The pandemic spread of COVID-19 (Omicron strain) has affected people around the world and all fie... more The pandemic spread of COVID-19 (Omicron strain) has affected people around the world and all fields of life. Research related to the spread of COVID-19 has attracted much attention, but the presented study focuses on the linguistic analysis of English news, which seems to be understudied. The aim of the study is to analyze the rhetorical devices, such as hyperbole and metaphor, used in English newspapers in reporting the course of the COVID-19 (Omicron strain) epidemic as strong means of emotional impact that contribute to the spread of panic and fear. The use of intensifier words and concept vagueness in English news, which also contribute to the readers’ sense of fear, is evaluated. Material and methods. Data is selected from 10 articles of 4 English newspapers: The Guardian, New York Times, China Daily and Dawn, published in 2020 and 2021. The findings were interpreted through theoretical analysis by codifying the emerging discursive themes. Results. It is shown that the choice of words and discursive practices in published newspaper articles, shaped the language of fear, which ultimately caused panic among readers and in the society. Conclusion. The discourse used in newspaper articles played a significant role in shaping public perception of the spread of COVID-19 (Omicron strain) by inducing fear of a pandemic. It is concluded that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the large amount of discourse devoted to the issue in English newspapers created a panic situation in the public.
The outcome-Based Educational (OBE) approach in teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is c... more The outcome-Based Educational (OBE) approach in teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is considered the emerging trend that has been adopted in educational institutions worldwide. It shows a shift from the input-based traditional teaching approaches to the specific outcome-based approach. The Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) has made it mandatory for the curriculum to be OBE based for universities offering engineering programs. Although attempts are made to follow the OBE approach, the constraints of the practitioners have yet to be determined for the effective implementation of OBE-based education. The study aims to determine the constraints English language teachers face in implementing the OBE approach in the ESP classroom of engineering students in Pakistan. For the study, the qualitative method has been used to collect the data from the English language teachers through semi-structured interviews. A four-step Interview Protocol Refinement (IPR) Framework was adopted to get the best possible quality data for refining semi-structured interviews.The study concludes that achieving desired results in engineering education, especially English courses, requires skills, traits and knowledge. The results indicate that though the respondents show a positive attitude towards OBE in the ESP classroom, lack ofteacher training, and ignorance of technical details are the impediments.
Multicultural Education- International Journal Documentation & Research Institute (IJDRI), 2023
The outcome-Based Educational (OBE) approach in teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is c... more The outcome-Based Educational (OBE) approach in teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is considered the emerging trend that has been adopted in educational institutions worldwide. It shows a shift from the input-based traditional teaching approaches to the specific outcome-based approach. The Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) has made it mandatory for the curriculum to be OBE based for universities offering engineering programs. Although attempts are made to follow the OBE approach, the constraints of the practitioners have yet to be determined for the effective implementation of OBE-based education. The study aims to determine the constraints English language teachers face in implementing the OBE approach in the ESP classroom of engineering students in Pakistan. For the study, the qualitative method has been used to collect the data from the English language teachers through semi-structured interviews. A four-step Interview Protocol Refinement (IPR) Framework was adopted to get the best possible quality data for refining semi-structured interviews.The study concludes that achieving desired results in engineering education, especially English courses, requires skills, traits and knowledge. The results indicate that though the respondents show a positive attitude towards OBE in the ESP classroom, lack ofteacher training, and ignorance of technical details are the impediments.
Word formation is a key part of morphological awareness (MA) which is essential for vocabulary in... more Word formation is a key part of morphological awareness (MA) which is essential for vocabulary increase but neglected by the teachers and course planners (Tahaineh, 2012). In Pakistan, students of English language are not explicitly given morphological awareness and most of the courses are taught in English for general purposes. The study explores the development of students' knowledge to use prefixes and suffixes meaningfully, in a paragraph writing. For this, they were given morphological awareness on the word formation to construct, identify and to self-correct the words. Data was collected quantitatively through pre-test and post-test. Students were given treatment to check the effectiveness of MA before the post-test. Participants of the study were 30 students of BS English Language and Literature, 3 rd semester’s students of a private university of Pakistan. The study found that morphological awareness is effective and improves students’ writings. It further indicates that...
