Papers by Malik Ajmal Gulzar
Elementary Education Online, 2021
EDULEARN12 Proceedings, 2012
Journal of Gender and Social Issues, 2010
A Role of Hindko in Multilingual Community: Issues of Language(s) Choice and Use. Kashmir Journal of Language Research, Vol. 20, No.1, pp.95-108, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan., 2017
This study explores issues related to the use of Hindko in the multilingual settings through a so... more This study explores issues related to the use of Hindko in the multilingual settings through a sociolinguistic survey conducted among 60 Hindko speaking and 60 non-Hindko speaking participants in the Mansehra region. The focus is on the expanding use of Hindko among Hindko-speaking respondents and on the limited use of non-Hindko speaking respondents, relating this with instrumental and integrative attitudes. A general introduction to Hindko is followed by the objectives, and a review of previous studies related to instrumental and integrative attitudes towards using language as well as crosslinguistic and cross-cultural influences in the Mansehra region. The findings indicate that a significant number of Hindkowans and non-Hindkowans hardly speak Hindko in formal settings, for instance at the work place. As opposed to Rensch's (1992/2003) findings almost twenty five years ago, this survey shows that the reduced use of Hindko and contact with other vernaculars in the region is damaging the vitality of the original Hindko dialect. However, limiting the use of Hindko does not affect culture. Although another ethnic language i.e. Pashto, and the official language i.e. Urdu, are spoken among the vast majority of the population, these languages are seeping into the Hindko dialect. Such influence is also found in the culture to some extent, though the people wear the same traditional dress and celebrate the same festivals as purely Hindko-speaking society does.
Interstitial liminality, Assimilation and Alterity in H.M. Naqvi’s Home Boy, Kashmir Journal of Language Research, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 55-74, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan., 2021
In the wake of 9/11 catastrophe, the 'Muslim identity' came under serious suspicion and investiga... more In the wake of 9/11 catastrophe, the 'Muslim identity' came under serious suspicion and investigation that suddenly captured the consciousness/conscience of both the reader and the writer of the East and the West. Especially, it caught the attention of Pakistani writers because Pakistan had (largely) to bear the brunt of this tragedy. This study has a socio-political punch in the wake of 9/11 phenomenon that has seriously affected psychology of the Pakistani Muslim community in general and youth in particular. This paper also examines pre-9/11 conditions of the Muslims who feel and find themselves assimilated, integrated because of the interstitial liminal space which give them allowance for appropriation. I argue that post-9/11 scenario they not only find themselves physically displaced but also psychologically unsettled. The moment, they land into the new-land, find themselves gripped in a psychological limbo copping with new culture, people and customs. Sometimes they feel that they belong to both the cultures and at other times to the neither. It closely studies hegemonic role of state apparatus: Federal Bureau of Investigation and Metropolitan Detention Centre and the dominant role of American media, especially CNN which had been a source of (mis)representation of Islam and Muslims. They remain under strict surveillance of the invisible eye that reduce them to mere object position. Textual analysis has been used as a research method to read H. M. Naqvi's Home Boy. I have invoked specific theoretical concepts of Edward Said, Homi K. Bhabha, Frantz Fanon and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak for the analysis of my primary text.
The present review deals with critical evaluation of Hofstede's model. Through the critical evalu... more The present review deals with critical evaluation of Hofstede's model. Through the critical evaluation, the relevance and implication of Hofstede's model to English language learning and teaching in Pakistan has been commented. This review presents both positive and negative criticism on Hofstede's dimension to determine it suitable for ELL and ELT in Pakistani classrooms. Hofstede's dimension of uncertainty avoidance has been selected in order to check its implementation in Pakistani classrooms. The list of linguistic indicators of uncertainty avoidance including hedges and emphatic expressions (Hyland, 1998; Koutsantoni, 2005) has been selected as the framework. To analyze the level of uncertainty avoidance by the contents of this framework, 30 research theses of native English writers and 30 research theses of non-native English writers have been downloaded from reliable websites. The collected data is converted into corpus and has been processed through Antconc. The frequency drawn by Antconc shows similarities and differences of hedges and emphatic expressions in both corpora comparatively. The results indicate that native English writers are more emphatic and less tentative. They use fewer hedges according to their dire requirements while non-native English writers use more hedges and are more tentative. They are less confident to emphasize their writings and expressions. This research guides non-native English writers or students in Pakistani classrooms how they can increase the level of certainty of their writings.
