Journal of Educational Research and Social Sciences Review (JERSSR)

Tracing Reading Fallacies in Pakistani English Language Teaching Classroom at Undergraduate Level in universities of south Punjab, Pakistan

Amir Hafeez Malik, Abdul Rashid, Awais Shafiq — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The present study explores practical reading practices in classrooms focusing on how it is done and what are the output results with special attention to the fallacies emerging from these practices. Reading is an ever-present activity in every undergraduate classroom in Pakistani academic setting. It was observed and analyzed that reading skill is not given due importance in teaching learning process. In most Pakistani undergraduate classroom the reading activities are not done with taking care of the concept of reading skills and related sub-skills such as reading process, types and purposes. The routine strategy is devoid of application of reading skills. The present paper investigates analysis of reading fallacies present in Pakistani undergraduate classrooms. The most common fallacies dealt with in this article are: (i) text reading in class is just going through the texts (ii) text reading is just knowing the written words (iii) reading in class is looking at the words. The date was collected from 200 students of different study groups such as sciences, IT, arts and commerce. The data was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The results reached were verified by analysing each item separately as well as holistically. The suggestions and recommendations were also inferred from the obtained results. The purpose of the study was to highlight the most common fallacies and provide possible applicable solutions for minimizing and to a great extent eradicating these fallacies as they harm the teaching learning process and prove an obstacle in the achievement of SLO’s. It is aimed and hoped that this study will open new avenues of research in analyses of other language skills in the classrooms.

Critical Thinking as a Twenty First Century Skill

Dr. Hukamdad, Prof. Dr. Rafaqat Ali Akbar — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This research is aimed at focusing the importance of critical thinking as a twenty first century skill. This work also targeted at providing Quranic and Western concept of critical thinking skill i.e. one of the most important skills of twenty first century. Quranic means the concept given in Quran and Western concept means the concept and ideas given by Western writers, scholars and researchers about critical thinking skill. It serves as a pioneer work on critical thinking as a twenty first century skill in perspective of Quranic and West. Critical thinking skill possesses immense significance as a twenty first skill for human beings. It throws light on the views of Western writers and researchers and Quran on critical thinking. It deals with the capability to think rationally and its importance is enhanced as the paramount ability which substantiates that this skill to be mastered by new generation. At one end this work is conceptions of West about critical thinking and at the second end it draws attention to verses of Quran which focus on concept of critical thinking and its importance. Critical thinking is higher order thinking. Critical Thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. Various approaches of critical thinking have been presented by researchers. The Holy Quran persuades and supports us to employ our capability to examine, assess, and evaluate. The holy Quran encourages human beings to think critically.

A Lexical Analysis of Pakistani and Indian Budget Speeches

Sidra Ahmad, Iqra Iqbal, Shahzadi Sumra — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Present research involves Pakistani and Indian budget speeches for corpus driven analysis to examine the lexical choices. It is a mix method research involving both the qualitative as well as quantitative paradigms of research. The budget speeches from 2009 to 2013 have been selected to compile the corpus. Pakistani budget speeches have 4607 types and 30098 tokens in corpus, whereas the types of Indian budget speeches are 5569 and its token are 46147. For tagging the corpora CLAWS Tagger C7 Tagset has been used and to study the concordance lines Antconc 3.2.1 has been involved; its major role is to extract the parts of speech and measure the frequencies of chosen words. Lexical fields have been classified through key wordlist and frequency. Position of lexical fields has been determined through concordance plot with the help of software the major objective of the research is to investigate the lexical features of PBS and IBS. For this purpose, similar and different lexical categories of Pakistan and Indian budget speeches of nouns and verbs have been formed to finalize the results. The study concludes that budget discourse has its own specified language which is designed according to the set phenomenon of government(s) to achieve indicated goals.

Tracing Pakistani Woman’s Political Voice in Kamila Shamsie’s Broken Verses

Dr. Azim Ullah, Shaukat Khan Hayat Khan — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper attempts to explore Kamila Shamsie’s Broken Verses, probing women’s empowerment and resistance against the socio-political oppressions during the three crucial decades of 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s in Pakistan. Contending that Pakistan’s progressive intelligentia during the aforementioned decades reacted against the repressive forces backed by establishment, the paper examines how Broken Verses highlights women’s voices, rewriting the role of traditional Pakistani woman and further broadening the latter’s significant part in the country’s politics. The paper explores how Shamsie’s women lead the progressive march, confronting the retrogressive forces working under Pakistan’s civil and military regimes and thereby, epitomizing the revolutionary role of modern Pakistani women breaking with all precedents of perseverance and valor in the country’s history of resistance. The study examines that Pakistani women withstand against state’s oppressions and suppressions of women’s voices throughout the novel projecting them as proponent of democracy.

