a relationship of the writer with the audience in any communication... more
Metadiscourse is considered as one of the significant rhetorical features and strategies in the production of any piece of written or spoken discourse. It establishes a relationship of the writer with the audience in any communication process. The present study aimed at determining the frequency distribution of metadiscourse markers in argumentative essays of undergraduate students in a private sector university. This quantitative study adopted Hyland's (2005) Interpersonal model of Metadiscourse. A corpus based software AntConc 3.5.7 was applied for a total of 124 argumentative essays. Finding of the study showed that the frequency of interactive metadiscourse markers was higher than interactional markers. It has also been observed that the most frequently used markers were transition markers whereas endophoric markers were used with less frequency. The results of the study have a few pedagogical implications. It highlights the importance of metadiscourse devices in learning and teaching writing skills in English Language Teaching (ELT) context and help to understand the norm of discourse markers. Moreover, metadiscourse analysis would benefit English language teachers to develop the writing skills of learners with appropriate use of metadiscourse devices.
Research Interests:
There are numerous factors, which reasonably affect teachers’ instructions. One of these factors is being aware of the learners’ learning styles. Shea’s work (1983) contributed that there is a strong correlation between learning styles... more
There are numerous factors, which reasonably affect teachers’ instructions. One of these factors is being aware of the learners’ learning styles. Shea’s work (1983) contributed that there is a strong correlation between learning styles and reading comprehensions. The present study investigated the correlation between Perceptual learning styles and scanning information in text scores. To achieve this, researcher randomly selected 382 undergraduates (male and female) engineering students of the Public sector Engineering University. Learning style survey questionnaire by Andrew D. Cohen, Rebecca L. Oxford, and Julie C. Chi (2001) was employed to examine the Perceptual learning style patterns and learning styles with respect to gender. In addition to this, reading test was conducted based on scanning skill. Pearson product-moment correlation test was applied to examine the correlation between the variables. It was found that a correlation exists between learning styles of engineering st...
Research Interests:
Language, discourse and communication reveal social and cultural inclinations of human civilization (Van Dijk, 1997). Language behavior is exhibited through communication which is extracted from three main categories of language;... more
Language, discourse and communication reveal social and cultural inclinations of human civilization (Van Dijk, 1997). Language behavior is exhibited through communication which is extracted from three main categories of language; “ideational, interpersonal and textual” (Halliday, 1978, 1985). Hedges are interpersonal metadiscourse markers (Hs), lexical devices that authors employ to arrange their discourse and communicate their standpoint about the substance for the reader. Cultural and linguistic background of the author may affect the employment of hedges in the discourse. The present study investigated the interpersonal metadiscourse marker-hedges- in the Culture section of European English Newspaper (CEEN) and Pakistani English Newspaper articles (CPEN) based on Hyland’s classification (2004). The quantitative corpora-based study contained 32 articles from culture section of Pakistani English newspaper: Dawn News (DN) and 32 articles from culture section of European English News...
Research Interests:
During the prevention of the spread of the virus the COVID-19 pandemic, change took place suddenly of learning. Distance learning is a good substitute when physical or face-to-face programmes or courses are no longer feasible. The... more
During the prevention of the spread of the virus the COVID-19 pandemic, change took place suddenly of learning. Distance learning is a good substitute when physical or face-to-face programmes or courses are no longer feasible. The purpose of this study was to reveal the implementation of distance learning which was carried out suddenly as a result of Covid-19 which was assessed by the learning process, learning facilities and infrastructure, as well as the psychological aspects of FKIP students towards distance learning. Data were collected through a survey using the google form application and respondents were N = 750. Data analysis used a descriptive statistical approach. The instrument is a questionnaire electronic, anonymous, and self-administered using three to five answer options. the results of the research students prefer face-to-face learning rather than distance learning. Students find it difficult during distance learning and worry about achieving learning outcomes. In c...