Cross-Cultural Study of Speech Acts and Politeness in Urdu and English Short Stories, ELF Annual Research Journal Vol. 23, pp. 93-122, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan., 2021
Politeness is culture specific and the degree of politeness can be observed well through the use ... more Politeness is culture specific and the degree of politeness can be observed well through the use of speech acts which are governed by social conventions. The present study aims to explore the cross-cultural differences and similarities in the use of politeness strategies as manifested in the literary works of two female writers from Urdu and English backgrounds. To achieve this purpose two Urdu short stories by Hajra Masroor and two English short stories by Katherine Mansfield are chosen. In this study the descriptive qualitative method is applied and the data is analyzed according to Searle's five categories of Speech Acts. Since politeness is studied through the use of speech acts in the given stories, it reveals that speech acts there are no marked differences between Urdu and English short stories. Nonetheless, it is the analysis of functions/illocutionary forces of those speech acts which offers a contrastive perspective to look into cultural and social orientations. The study concludes that there are differences in cultural norms, attitudes and cultural assumptions that bring in the specific differences in the observance of politeness between different languages, and also the use of speech acts reflect the degree of politeness which varies in quantity and type from one writer to another and hence from one language to another giving deeper insights into their cultures.
Academic Writing and Issues of Identity: A Focus on Texts and Practices of a Postgraduate Student, Erevna: Journal of Linguistics & Literature, Vol. 5 No. 2 , pp. 35-50, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Writing in English is essential at the higher Academic writing Identity Academic Literacies Appro... more Writing in English is essential at the higher Academic writing Identity Academic Literacies Approach Higher Education Systemic Functional Linguistics education level. The present study seeks to find the complexities involved in academic writing at the postgraduate level. The paper aims to explore dominant literacy practices associated with writing and the way writing intersects with identity by focusing not only on the texts but also the perspectives of a postgraduate student. The study demands an in-depth analysis of manifold data collected through different phases; therefore, only one postgraduate student is chosen, and her written narrative, interview, and her academic texts are taken for the study. Academic Literacies Approach and ethnographic method of research are used to look into the studied phenomenon while Systemic Functional Linguistics is used for the linguistic analysis of the academic texts which proves to substantiate the findings. The frequent themes that arose from this research are aspects of identity that the student identify with or reject, and those that she aspires to represent. The findings help to achieve a precise and true understanding of writing at university, the issues of the writer's identity, and those of the issues related to disciplinary and academic conventions. The study reveals the student's concerns about the demands placed upon them by the teachers, disciplines, and institutions broadly which they must conform to as well as the need to adhere to established writing practices and academic conventions in order to succeed.
A Pakistani Perspective About the Influence of Mobile Assisted Language Learning on Madrassa Students. Journal of Language, Linguistics and Literature, Vol. 05, pp. 01-21. Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi. , 2017
The practice of using Mobile phones is a common feature in this era. It is also impelling the edu... more The practice of using Mobile phones is a common feature in this era. It is also impelling the educational world and formal educational institutions. However, in Islamic countries, there are some other centres of education which are known as madrassas. Madrassas, along with with with the Quranic (Holy book of Islam) education, also give formal education to the students. For madrassa students, the concept and invasion of technology for learning is still an unintelligible concept, especially the use of mobile phones for language learning purposes. Mobile Assisted Language Learning, also known as MALL, is the latest trend in the technologically advanced countries. However, in less advanced countries, this concept is in its early phase. In this research, the objective was to find out the efficiency of MALL on the grammatical aspects of madrassa students of Pakistan. The sample of this study encompasses 100 students, 10 each, from10 different madrassas of Pakistan who are studying at matriculation level (i.e. 10 th grade). The participants were chosen through a random sampling technique. The students were presented with pre and post-test to find out the efficacy of MALL. The pre and post-test questions were focused on one aspect of grammar i.e. parts of speech out of which only two kinds of verb transitive and intransitive were chosen. The findings revealed that MALL creates a progressive impression on the madrassa students as they learn the verb forms taught by the teacher effectively and more efficiently than before. The results of the pretest and posttest show vivid differences amongst the performance of the students. As English is one of their biggest learning problems, the madrassa students feel comfortable and participated positivity in learning English through MALL.
Elementary Education Online journal, Vol 19, No. 04, pp. 6161-6171 Ilkogretim Online - http://ilkogretim-online.org doi: 10.17051/ilkonline.2020.04.765024, 2020
In UG, principles and parameters postulate that innate language faculty possess finite set of fun... more In UG, principles and parameters postulate that innate language faculty possess finite set of fundamental principles common to all languages and seeks to explain the variation between languages through parameters. In other words the parameters determine syntactic variability amongst languages within pre-set limits for a particular parameter. This study takes into account one of such parametric variations among the languages i.e. phenomenon of null-subject parameter and explores whether Urdu language is null subject / pro-drop or not. The study analyses an exchange between teacher and mother. It reveals that null-subject constituent is not only a characteristic feature of English syntax but a feature of Urdu syntax as well. Moreover, it verifies that contrary to English structure, Urdu is pro-drop or null subject language within pre-set limit i.e. binary principle. This study is significant as it contributes fresh linguistic data for the principles and parameter theory.