Language of Culinary Discourse and Cultural Preservation: A case study of first- and second-generation Punjabi Speakers

Dr. Aneela Gill, Muhammad Riaz , Amara Batool — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Food is an important aspect of any culture and so is language. The study hypothesizes that the language in which the culinary discourse takes place plays a role in preserving that language’s (culinary) culture. In order to test this hypothesis, dinner-time conversations of six families have been recorded: three Punjabi-speaking families and three Urdu-Punjabi families (in which the second generation speaks Urdu). Moreover, three Punjabi speakers and three Urdu-Punjabi speakers are interviewed. The data thus collected are analyzed using van Dijk’s (1993) framework of critical discourse analysis, which is presented as a conceptual triangle that connects society, discourse, and social cognition. The findings of the study reveal that the Urdu-speaking second generation of Punjabi speakers demonstrates either an unfamiliarity or a dislike for traditional Punjabi food. They are also found unaware of most of the culinary vocabulary, show a greater inclination towards fast food, and, therefore, exhibit a noticeable change in the culinary culture with the change in their language.

An Investigation of Physics Laboratory and its Effects on Students Learning at Secondary Level in Mardan

Mr. Waqas Ahmad, Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Irshadullah, Dr. Maksal Minaz — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The quantitative study aimed to investigate Physics Laboratory and its effects on students learning at Secondary Level in Mardan. The objectives of the study were, to investigate the physical resources in physics laboratory at secondary level in Mardan; and to inquire the effects of physical resources on students learning at secondary level in Mardan. This study was delimited to male public sector secondary schools in district Mardan. All the (23059) secondary school students in district Mardan were the population for this study (EMIS, 2019). A sample of (400) Secondary School Students of class 9th and 10th were selected randomly in this research work. A closed ended Questioner was used as a research instrument in this study with the options of ‘Yes’, ‘No’, and ‘Undecided” collected and data were analysed by using simple percentages. Graphs and data were interpreted. Major findings of the study showed that physical resources help Students in their learning activities. Majority of students responded that physics laboratory having fully equipped with physical recourses. It was concluded that Physics laboratory is fully equipped& facilitated. It was recommended that laboratories should be upgraded & teachers should be properly trained.

An Analytical Study of Perceived Pedagogical Competencies of Prospective Teachers in the light of National Professional Standards for Teachers

Sehrish Mushtaq, Dr. Shazia Zamir — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Every year, a substantial number of prospective teachers are trained in Pakistan. As they immediately begin teaching in schools, prospective teachers spend a lot of time learning about and comprehending the teaching context, and this is when pedagogical competences begin to take shape. The recent focus of the research was on perceived pedagogical competencies of prospective teachers in the public sector universities of Punjab Province. The proposed study was aimed to assess the perceived level of pedagogical competencies of prospective teachers in the light of National Professional Standards for teachers. The study was descriptive in nature and survey method was used to collect data. A self-reported scale derived from three pedagogical competencies of NPSTs (Subject matter knowledge, Instructional planning and strategies and Assessment). The study was delimited to these three standards only due to time restraints. All prospective teachers at Punjab's public sector universities made up the study's population. To gather data, a simple random sampling technique was used. Thirty six male and seventy two female prospective teachers constituted the sample of the study. Descriptive statistics were applied to analyze the data. It is concluded that male and female prospective teachers perceived high level of Instructional Planning & Strategies competencies. Likewise it was concluded that prospective teachers have lower scores in Assessment competencies as compared to subject matter & knowledge competencies.

A study to Investigate the Determinants Related to Creative Attitude and its Relationship toward Social Intelligences among University Students

Fahad Maqbool, Dr. Nighat Tabassum, Muhammad Imran Shahid — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Creativity creates a new and valuable thinking style that makes inventive perception as well practical experiences. The main objectives of the study were to investigate the determinants related to creative attitude among university students and also check the relationship between creative attitudes toward social intelligences among university Students. The researcher was used quantitative approach. The population of the study was selected from the three different universities that are existed in Faisalabad. Sample is the representative subset of the population. Being a social scientist, we study sample rather than population because of limited resources and generalized the findings on the whole population. Four hundred (400) students were considered for this research by using convenient sampling technique. The researcher was used two (2) different scales to obtain the responses of the students. First, the creativity styles questionnaire by (Kemmler & Holman, 1997) that consisted on creativity capacity, environmental control, use of senses and superstation. The second scale toward social intelligence by (Silvera et al., 2001) that consisted on communal facts base process, social skills and social awareness. Determinants of creative attitude determines different sub factors that are very responsible for creative attitude e.g. creativity capacity elaborated self-perception support the creative attitude however the environmental control/behavioral self-regulation, superstition and use of the senses directly enhance the creative attitude among the student and they think different from other and doing well as like others. The relationship between creativity and social intelligence indicated that environmental control was directly associated with social information processing however the sub factor of creativity use of the senses nonstop able correlated with social information and social awareness. Additionally the other factors e.g. correlated in moderated level base.

