The idea of learner autonomy (LA) has been widely referred to in the field of English Language Te... more The idea of learner autonomy (LA) has been widely referred to in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) for more than three decades. Only limited work has been conducted on the teacher’s perception of LA. The present study was conducted to focus on this gap. It investigated Pakistani English university teachers’ beliefs about LA. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 16 teachers from four public universities of Punjab. Content analysis informed that majority of teachers had a little familiarity with the concept. Learner autonomy was defined as learner independence in terms of ability or authority to take control of their learning, as the learner’s responsibility alone or shared, as a technique and as a process. Teachers’ opinion was divided upon the idea of the innate nature of autonomy. However, the majority found autonomy supportive learning environment quite crucial to learner’s autonomy. It can be implied that teachers need an awareness of the nature a...
The development of Covid-19 epidemic into a pandemic led to great changes in education delivery m... more The development of Covid-19 epidemic into a pandemic led to great changes in education delivery modes around the globe. Online education (OE) began after the closure of education buildings. The unprepared start of OE led to access barriers, challenges, and opportunities for improvement. This work explores the scope of OE during COVID-19 in Pakistani institutions offering the degree of Chemical Engineering. A mixed-method approach was followed with a sample of 10 teachers and 1200 students from public and private sector universities. Teacher data came from semi-structured interviews by email, while students’ views of their learning experiences were collected through an online survey. The learners' responses showed that the unprecedented and unprepared shift to online course delivery lowered their motivation and interest in learning and they do not perceive the present practice as useful for several reasons. However, the teachers believed that the transition to OE helped the continuity of education, though they had to face technical, personal, social, learning-management-related, and other barriers they were not adequately equipped to deal with effectively. The results imply the need for a rapid preparation phase to enhance the effectiveness of OE during a crisis. The results may assist academics and policymakers in revising decisions regarding the great education migration to OE.
2019 International Conference on Innovative Computing (ICIC), 2019
The purpose of the present study is to assess the level of cognitive learning, with the help of q... more The purpose of the present study is to assess the level of cognitive learning, with the help of question paper analysis, among the students of Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering studying under Outcome Based Education. The data for this study were collected from the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Gujrat. The data were descriptively analyzed and presented through tables and graphs for quick and easy interpretation of the results. The results showed that, out of six courses, only one course reached the highest level of cognitive learning.
The Wedding Invitation is one of the significant text genres. Following genre analysis approach a... more The Wedding Invitation is one of the significant text genres. Following genre analysis approach and discourse analysis (DA), the present research analysed the wedding invitation genres in Pakistan to explore generic structures, as well as the role played by the broader socio-cultural norms and values in shaping this genre. Therefore, a corpus of 50 wedding invitations in Urdu and English was randomly selected from cards received from January to June 2018. The results of this genre analysis revealed seven obligatory and one optional move in Urdu, while six obligatory and one optional move in English invitations. Through discourse analysis, it has been uncovered how religious association and cultural influence in Pakistani society shape textual selection. Little variation was displayed in the invitations of the two languages, presumably due to regional cultural reflections and recent influence of western values. A comparison of Pakistani and UK invitations showed differences not only ...
Interdisciplinary energy research has become inevitable in the context of perceived energy break-... more Interdisciplinary energy research has become inevitable in the context of perceived energy break-point after 2050. Power and energy crisis is a matter of life or death for industry and human race on earth. Oil and natural gas peaking alarms started ringing by the start of the 21st century. Available energy reserves are emptying at of thousands of barrels per second and time to discover new energy sources is being wasted to convince and advocate disciplinarians going for interdisciplinary research approach. We will have to invent new ways of supplying 30% of the global energy demand by 2030 and 60% by 2050. It is not possible without putting the emerging bio, nano, and info technologies together in power and energy research laboratories under interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches. Electrical engineers badly need the supportive hand of energy scientists and technologists to overcome global power, energy, food, and water crises. Engineers and scientists often find it diff...
Learner autonomy (LA) has been a key area of interest in foreign language learning and teaching f... more Learner autonomy (LA) has been a key area of interest in foreign language learning and teaching for more than three decades, but a limited space has been awarded to the investigation of teachers’ practices in fostering LA. Following an interpretive paradigm and a qualitative approach, present study intended to unearth the strategies teachers of English use to make their learners autonomous. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with sixteen English teachers from four public universities of province Punjab. Findings revealed that, in general, teachers use teacher-centered approach while participants’ practices and use of various strategies showed their preference for the role of facilitator more than of counselor or resource. Results of this research imply that the goal of LA can be achieved through offering teachers training to make them aware of the significance of making their learners autonomous and incentives for the promotion of LA in their classroom.
Language teaching has become more learner-centered for last three decades. Teachers with a potent... more Language teaching has become more learner-centered for last three decades. Teachers with a potential of being change-agent received considerable attention of researchers. Teachers need to reconsider their traditional role in helping learners control their learning. Present study investigated viable autonomy-supportive teaching role and creative practices teachers can follow to aid their learners in becoming autonomous. Data were collected from 16 university teachers teaching English communication skills at Bachelor of Science level in public sector universities of the Punjab, Pakistan. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather teachers’ perceptions. Results revealed that teachers perceived their role vital in developing learner autonomy but they considered a meaningful change in present role with a gradual shift of learning responsibilities from teacher to learner. Moreover, 11 autonomy-supportive teaching practices were suggested to enable learners to control t...