Research Interests:
The objective of the study is to understand language teachers’ perceptions regarding incorporating a corpus-based approach, i.e., corpus-based teaching methodology in English Language Teaching (ELT) classroom contexts. The design of the... more
The objective of the study is to understand language teachers’ perceptions regarding incorporating a corpus-based approach, i.e., corpus-based teaching methodology in English Language Teaching (ELT) classroom contexts. The design of the study is qualitative. The sample is taken from 19 English language teachers who are currently enrolled as students of Master of Applied Linguistics at NED University, Karachi, Pakistan. The instrument of the study is an open-ended questionnaire and also a focus groups based on semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis of the interviews is conducted, as a result of which different themes emerged that conform to the benefits of incorporating corpus-based materials and activities in ELT classrooms. The findings show that use of a corpus-based teaching methodology in ELT classrooms is accepted as a new strategy for teaching different aspects and skills of English language such as vocabulary, grammar, reading, and writing. The pedagogical implicatio...
During the prevention of the spread of the virus the COVID-19 pandemic, change took place suddenly of learning. Distance learning is a good alternative when face-to-face courses are no longer feasible. The purpose of this study was to... more
During the prevention of the spread of the virus the COVID-19 pandemic, change took place suddenly of learning. Distance learning is a good alternative when face-to-face courses are no longer feasible. The purpose of this study was to reveal the implementation of distance learning that was carried out suddenly as a result of Covid-19 and assessed by the learning process, learning facilities and infrastructure, as well as the psychological aspects of FKIP students towards distance learning. The data were collected through a survey using the google form application and respondents were N = 750. The descriptive statistical approach was used for data analsysis. The instrument is a questionnaire electronic, anonymous, and self-administered using three to five answer options. The results of the research showed that students prefer face-to-face learning rather than distance learning. Students faced many difficulties during distance learning and worried for achieving learning outcomes. In conclusion, distance learning is a good alternative when classroom learning is suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic period. It is also important to recognize that, distance learning cannot replace the need for on-site and face-to-face learning, but can complement existing traditional classroom-based learning models. Distance learning has an impact on changes in individual learning readiness and the preparation of institutional facilities to blended learning.
Research Interests:
Teaching of English in general and teaching of ESP, in particular, has been a critical issue in non-native countries for quite some time. In countries like Saudi Arabia where status of English is of a foreign language, the matter becomes... more
Teaching of English in general and teaching of ESP, in particular, has been a critical issue in non-native countries for quite some time. In countries like Saudi Arabia where status of English is of a foreign language, the matter becomes even graver. This paper concerns use of textbook in the class. Most of the non-native countries use foreign authored ESP books. Contextualization has been defined in many ways. Here, the researcher follows Mazzeo, Rab, and Alssid, "A diverse family of instructional strategies designed to more seamlessly link the learning of foundational skills and academic or occupational content by focusing teaching and learning squarely on concrete applications in a specific context" (Mazzeoet al., 2003, pp. 3-4). The Purpose of this descriptive study is to document, the perception of English Language Teachers about the use of Contextualized text at Tertiary Level in Saudi Arabia. A research questionnaire was used to collect the perception of the teachers and to test the hypothesis. The perception questionnaire administered on the teachers of randomly selected College of Business Administration in Riyadh. Data shows that contextualized books can help a great deal to learners of ESP in their learning. It also shows that there is a dire need of contextualization in education especially in the field of ESP for Saudi Arabia. 275
Research Interests:
This paper discusses the cognitive and attitudinal impact of the process approach to writing as an answer to college English writing instruction problems in Pakistan. This paper investigated the effect of the process approach on students... more
This paper discusses the cognitive and attitudinal impact of the process approach to writing as an answer to college English writing instruction problems in Pakistan. This paper investigated the effect of the process approach on students writing and anxiety. The participants in this research were first-year EFL students; a quasi-experimental method of the pretest-posttest control group was used. It took ten weeks for the quantitative testing procedures to be finished. By analyzing academic writings generated by students at the beginning and end of experimental procedures, data were obtained regarding the dimension of the writing output. The respondents ' Writing attitude has been collected using the structured anxiety check for authors. The covariance review was used to test the findings statistically. The research showed that the process approach to writing had a significant impact on writing performance and anxiety as a consequence of the longitudinal review. On the basis of this finding, it is recommended that the writing phase method be used for the documentation of EFL events.