Observing the latest practices on social media applications, role of hashtags have become a major... more Observing the latest practices on social media applications, role of hashtags have become a major concern to talk about. The emergence of social media has put huge impact on people of different age groups; thus, it is bringing a change in the pattern of communication and interaction (Kamran and Mansoor, 2017). Social media applications allow interaction while following new features and trends; for example, the use of hashtags. Emerging trend of hashtags is considerable and worth studying the perception of social media users in Pakistan. The study aims to analyze the popularity of social media application in Pakistan, and to what extent social media users are aware about the usage of hashtags. Four social media applications i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat were considered in the study depending upon their accessibility in Pakistan. Data was collected quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaire where 55 Pakistani social media u...
Over the past few years, online hashtags have gained tremendous fame mainly because of two reason... more Over the past few years, online hashtags have gained tremendous fame mainly because of two reasons: first, as digital information trackers and second, as short and spontaneous communication tags. The present study aims to explore language factors in three types of Facebook hashtags, that is, long, short, and multiple mixed. It further investigates each factor’s role in online communication by performing an in-depth examination through activities and close-ended questions. First, it identifies factors through the writing activities where participants wrote different hashtags with their intention behind each hashtag. It follows interpretation activities in which other participants wrote their interpretations about the already written hashtags. Further, a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was developed to note participants’ opinions about hashtags which were evaluated by the SPSS factor analysis test. Results of the study are divided into three sections and showed that lack of adequat...
PurposeThe current study aims to determine the viability of the tool developed by Abbas and Sarfr... more PurposeThe current study aims to determine the viability of the tool developed by Abbas and Sarfraz (2018) to translate English speech and text to Pakistan Sign Language (PSL) with bilingual subtitles.Design/methodology/approachFocus group interviews of 30 teachers of a Pakistani private university were conducted; who used the PSL translation tool in their classrooms for lecture delivery and communication with the deaf students.FindingsThe findings of the study determined the viability of the developed tool and showed that it is helpful in teaching deaf students efficiently. With the availability of this tool, teachers are not dependent on human sign language (SL) interpreters in their classrooms.Originality/valueOverall, this tool is an effective addition to educational technology for special education. Due to the lack of Sign Language (SL) understanding, learning resources and availability of human SL interpreters in Pakistan, institutions feel dependency and scarcity to educate d...
PurposeThis paper examines reasons of pragmatic functions' misinterpretation of three types o... more PurposeThis paper examines reasons of pragmatic functions' misinterpretation of three types of Facebook hashtags: long, short and multiple mixed hashtags.Design/methodology/approachFocus group interviews of 15 English language learners, who are also active users of Facebook and hashtags, are conducted. Thematic analysis is performed through the software Nvivo for arriving at reliable findings.FindingsThe findings show that unknown vocabulary in contents and lowercasing in long and short hashtags are major factors that cause misinterpretation. Also, the symbol of underscore and appropriate usage of upper and lowercasing of alphabets should be adopted in hashtag writing for the improvement in communication and successful conveyance of the intended meaning.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the online hashtag writing style by finding reasons for the misinterpretations of different types of hashtags. Hashtags have been developed for adequate communication (Livingstone, 2012)...
Observing the latest practices on social media applications, role of hashtags have become a major... more Observing the latest practices on social media applications, role of hashtags have become a major concern to talk about. The emergence of social media has put huge impact on people of different age groups; thus, it is bringing a change in the pattern of communication and interaction (Kamran and Mansoor, 2017). Social media applications allow interaction while following new features and trends; for example, the use of hashtags. Emerging trend of hashtags is considerable and worth studying the perception of social media users in Pakistan. The study aims to analyze the popularity of social media application in Pakistan, and to what extent social media users are aware about the usage of hashtags. Four social media applications i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat were considered in the study depending upon their accessibility in Pakistan. Data was collected quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaire where 55 Pakistani social media users participated. Results of the survey reveal that Pakistani users are more inclined towards using Facebook and Instagram than Twitter or Snapchat. The study further collected qualitative data from 8 Facebook users in an interview. Findings of the study show that hashtags are used on Facebook as fashionable trend to catch attention.
