Kashmir Journal of Language Research

Literacy Practices in Action: A Four Resource Model Analysis of Customer-centricity

Sarwet Rasul, Saima Umer — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

The aim of this study was to examine the concept of literacy practices as ‘socially-situated’ in the post-modern era, by exploring and identifying the various kinds of literacy practices employed by the Pakistani tailors in their professional work domains. ‘The Four Resources Model’, as designed by Serafini (2012), was employed as the principal framework with an intention to apply the concept of literacy practices to the four resources of designing, navigation, interpretation and interrogation; while remaining cognizant of the fluctuating nature of the communication. The study’s findings suggest that the Pakistani tailors, despite being formally illiterate, use a wide variety of literacy practices in support of their professional domain, including textual, verbal, visual, and digital literacies. It has also been found that these tailors frequently shift across and modify these practices in line with the needs of their customers. These findings sufficiently demonstrate that the post-modern construct of literacy practices as a set of skills rather than a mere ability to read and write is correct and in line with the dictates of the modern times.

Gender Dynamics in Mueenuddin’s In Other Rooms, Other Wonders: A Textual Analysis

Irfan Afzal, Rashida Imran — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

This paper examines gender dynamics in Mueenuddin’s short story collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders (2009). Using textual analysis as the method, it analyses two stories, “Provide, Provide” and “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders” to find instances where the boundaries of patriarchal gender constructs are pushed, and positive alternatives presented. The research employs Cornell's concepts of multiple masculinities, hegemonic masculinity and emphasised femininity as the main theoretical framework. Other feminist theories such as patriarchy, gender roles and intersectionality have also been utilised. The study reveals that Mueenuddin tends to destabilise the hegemonic status of masculinity at the hands of self-confident, aggressive, and ambitious women seeking to change their circumstantial reality. However, deeply entrenched patriarchal structures reclaim the space and relegate such women back to their socially defined position(s).

Representing Pakistani Current Economic Conditions through Social Media Memes: A Multimodal Analysis

Komal Ishtiaq , Easha Zainab , Sara Ameer, Zeast Arshad — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Keeping in view the current economic crisis and rising inflation in Pakistan, the present study analyzes memes on this specific issue and keeps the public informed about the present circumstances. In Pakistan animations, comics, and memes are very much common these days, due to the rising influence of social media. These memes contain various issues, from ordinary daily life to the most complicated socio-political ones. These days, memes are also gaining the consciousness of researchers. For the present study, a total of twelve memes, are selected as a sample from Instagram on the topic of inflation under five distinct categories that are, budget (2022-2023), petrol hikes, a ban on imports, depreciation of the Pakistani rupee, and a relief scheme of 2000 rupees. These are studied using a framework of “Multimodal Discourse Analysis” presented by Michan (2007) which has its roots in Kress (2011) and Leeuwen (2004). The results tell that the memes are informing the public about Pakistan’s current economic crisis and inflation in a humorous, yet sarcastic manner.

An Investigation of Postmodern Stylistic Elements in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies

Salma Naz , Manzoor Hassan — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Postmodern literature is noticeable for different literary style and approaches. For this reason, postmodernist novelists use legendary stylistic practices like intertextuality, metafiction, and parody etc., for uniqueness and diversity. The paper tends to demonstrate the various elements used by William Golding in his novel ‘Lord of the Flies’. Golding was a British prominent novelist, who was awarded Nobel Prize in 1983 for his literary distinctiveness. His novel is about boys who are beached on an unknown island and then they reveal their nature. Some remain civilized while others become brutal. The author has written it in the scenario of World War II. Firstly, this paper attempts to investigate the presence of parody and its playfulness, intertextuality, metafiction, and magical realism in Golding’s novel ‘Lord of the Flies’. Secondly, it further reviews to reveal that how the novelist has involved the reader in the story and impact of his techniques on them.

Synergizing Critical and Corpus Based Approaches in Studying Pakistani Lawn Fashion Discourse

Sufia Sultana — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

The study examines the social media verbal representation of apparel industry in Pakistani for which it delimits itself to female eastern wear apparel specifically branded and designer lawn only. The paper draws its framework from Barthes’ theory of fashion system. I built a specific corpus after observing Instagram posts of eight highly followed brands to define the rhetoric of Pakistani apparel fashion brands and the counter hegemonic discourse of bloggers and fashion writers published online commenting on these designer lawn collections. AntConc is used for corpus analysis of concordances, collocates and key words in context (KWIC). The findings reveal that in Pakistan lawn is not a mere comfortable clothing fabric to fight the soaring temperature in the hottest summer when temperature escalates up to 48 °C rather in summer another war is wagged between the designers launching heavily embellished expensive collections with foreign destination shoots. KWIC list of top 50 words include lawn, design*, collection*, embroidery*, store*, fashion, festive, luxe* but excludes comfort* and simple* that reflect the emerging discourse of luxury collection of heavily embroidered designer lawn. Verbal structure has been constructing a rhetoric in order to make a product more fashionable than it really is.