Interstitial liminality, Assimilation and Alterity in H.M. Naqvi’s Home Boy, Kashmir Journal of Language Research, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 55-74, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan., 2021
In the wake of 9/11 catastrophe, the 'Muslim identity' came under serious suspicion and investiga... more In the wake of 9/11 catastrophe, the 'Muslim identity' came under serious suspicion and investigation that suddenly captured the consciousness/conscience of both the reader and the writer of the East and the West. Especially, it caught the attention of Pakistani writers because Pakistan had (largely) to bear the brunt of this tragedy. This study has a socio-political punch in the wake of 9/11 phenomenon that has seriously affected psychology of the Pakistani Muslim community in general and youth in particular. This paper also examines pre-9/11 conditions of the Muslims who feel and find themselves assimilated, integrated because of the interstitial liminal space which give them allowance for appropriation. I argue that post-9/11 scenario they not only find themselves physically displaced but also psychologically unsettled. The moment, they land into the new-land, find themselves gripped in a psychological limbo copping with new culture, people and customs. Sometimes they feel that they belong to both the cultures and at other times to the neither. It closely studies hegemonic role of state apparatus: Federal Bureau of Investigation and Metropolitan Detention Centre and the dominant role of American media, especially CNN which had been a source of (mis)representation of Islam and Muslims. They remain under strict surveillance of the invisible eye that reduce them to mere object position. Textual analysis has been used as a research method to read H. M. Naqvi's Home Boy. I have invoked specific theoretical concepts of Edward Said, Homi K. Bhabha, Frantz Fanon and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak for the analysis of my primary text.
Hofstede Model: Relevance and Implication to English Language Learning and Teaching in Pakistani Classrooms, International Journal of Special Education Vol. 37, No. 3, pp 4420-4434, https://internationaljournalofspecialeducation.com/submission/index.php/ijse/article/view/671, 2022
The present review deals with critical evaluation of Hofstede's model. Through the critical evalu... more The present review deals with critical evaluation of Hofstede's model. Through the critical evaluation, the relevance and implication of Hofstede's model to English language learning and teaching in Pakistan has been commented. This review presents both positive and negative criticism on Hofstede's dimension to determine it suitable for ELL and ELT in Pakistani classrooms. Hofstede's dimension of uncertainty avoidance has been selected in order to check its implementation in Pakistani classrooms. The list of linguistic indicators of uncertainty avoidance including hedges and emphatic expressions (Hyland, 1998; Koutsantoni, 2005) has been selected as the framework. To analyze the level of uncertainty avoidance by the contents of this framework, 30 research theses of native English writers and 30 research theses of non-native English writers have been downloaded from reliable websites. The collected data is converted into corpus and has been processed through Antconc. The frequency drawn by Antconc shows similarities and differences of hedges and emphatic expressions in both corpora comparatively. The results indicate that native English writers are more emphatic and less tentative. They use fewer hedges according to their dire requirements while non-native English writers use more hedges and are more tentative. They are less confident to emphasize their writings and expressions. This research guides non-native English writers or students in Pakistani classrooms how they can increase the level of certainty of their writings.
Academic Writing and Issues of Identity: A Focus on Texts and Practices of a Postgraduate Student, Erevna: Journal of Linguistics & Literature, Vol. 5 No. 2 , pp. 35-50, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan., 2021
Writing in English is essential at the higher Academic writing Identity Academic Literacies Appro... more Writing in English is essential at the higher Academic writing Identity Academic Literacies Approach Higher Education Systemic Functional Linguistics education level. The present study seeks to find the complexities involved in academic writing at the postgraduate level. The paper aims to explore dominant literacy practices associated with writing and the way writing intersects with identity by focusing not only on the texts but also the perspectives of a postgraduate student. The study demands an in-depth analysis of manifold data collected through different phases; therefore, only one postgraduate student is chosen, and her written narrative, interview, and her academic texts are taken for the study. Academic Literacies Approach and ethnographic method of research are used to look into the studied phenomenon while Systemic Functional Linguistics is used for the linguistic analysis of the academic texts which proves to substantiate the findings. The frequent themes that arose from this research are aspects of identity that the student identify with or reject, and those that she aspires to represent. The findings help to achieve a precise and true understanding of writing at university, the issues of the writer's identity, and those of the issues related to disciplinary and academic conventions. The study reveals the student's concerns about the demands placed upon them by the teachers, disciplines, and institutions broadly which they must conform to as well as the need to adhere to established writing practices and academic conventions in order to succeed.