Effectiveness of Morphological Awareness in English Writing Composition of Pakistani Students at the Undergraduate Level-Case Study, 2018
Word formation is a key part of morphological awareness (MA) which is essential for vocabulary in... more Word formation is a key part of morphological awareness (MA) which is essential for vocabulary increase but neglected by the teachers and course planners (Tahaineh, 2012). In Pakistan, students of English language are not explicitly given morphological awareness and most of the courses are taught in English for general purposes. The study explores the development of students' knowledge to use prefixes and suffixes meaningfully, in a paragraph writing. For this, they were given morphological awareness on the word formation to construct, identify and to self-correct the words. Data was collected quantitatively through pre-test and post-test. Students were given treatment to check the effectiveness of MA before the post-test. Participants of the study were 30 students of BS English Language and Literature, 3 rd semester's students of a private university of Pakistan. The study found that morphological awareness is effective and improves students' writings. It further indicates that there is a need to include word formation as key component of English writing composition as undergraduate level. 1. Introduction Morphological awareness is a skill that allows language learners to understand the structure of words. Researchers believed that when language learners understand the morphological nature of words, they show impressive results in the development of different literacy skills such as reading, speaking, listening and writing (Oz, 2013).As English language contains number of words, the better way to learn new words and to increase the vocabulary is to understand common prefixes and suffixes. By knowing prefixes and suffixes, their meanings and rules, students get aware of the morphological structures of the new words of English language. According to Carlisle(1995), morphological awareness refers to individual's explicit knowledge. It also brings awareness of the internal structure of words and their capacity to reflect upon and manipulate upon their structure. Kuo and Anderson (2006), highlighted that understanding of word formation is necessary whereas Liu, McBride and Chang (2010), stated that MA is frequently associated with the development of reading and writing skills. They further added that MA and reading comprehension play important role in learning language. Oz (2013), mentioned that learners who understand affixation with word formation process perform better and become proficient in language.
The pandemic spread of COVID-19 (Omicron strain) has affected people around the world and all fie... more The pandemic spread of COVID-19 (Omicron strain) has affected people around the world and all fields of life. Research related to the spread of COVID-19 has attracted much attention, but the presented study focuses on the linguistic analysis of English news, which seems to be understudied. The aim of the study is to analyze the rhetorical devices, such as hyperbole and metaphor, used in English newspapers in reporting the course of the COVID-19 (Omicron strain) epidemic as strong means of emotional impact that contribute to the spread of panic and fear. The use of intensifier words and concept vagueness in English news, which also contribute to the readers’ sense of fear, is evaluated. Material and methods. Data is selected from 10 articles of 4 English newspapers: The Guardian, New York Times, China Daily and Dawn, published in 2020 and 2021. The findings were interpreted through theoretical analysis by codifying the emerging discursive themes. Results. It is shown that the choice of words and discursive practices in published newspaper articles, shaped the language of fear, which ultimately caused panic among readers and in the society. Conclusion. The discourse used in newspaper articles played a significant role in shaping public perception of the spread of COVID-19 (Omicron strain) by inducing fear of a pandemic. It is concluded that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the large amount of discourse devoted to the issue in English newspapers created a panic situation in the public.
The outcome-Based Educational (OBE) approach in teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is c... more The outcome-Based Educational (OBE) approach in teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is considered the emerging trend that has been adopted in educational institutions worldwide. It shows a shift from the input-based traditional teaching approaches to the specific outcome-based approach. The Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) has made it mandatory for the curriculum to be OBE based for universities offering engineering programs. Although attempts are made to follow the OBE approach, the constraints of the practitioners have yet to be determined for the effective implementation of OBE-based education. The study aims to determine the constraints English language teachers face in implementing the OBE approach in the ESP classroom of engineering students in Pakistan. For the study, the qualitative method has been used to collect the data from the English language teachers through semi-structured interviews. A four-step Interview Protocol Refinement (IPR) Framework was adopted to get the best possible quality data for refining semi-structured interviews.The study concludes that achieving desired results in engineering education, especially English courses, requires skills, traits and knowledge. The results indicate that though the respondents show a positive attitude towards OBE in the ESP classroom, lack ofteacher training, and ignorance of technical details are the impediments.
Multicultural Education- International Journal Documentation & Research Institute (IJDRI), 2023
The outcome-Based Educational (OBE) approach in teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is c... more The outcome-Based Educational (OBE) approach in teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is considered the emerging trend that has been adopted in educational institutions worldwide. It shows a shift from the input-based traditional teaching approaches to the specific outcome-based approach. The Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) has made it mandatory for the curriculum to be OBE based for universities offering engineering programs. Although attempts are made to follow the OBE approach, the constraints of the practitioners have yet to be determined for the effective implementation of OBE-based education. The study aims to determine the constraints English language teachers face in implementing the OBE approach in the ESP classroom of engineering students in Pakistan. For the study, the qualitative method has been used to collect the data from the English language teachers through semi-structured interviews. A four-step Interview Protocol Refinement (IPR) Framework was adopted to get the best possible quality data for refining semi-structured interviews.The study concludes that achieving desired results in engineering education, especially English courses, requires skills, traits and knowledge. The results indicate that though the respondents show a positive attitude towards OBE in the ESP classroom, lack ofteacher training, and ignorance of technical details are the impediments.