Ethical Concerns & Human Cloning: A Bioconservative Study of Mandanna's The Lost Girl

Faiqa Ahmad , Shazia Rose — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

This research article, using the lens of Bioconservatism, critically analyses the ethical concerns raised by Sangu Mandanna's novel The Lost Girl involving human cloning. This study delves into the complex ethical concerns surrounding cloning technology and considers its effects on identity, parent-child relationship, societal acceptance, and right to existence through a detailed analysis of the story of the novel, its characters, and themes. The aim of this article is to elicit critical debates on the moral dilemmas that emerge when science and ethics collide.

An independent analysis of the Phonological abilities of a Pahari speaking child with Delayed Language Development

Atique-ur-Rehman Abbasi , Ayesha Sohial — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

This study reports the independent analysis data of a Pahari (an Indo-Aryan language) speaking child with delayed language development (DLD) at the age of 6;6. Data is elicited using a word list comprising of the Pahari consonant segments (established by Khan (2013)) at all possible word positions. The descriptive profile of the subject includes: percentage of consonant correct (PCC), consonant errors in terms of phonological processes, distribution of segments in phonological environments and word shapes. The study concludes that consequent to the age inappropriate phonological deficits, the subject employs preference and avoidance strategies which lead to the phonological processes. This work is restricted to Pahari consonants and also does not put the subject’s performance in relational perspective in the absence of Pahari normative data.

Toxic Discourse: Hegemonic Oppression and Environmental Disequilibrium

Faryal Bukhari, Neelum Alams — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

With ecological changes taking place at a very fast pace and affecting all forms of lives on earth, Pakistani writers have also begun to address how human activities, especially humans’ exercise of power for grabbing resources and territories on earth, has done irreparable damage to our environment. This paper reflects on the environmental crisis that the selected novels hint at. The theoretical stance of the study is informed by Lawrence Buell's theory of Toxic Discourse. Making use of textual analysis as a research method, the study attempts to examine Kamila Shamsie's Kartography (2001) and Uzma Aslam Khan's Trespassing (2003). Elements of toxic discourse have been highlighted which are the outcome of different forms of hegemonic oppression. The analysis provides substantial evidence of falling apart environs that ground David and Goliath’s situation.

East Meets West: Celebrity Motherhood Portrayals on Instagram and their Impact on Maternal Self-Esteem

Faiza Yousaf, Musarat Yasmin — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Celebrities have long been considered influencers of human behaviour. These celebrities have been noticed to communicate certain discourse on motherhood on social networks, with young mothers being the most active users. A celebrity-mother's positive self-presentation online can affect others’ parental self-esteem. This research intends to explore and compare how motherhood is presented by Pakistani and American showbiz celebrities on the Instagram, the readers’ response and its potential impact on mothers. Following a mixed method approach, data is collected from eight female celebrities’ posts related to pregnancy and child, readers’ comments and interviews with new mothers. Feminist critical discourse analysis is used as the theoretical framework to explain the stereotypes about motherhood in East and West Countries. A discourse analysis is conducted to analyse Instagram data, while thematic analysis is conducted to analyse interview data. The analysis showed that new-mother celebrities from the East glorify a stereotypical motherhood as a blessing from God, a fulfilling experience replete with joy, and are found appreciative to their husbands for their support, conversely, mothers from the West display the courage to defy the taboo and call it a tough experience, while still finding a joy in it. Interview data shows new mothers expressed an anxiety and a pressure to conform to the positive self-image, and find it unrealistic due to potential changes that come along with motherhood. The study implies how language used on Instagram by celebrities may strengthen the stereotypes and influence the behaviour of women as mothers.

An Analysis of Language Learning Motivation

Azizullah, Sabina Shah — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Language learning motivation has always been under research and immense interest of the researchers and teachers. Language is almost meant for learning in multilingual classrooms, like Pakistani educational institutions where English is used as medium of instruction in classrooms for motivating the learners but the teachers and students switch to mother tongue mostly. Therefore, this survey study attempted to analyze the language motivation and strategies practiced by the teachers. The questionnaire was distributed among 50 university students studying at BS level (male/female), age ranging from 18 to 25. Quantitative research method was employed in this study. Findings of the survey unfolded a number of factors affecting language learning process. This study explores that a number of students appreciate English language learning environment. The study also indicates that English is adopted for academic purposes. The findings further revealed that language learning motivation is influenced by the use of indigenous and national language (i.e., Urdu).

Academic Literacy Practices: A Case Study of a Post Graduate Student

Nagina Kanwal, Malik Ajmal Gulzar, Iqra Aziz — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

This paper explores the academic writing practices of a post graduate student from a University of Pakistan. It also examines the role of English in academic writing and related problems, including the issues of identity involved in the writing processes and practices at university. The study is longitudinal and spans a period of 12 months in which data is collected through various means including student’s narrative, her written academic texts, and her discussion around these texts and surrounding practices. The study is located in a case study method of research and employs academic literacies approach to look into the writing processes, practices and perspectives on it. The data analyzed include the written narratives, the texts, and the semi-structured interviews, for linguistic analysis of texts the study draws on systemic functional linguistics. The paper interprets the multilingual student writer’s problems with writing and identity experienced at a university where writing is governed by dominant institutional norms and individual expectations of the teachers. The study has implications for both higher education institutions and teachers to play their role in addressing these problems.