Research Interests:
Metadiscourse is considered as one of the significant rhetorical features and strategies in the production of any piece of written or spoken discourse. It establishes a relationship of the writer with the audience in any communication... more
Metadiscourse is considered as one of the significant rhetorical features and strategies in the production of any piece of written or spoken discourse. It establishes a relationship of the writer with the audience in any communication process. The present study aimed at determining the frequency distribution of metadiscourse markers in argumentative essays of undergraduate students in a private sector university. This quantitative study adopted Hyland's (2005) Interpersonal model of Metadiscourse. A corpus based software AntConc 3.5.7 was applied for a total of 124 argumentative essays. Finding of the study showed that the frequency of interactive metadiscourse markers was higher than interactional markers. It has also been observed that the most frequently used markers were transition markers whereas endophoric markers were used with less frequency. The results of the study have a few pedagogical implications. It highlights the importance of metadiscourse devices in learning and teaching writing skills in English Language Teaching (ELT) context and help to understand the norm of discourse markers. Moreover, metadiscourse analysis would benefit English language teachers to develop the writing skills of learners with appropriate use of metadiscourse devices.
Research Interests:
Language, discourse and communication reveal social and cultural inclinations of human civilization (Van Dijk, 1997). Language behavior is exhibited through communication which is extracted from three main categories of language;... more
Language, discourse and communication reveal social and cultural inclinations of human civilization (Van Dijk, 1997). Language behavior is exhibited through communication which is extracted from three main categories of language; "ideational, interpersonal and textual" (Halliday, 1978, 1985). Hedges are interpersonal metadiscourse markers (Hs), lexical devices that authors employ to arrange their discourse and communicate their standpoint about the substance for the reader. Cultural and linguistic background of the author may affect the employment of hedges in the discourse. The present study investigated the interpersonal metadiscourse marker-hedges-in the Culture section of European English Newspaper (CEEN) and Pakistani English Newspaper articles (CPEN) based on Hyland's classification (2004). The quantitative corpora-based study contained 32 articles from culture section of Pakistani English newspaper: Dawn News (DN) and 32 articles from culture section of European English Newspaper: BBC. The articles from each newspaper were extracted from online resources. Two corpora have equal representation of words, 40000 each. Data analysis was done using SPSS 22 to see the frequency of hedges used in the data. Moreover, an independent sample t-test was applied. It was found that there is a meaningful difference between the European and Pakistani English newspapers' usage of hedges. This research would help not only ELT practitioners to teach how hedges change the genre of discourse, but would also shed light on cultural discourse. It would depict how the same hedges are used in two different cultural discourses revealing distinct culture and identity.
Research Interests:
There are numerous factors, which reasonably affect teachers' instructions. One of these factors is being aware of the learners' learning styles. Shea's work (1983) contributed that there is a strong correlation between learning styles... more
There are numerous factors, which reasonably affect teachers' instructions. One of these factors is being aware of the learners' learning styles. Shea's work (1983) contributed that there is a strong correlation between learning styles and reading comprehensions. The present study investigated the correlation between Perceptual learning styles and scanning information in text scores. To achieve this, researcher randomly selected 382 undergraduates (male and female) engineering students of the Public sector Engineering University. Learning style survey questionnaire by Andrew D. Cohen, Rebecca L. Oxford, and Julie C. Chi (2001) was employed to examine the Perceptual learning style patterns and learning styles with respect to gender. In addition to this, reading test was conducted based on scanning skill. Pearson product-moment correlation test was applied to examine the correlation between the variables. It was found that a correlation exists between learning styles of engineering students and scanning information in the text. In addition to this, gender does play role in learning style preferences. This result would create awareness among all instructors or teachers the importance of learners' unique learning style preferences that consequently affect teaching methodologies in all educational settings.