Word formation is a key part of morphological awareness (MA) which is essential for vocabulary in... more Word formation is a key part of morphological awareness (MA) which is essential for vocabulary increase but neglected by the teachers and course planners (Tahaineh, 2012). In Pakistan, students of English language are not explicitly given morphological awareness and most of the courses are taught in English for general purposes. The study explores the development of students' knowledge to use prefixes and suffixes meaningfully, in a paragraph writing. For this, they were given morphological awareness on the word formation to construct, identify and to self-correct the words. Data was collected quantitatively through pre-test and post-test. Students were given treatment to check the effectiveness of MA before the post-test. Participants of the study were 30 students of BS English Language and Literature, 3 rd semester’s students of a private university of Pakistan. The study found that morphological awareness is effective and improves students’ writings. It further indicates that...
Observing the latest practices on social media applications, role of hashtags have become a major... more Observing the latest practices on social media applications, role of hashtags have become a major concern to talk about. The emergence of social media has put huge impact on people of different age groups; thus, it is bringing a change in the pattern of communication and interaction (Kamran and Mansoor, 2017). Social media applications allow interaction while following new features and trends; for example, the use of hashtags. Emerging trend of hashtags is considerable and worth studying the perception of social media users in Pakistan. The study aims to analyze the popularity of social media application in Pakistan, and to what extent social media users are aware about the usage of hashtags. Four social media applications i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat were considered in the study depending upon their accessibility in Pakistan. Data was collected quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaire where 55 Pakistani social media u...
Over the past few years, online hashtags have gained tremendous fame mainly because of two reason... more Over the past few years, online hashtags have gained tremendous fame mainly because of two reasons: first, as digital information trackers and second, as short and spontaneous communication tags. The present study aims to explore language factors in three types of Facebook hashtags, that is, long, short, and multiple mixed. It further investigates each factor’s role in online communication by performing an in-depth examination through activities and close-ended questions. First, it identifies factors through the writing activities where participants wrote different hashtags with their intention behind each hashtag. It follows interpretation activities in which other participants wrote their interpretations about the already written hashtags. Further, a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was developed to note participants’ opinions about hashtags which were evaluated by the SPSS factor analysis test. Results of the study are divided into three sections and showed that lack of adequat...
PurposeThe current study aims to determine the viability of the tool developed by Abbas and Sarfr... more PurposeThe current study aims to determine the viability of the tool developed by Abbas and Sarfraz (2018) to translate English speech and text to Pakistan Sign Language (PSL) with bilingual subtitles.Design/methodology/approachFocus group interviews of 30 teachers of a Pakistani private university were conducted; who used the PSL translation tool in their classrooms for lecture delivery and communication with the deaf students.FindingsThe findings of the study determined the viability of the developed tool and showed that it is helpful in teaching deaf students efficiently. With the availability of this tool, teachers are not dependent on human sign language (SL) interpreters in their classrooms.Originality/valueOverall, this tool is an effective addition to educational technology for special education. Due to the lack of Sign Language (SL) understanding, learning resources and availability of human SL interpreters in Pakistan, institutions feel dependency and scarcity to educate d...
PurposeThis paper examines reasons of pragmatic functions' misinterpretation of three types o... more PurposeThis paper examines reasons of pragmatic functions' misinterpretation of three types of Facebook hashtags: long, short and multiple mixed hashtags.Design/methodology/approachFocus group interviews of 15 English language learners, who are also active users of Facebook and hashtags, are conducted. Thematic analysis is performed through the software Nvivo for arriving at reliable findings.FindingsThe findings show that unknown vocabulary in contents and lowercasing in long and short hashtags are major factors that cause misinterpretation. Also, the symbol of underscore and appropriate usage of upper and lowercasing of alphabets should be adopted in hashtag writing for the improvement in communication and successful conveyance of the intended meaning.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the online hashtag writing style by finding reasons for the misinterpretations of different types of hashtags. Hashtags have been developed for adequate communication (Livingstone, 2012)...
