The Discourse

Supervisor’s Behavior as Predictor of Enhanced Research Performance among University Students

2023-07-13T19:46:46+00:00

This study examined the relationship between supervisors’ behaviour and the research performance of university students. The study was conducted using a quantitative correlational research design. Data were collected through a self-constructed questionnaire based on a survey approach. A total of 266 research students enrolled in MPhil and PhD programs participated in the study from two public sector universities in the Malakand division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The data were analyzed by using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The newly developed questionnaire used Factor analysis to get initial validation evidence. The mean score and standard deviation were calculated to analyze students' perceptions. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to determine the degree and direction of relations between the independent and dependent variables. The study found that the gender and age of research supervisors are positively correlated with the research performance of university students. The study further confirmed that the experience and qualification of supervisors were also positively correlated with the research performance of university students. It is concluded that the behavior of supervisors is a strong predictor of their students’ research performance.

Hybrid Warfare in A Post-Truth Era: A Case Study of Pakistan

2023-12-28T16:42:41+00:00

Hybrid warfare is an age-old concept of struggle. The tool-kit in vogue includes narratives, lawfare, viruses, gradual expansion, proxies, surveillance, drones, 5G technologies, economic blackmailing, assassinations, sabotage, subversion, secrecy, surprise, ethnic nationalism, sectarianism, manipulation of intolerance, coercive diplomacy, artificial intelligence, big-data, algorithms and the digital blitzkriegs in the cyber-space. The present context is a post-truth era where emotions prevail creating alternative facts, as opposed to inductive facts. The cognitive process of reasoning revolves around one’s beliefs and not truths. A narcissist control of truth-narrative is central to a crisis of legitimacy. This makes fact-free the contemporary post-truth strategic environment of hybrid warfare, a mixture of conventional and unconventional, plus an analytical construct too. The technological innovations have revolutionized this in an unfamiliar way. The integration of technologies remains. The concept of hybrid warfare resides in a grey-zone between black and white i.e., neither war nor peace. The distinction is blurred. The grey-zone is layered with disinformation, deception, false-narratives and fake-news. The success depends on a cold and logical mind-set in a low-intensity fifth-generation conflict to keep the other off-balance. Operational aims are harmonized with political goals and escalation is avoided. Hybrid warfare is sub-conventional geo-politics that is ambiguous and keeps the targeted perplexed. No response results in tactical defeats, while overplaying a hand ends-up as an irresponsible escalation. Also, information wars have structures that are part of hybrid warfare. Influence operations are directed to influence opinions in a post-truth era. The quality of these is on the rise. Holding one or the other responsible is difficult, not to mention deterring an opponent from playing a hard-ball. For one can escalate or deescalate without being part of it. Hybrid war does not take place in a given time-frame, yet long-term objectives are reached by keeping the pot boiling. Winning it is like winning a marathon that requires grit and resilience. It has emerged as an operational foreign policy instrument among nuclear powers in Eurasia. And an extended South Asia is no exception. Besides, creative imagination acts like a key in the conduct and countering of a hybrid war in a post-truth era. Likewise, a conductor has to be highly imaginative and impersonal to be a winner. Lastly, there is quite an unexplored academic space for the scarcity of literature on the theme. No inductive research has been carried out on the subject as to why Pakistan is not winning and how to win it. Hopefully, this study will be of an academic value for Pakistan which is the target of a hybrid war by India in a post-truth era. The non-experts can take whatever makes them happy, as opposed to a disinterested specialist.

Discourse Analysis of ‘The Sick Rose’ By William Blake in The Light of Text Within the Context

2023-02-26T06:11:02+00:00

This paper critically analyzes the vision of William Blake to compose his poem ‘The Sick Rose’ in 1794. Fairclough’s CDA (1989) model examined the language used in this poem, which claimed to debate the discourse of numerous literary texts. Theories represent the spectrum of diverse interpretations based on socio-cultural and power domains prevailing in present-day society. Theories helped construct a framework in light of text in the context of the fantasy world. The imagery world in the text is open to various interpretations. Still, this study focused on selecting and assessing a few important elements of the text that tend to reveal the fictional domain of the world in the context of theories based on the three-dimensional analysis method. Analysis of the poem ‘The Sick Rose’ (1794) based on Fairclough’s CDA three-dimensional model (1993) analysis revealed a new concept that prevailed in the writings of poet William Blake. The critical vision shows that poet William Blake used symbols to represent text within the context. The use of symbolism by the poet was an artistic attribute to highlight the implicit heinous crime of sexuality. He mastered crafting disadvantages that can be received with the corrupt attitude of men in society.

Relationship Of Pedagogical Knowledge with Classroom Practices of Teaching Reading Comprehension

2024-03-01T18:36:43+00:00

The study sought to determine the relationship between pedagogical knowledge and classroom practices of teaching reading comprehension to secondary school English teachers. Through a simple random sampling technique, 210 secondary school English teachers were selected for this study. Research data were collected through two self-developed questionnaires, one about pedagogical knowledge and one pertaining to classroom practices of secondary school English teachers. Inferential and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the collected data. Based on the data analysis, most secondary school English teachers appear to lack pedagogical knowledge, as most of their responses were inappropriate. Most participants lacked knowledge regarding activities such as finding the main theme, summarizing, working in groups, scanning, skimming, brainstorming, and activities for different stages and types of reading. Reading comprehension techniques such as scanning, skimming, and visualizing were unclear to them. According to the research study results, they could not teach English reading comprehension using appropriate techniques and strategies. A positive relationship was also found between pedagogical knowledge and classroom practices of teaching reading comprehension among secondary school English teachers. On the basis of the findings, it is recommended that teachers receive proper training to improve their pedagogical knowledge of teaching reading comprehension. The training may be provided through in-service training and material on teaching the teachers reading comprehension.

An Analytical Study of Language Teaching Perspectives at A Public Sector University in Pakistan

2024-03-02T09:28:31+00:00

The study aims to gain in-depth perspectives regarding language teaching practices at a public sector university in Pakistan. The study emphasizes the need to explore teaching practices to determine students’ learning outcomes positively. The qualitative research paradigm was chosen in this study. The tools and instruments employed were semi-structured interviews, observations, focus group interviews, tape-recording, video-recording and note-taking. The research participants included 125 students in the first year and three teachers. The purposive sampling was employed. The site of the study was the University of Sindh, Jamshoro. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the study resulted in valuable insights which can help university teachers understand the phenomenon of language teaching practices. By doing so, they can influence the learning outcomes in their classes and transform the language teaching and learning strategies positively. The study suggests that similar studies need to be replicated to determine effective learning outcomes through effective teaching skills at the university level.