Journal of Language, Linguistics and Literature, Vol. 05, pp. 01-21. Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi. , 2017
The practice of using Mobile phones is a common feature in this era. It is also impelling the edu... more The practice of using Mobile phones is a common feature in this era. It is also impelling the educational world and formal educational institutions. However, in Islamic countries, there are some other centres of education which are known as madrassas. Madrassas, along with with with the Quranic (Holy book of Islam) education, also give formal education to the students. For madrassa students, the concept and invasion of technology for learning is still an unintelligible concept, especially the use of mobile phones for language learning purposes. Mobile Assisted Language Learning, also known as MALL, is the latest trend in the technologically advanced countries. However, in less advanced countries, this concept is in its early phase. In this research, the objective was to find out the efficiency of MALL on the grammatical aspects of madrassa students of Pakistan. The sample of this study encompasses 100 students, 10 each, from10 different madrassas of Pakistan who are studying at matriculation level (i.e. 10 th grade). The participants were chosen through a random sampling technique. The students were presented with pre and post-test to find out the efficacy of MALL. The pre and post-test questions were focused on one aspect of grammar i.e. parts of speech out of which only two kinds of verb transitive and intransitive were chosen. The findings revealed that MALL creates a progressive impression on the madrassa students as they learn the verb forms taught by the teacher effectively and more efficiently than before. The results of the pretest and posttest show vivid differences amongst the performance of the students. As English is one of their biggest learning problems, the madrassa students feel comfortable and participated positivity in learning English through MALL.
European Journal of Gynaecological Oncology, Feb 10, 2017
To evaluate the expression and clinical significance of H2AX in cervical squamous carcinoma. The ... more To evaluate the expression and clinical significance of H2AX in cervical squamous carcinoma. The expression of H2AX in the cervical squamous carcinoma of 37 patients and in the normal cervical tissue of 15 patients was detected by immuneohistochemical method. Chi-square, correlation analysis, and Kaplan-Meier were utilized to analyze the data. The positive expression rate of H2AX in cervical squamous carcinoma was higher than that in normal cervical tissues (p = 0.016) . The expression of H2AX was negatively correlated with FIGO staging, vaginal invasion, and parametrial infiltration (p < 0.05). Survival analysis showed the expression intensity of H2AX had no significant effect on the prognosis. H2AX was an anticancer protein for cervical squamous carcinoma.
Erevna: Journal of Linguistics and Literature, 2020
This study is a comprehensive investigation of Saudi university EFL classroom interactants' [... more This study is a comprehensive investigation of Saudi university EFL classroom interactants' [faculty & students] awareness towards various dynamics of code switching (hereinafter CS). The participants comprised of 100 faculty members and 100 students drawn from Taif University English Language Center [henceforth TUELC]. A 22 item questionnaire was adapted on a Likert-scale to elicit their perceptions related to various functions of CS in a Saudi EFL classroom context. The results revealed that both groups [faculty & students] indicated almost the same results as far the attitudes towards the reasons that prompt CS in the EFL classroom are concerned but they showed comparatively wider differences towards perceptions of the awareness of CS in Saudi EFL universities classrooms (section 1) and perceptions of the subjective norms of CS in Saudi EFL universities classrooms (section 2) of the questionnaire. The findings of the study reveal that Saudi EFL classroom interactants bear qui...
English is the most widely used language in the world of academia, and it is true for the reason ... more English is the most widely used language in the world of academia, and it is true for the reason that the past few years have witnessed an increase in teaching through English at all levels in Pakistan. Besides, the influence of the local languages can be traced-out in the interaction between teachers and students in bilingual classrooms, as Pakistan is a multilingual country and educational institutions are essentially bilingual. Moreover, both trainers and trainees are bilinguals and they code-switch from English to Urdu in the natural flow of classroom discourse. Therefore, this paper has tried to investigate the role of code-switching and L1 in the bilingual classroom discourse with special reference to Pakistani teachers/experts ’ perceptions. Also, the main purpose of this study was to examine the issues related to language choice and use. For this purpose, investigative methodology was adopted to study the opinions of the educational experts and data were collected through in...
The current research explores the barriers and difficulties faced by Pakistani ELT Teachers while... more The current research explores the barriers and difficulties faced by Pakistani ELT Teachers while integrating CALL into their class rooms in Pakistan. Advancement of technology in every section of life has made visible changes in the last twenty years. A Scholar in [1] is of the views that in educational sector and language leaning scenario now individuals are trying to infuse ways which are technology based and are innovative and supportive in language learning. Use of Computers in teaching learning is a common practice in the world for the last 20 years; however, in Pakistan this concept of CALL is still in its infancy. infusion of technology based learning is quite a new phenomenon for Teachers as well as for the students which is getting popular in Pakistan, the soul of CALL integration is always the teacher who uses different technological methods to develop innovative ideas and interest in students. The major difference is that CALL class room is not teacher centered rather it...
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Papers by Malik Ajmal Gulzar