Observing the latest practices on social media applications, role of hashtags have become a major... more Observing the latest practices on social media applications, role of hashtags have become a major concern to talk about. The emergence of social media has put huge impact on people of different age groups; thus, it is bringing a change in the pattern of communication and interaction (Kamran and Mansoor, 2017). Social media applications allow interaction while following new features and trends; for example, the use of hashtags. Emerging trend of hashtags is considerable and worth studying the perception of social media users in Pakistan. The study aims to analyze the popularity of social media application in Pakistan, and to what extent social media users are aware about the usage of hashtags. Four social media applications i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat were considered in the study depending upon their accessibility in Pakistan. Data was collected quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaire where 55 Pakistani social media users participated. Results of the survey reveal that Pakistani users are more inclined towards using Facebook and Instagram than Twitter or Snapchat. The study further collected qualitative data from 8 Facebook users in an interview. Findings of the study show that hashtags are used on Facebook as fashionable trend to catch attention.
Effectiveness of Morphological Awareness in English Writing Composition of Pakistani Students at the Undergraduate Level-Case Study, 2018
Word formation is a key part of morphological awareness (MA) which is essential for vocabulary in... more Word formation is a key part of morphological awareness (MA) which is essential for vocabulary increase but neglected by the teachers and course planners (Tahaineh, 2012). In Pakistan, students of English language are not explicitly given morphological awareness and most of the courses are taught in English for general purposes. The study explores the development of students' knowledge to use prefixes and suffixes meaningfully, in a paragraph writing. For this, they were given morphological awareness on the word formation to construct, identify and to self-correct the words. Data was collected quantitatively through pre-test and post-test. Students were given treatment to check the effectiveness of MA before the post-test. Participants of the study were 30 students of BS English Language and Literature, 3 rd semester's students of a private university of Pakistan. The study found that morphological awareness is effective and improves students' writings. It further indicates that there is a need to include word formation as key component of English writing composition as undergraduate level. 1. Introduction Morphological awareness is a skill that allows language learners to understand the structure of words. Researchers believed that when language learners understand the morphological nature of words, they show impressive results in the development of different literacy skills such as reading, speaking, listening and writing (Oz, 2013).As English language contains number of words, the better way to learn new words and to increase the vocabulary is to understand common prefixes and suffixes. By knowing prefixes and suffixes, their meanings and rules, students get aware of the morphological structures of the new words of English language. According to Carlisle(1995), morphological awareness refers to individual's explicit knowledge. It also brings awareness of the internal structure of words and their capacity to reflect upon and manipulate upon their structure. Kuo and Anderson (2006), highlighted that understanding of word formation is necessary whereas Liu, McBride and Chang (2010), stated that MA is frequently associated with the development of reading and writing skills. They further added that MA and reading comprehension play important role in learning language. Oz (2013), mentioned that learners who understand affixation with word formation process perform better and become proficient in language.
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Papers by Umbreen Tariq
on the linguistic analysis of English news, which seems to be understudied. The aim of the study is to analyze the rhetorical devices, such as hyperbole and metaphor, used in English newspapers in reporting the course of the COVID-19 (Omicron strain) epidemic as strong means of emotional impact that contribute to the spread of panic and fear. The use of intensifier words and concept vagueness in English news, which also contribute to the readers’ sense of fear, is evaluated.
Material and methods. Data is selected from 10 articles of 4 English newspapers: The Guardian, New York Times, China Daily and Dawn, published in 2020 and 2021. The findings were interpreted through theoretical analysis by codifying the emerging discursive themes.
Results. It is shown that the choice of words and discursive practices in published newspaper articles, shaped the language of fear, which ultimately caused panic among readers and in the society.
Conclusion. The discourse used in newspaper articles played a significant role in shaping public perception of the spread of COVID-19 (Omicron strain) by inducing fear of a pandemic. It is concluded that during the
COVID-19 pandemic, the large amount of discourse devoted to the issue in English newspapers created a panic situation in the public.
on the linguistic analysis of English news, which seems to be understudied. The aim of the study is to analyze the rhetorical devices, such as hyperbole and metaphor, used in English newspapers in reporting the course of the COVID-19 (Omicron strain) epidemic as strong means of emotional impact that contribute to the spread of panic and fear. The use of intensifier words and concept vagueness in English news, which also contribute to the readers’ sense of fear, is evaluated.
Material and methods. Data is selected from 10 articles of 4 English newspapers: The Guardian, New York Times, China Daily and Dawn, published in 2020 and 2021. The findings were interpreted through theoretical analysis by codifying the emerging discursive themes.
Results. It is shown that the choice of words and discursive practices in published newspaper articles, shaped the language of fear, which ultimately caused panic among readers and in the society.
Conclusion. The discourse used in newspaper articles played a significant role in shaping public perception of the spread of COVID-19 (Omicron strain) by inducing fear of a pandemic. It is concluded that during the
COVID-19 pandemic, the large amount of discourse devoted to the issue in English newspapers created a panic situation in the public.