The idea of learner autonomy (LA) has been widely referred to in the field of English Language Te... more The idea of learner autonomy (LA) has been widely referred to in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) for more than three decades. Only limited work has been conducted on the teacher’s perception of LA. The present study was conducted to focus on this gap. It investigated Pakistani English university teachers’ beliefs about LA. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 16 teachers from four public universities of Punjab. Content analysis informed that majority of teachers had a little familiarity with the concept. Learner autonomy was defined as learner independence in terms of ability or authority to take control of their learning, as the learner’s responsibility alone or shared, as a technique and as a process. Teachers’ opinion was divided upon the idea of the innate nature of autonomy. However, the majority found autonomy supportive learning environment quite crucial to learner’s autonomy. It can be implied that teachers need an awareness of the nature a...
The development of Covid-19 epidemic into a pandemic led to great changes in education delivery m... more The development of Covid-19 epidemic into a pandemic led to great changes in education delivery modes around the globe. Online education (OE) began after the closure of education buildings. The unprepared start of OE led to access barriers, challenges, and opportunities for improvement. This work explores the scope of OE during COVID-19 in Pakistani institutions offering the degree of Chemical Engineering. A mixed-method approach was followed with a sample of 10 teachers and 1200 students from public and private sector universities. Teacher data came from semi-structured interviews by email, while students’ views of their learning experiences were collected through an online survey. The learners' responses showed that the unprecedented and unprepared shift to online course delivery lowered their motivation and interest in learning and they do not perceive the present practice as useful for several reasons. However, the teachers believed that the transition to OE helped the continuity of education, though they had to face technical, personal, social, learning-management-related, and other barriers they were not adequately equipped to deal with effectively. The results imply the need for a rapid preparation phase to enhance the effectiveness of OE during a crisis. The results may assist academics and policymakers in revising decisions regarding the great education migration to OE.
2019 International Conference on Innovative Computing (ICIC), 2019
The purpose of the present study is to assess the level of cognitive learning, with the help of q... more The purpose of the present study is to assess the level of cognitive learning, with the help of question paper analysis, among the students of Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering studying under Outcome Based Education. The data for this study were collected from the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Gujrat. The data were descriptively analyzed and presented through tables and graphs for quick and easy interpretation of the results. The results showed that, out of six courses, only one course reached the highest level of cognitive learning.
The Wedding Invitation is one of the significant text genres. Following genre analysis approach a... more The Wedding Invitation is one of the significant text genres. Following genre analysis approach and discourse analysis (DA), the present research analysed the wedding invitation genres in Pakistan to explore generic structures, as well as the role played by the broader socio-cultural norms and values in shaping this genre. Therefore, a corpus of 50 wedding invitations in Urdu and English was randomly selected from cards received from January to June 2018. The results of this genre analysis revealed seven obligatory and one optional move in Urdu, while six obligatory and one optional move in English invitations. Through discourse analysis, it has been uncovered how religious association and cultural influence in Pakistani society shape textual selection. Little variation was displayed in the invitations of the two languages, presumably due to regional cultural reflections and recent influence of western values. A comparison of Pakistani and UK invitations showed differences not only ...
Interdisciplinary energy research has become inevitable in the context of perceived energy break-... more Interdisciplinary energy research has become inevitable in the context of perceived energy break-point after 2050. Power and energy crisis is a matter of life or death for industry and human race on earth. Oil and natural gas peaking alarms started ringing by the start of the 21st century. Available energy reserves are emptying at of thousands of barrels per second and time to discover new energy sources is being wasted to convince and advocate disciplinarians going for interdisciplinary research approach. We will have to invent new ways of supplying 30% of the global energy demand by 2030 and 60% by 2050. It is not possible without putting the emerging bio, nano, and info technologies together in power and energy research laboratories under interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches. Electrical engineers badly need the supportive hand of energy scientists and technologists to overcome global power, energy, food, and water crises. Engineers and scientists often find it diff...
Learner autonomy (LA) has been a key area of interest in foreign language learning and teaching f... more Learner autonomy (LA) has been a key area of interest in foreign language learning and teaching for more than three decades, but a limited space has been awarded to the investigation of teachers’ practices in fostering LA. Following an interpretive paradigm and a qualitative approach, present study intended to unearth the strategies teachers of English use to make their learners autonomous. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with sixteen English teachers from four public universities of province Punjab. Findings revealed that, in general, teachers use teacher-centered approach while participants’ practices and use of various strategies showed their preference for the role of facilitator more than of counselor or resource. Results of this research imply that the goal of LA can be achieved through offering teachers training to make them aware of the significance of making their learners autonomous and incentives for the promotion of LA in their classroom.
Language teaching has become more learner-centered for last three decades. Teachers with a potent... more Language teaching has become more learner-centered for last three decades. Teachers with a potential of being change-agent received considerable attention of researchers. Teachers need to reconsider their traditional role in helping learners control their learning. Present study investigated viable autonomy-supportive teaching role and creative practices teachers can follow to aid their learners in becoming autonomous. Data were collected from 16 university teachers teaching English communication skills at Bachelor of Science level in public sector universities of the Punjab, Pakistan. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather teachers’ perceptions. Results revealed that teachers perceived their role vital in developing learner autonomy but they considered a meaningful change in present role with a gradual shift of learning responsibilities from teacher to learner. Moreover, 11 autonomy-supportive teaching practices were suggested to enable learners to control t...
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