Undergraduate Students Community Service Participation for Promoting Civic Engagement in Universities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad

Saadia Panni, Dr. Khushbakht Hina, Habiba Junaid — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Sustainable development is an underlying goal of Higher Education, which is largely achieved by universities through community service and research projects. Participation of students in community development projects aims to develop their civic engagement and prepares them as future leaders in their fields. This descriptive research was therefore conducted as a baseline study to examine the nature of community service conducted by university students and their civic engagement. A questionnaire was administered on 984 purposively sampled undergraduate students from six public sector universities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, who had engaged in community work. In order to draw relevant findings, frequency, percentage, and quantitative descriptive analyses were conducted to figure out the nature of community service participation of students, and the goals of civic engagement that they achieved. On the basis of the findings, HEIs are recommended to educate students about service learning, and formally train their students for undertaking community projects, with practical suggestions for promoting civic engagement through community service for a sustainable future.

The Impact of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on the Performance of Elite Rowing Athletes

Muhammad Rushd-ud -din Butt, Muhammad Ghazi-ud-din Butt, Ghulam Shabbir Anjum — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Background: The rowing being the fitness sports mainly depends upon the endurance component of fitness as valued by the trainers and coaches. But examination of latest training methods to attain optimal performance from elite rowing athletes compelled the trainers to develop combination of cross-fitness and high intensity training versions to achieve competitive performances.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of high intensity interval training (HIIT) on the performance of male (2Kms) elite rowing athletes.

Methodology: This quasi-experimental study was conducted with non-probability convenience sampling over a period of 8 weeks. Total n=20 national and international rowing male athletes, aged from 17-32 years, participated during camping for the preparation of national rowing championship at Pakistan Sports Board, Jinnah Complex Islamabad, Pakistan. The athletes with any disease, or trauma and coaches were excluded. The athletes underwent 8 Wks (HIIT) fitness training to improve their overall performance in a controlled training environment. The results of the study were analyzed in frequencies, percentages. One sample t-Test was also incorporated to compare / compute the per-post intervention of 8 weeks.

Results: Study revealed significant difference in the scores of the beep (VO2Max) tests. The per-post experiment performance of VO2Max showed, (Mean ± SD), 48.61 ± 4.69 and 52.89 ± 4.85 (mL/Kg/min) respectively, whereas the actual performance of 2km rowing (Mean ± SD) were found 6.84 ± 0.346 and 6.40 ± 0.242 (Mins) respectively. The association between fitness capacity and actual event performance were also analysed. The null hypothesis was rejected and association of high intensity training showed two tailed significant difference < 0.001by analysing through One Sample Test.

Conclusion: The eight weeks, high intensity interval training (HIIT) showed substantial improvement in overall fitness and performances of (2KMs) elite rowing athletes.

Recommendations: The advance coaches and trainers of today’s professional rowing athletes must incorporate this important training technique of (HIIT) during periodization, to improve the standards and overall performances.

Examine the Attitudes of Prospective Teachers towards Teaching Profession

Dr. Sunble Bibi, Humaira Abbasi, Misbah Shafait Abbasi — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Education is a key factor to bring change in society. Teachers are the people who bring this change productively. An important matter is the positive attitude. The key purpose of this study is to determine the attitude of prospective teachers that studying in the B.Ed. Hons, in teacher education institutions. This study was a quantitative and survey questionnaire that based on a five-point Likert scale was used. The sample of the study consisted of 200 respondents. Data was analyzed through SPSS by using a t-test. The results determine that female prospective teachers have a more attitude than males. Moreover, public sector prospective profession as compared to private sector prospective teachers. Based on results, it may be recommended that teachers may be provided a conducive environment for learning that ensures the system of prepare the prospective teachers motivated, energetic and more inspire for teaching for completion of their responsibilities more effectively.

Kot Diji Fort and Mound of Diji, Khairpur Current Issues Regarding Administrations and Tourism Development

Surhan Fatima, Sabeen Shah, Ifrah Fahim — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper deals with the current tourism development issues present at Kot Diji fort and mound of Diji Khairpur, Sindh. To know what are the problem in these both sites interviews were conduct through open-ended questions. The questions asked in the interviews were gathered from reviewing different kind of literature on tourism, heritage and facilities at tourist’s sites. Eleven interviews done for survey. The interviews done via snowball sampling method. The data was collected and analysed through tabular analysis. It was said by the respondents of interviews that there are number of development issues at Kot Diji fort and mound of Kot Diji Khairpur like administrations problem, physical service, services, encroachment and self-sufficiency kind of issues. Respondents gave various suggestion for the problems present at Kot Diji fort and mound of Diji Khairpur, Sindh. The tourism authority must take action for the problem at both heritage sites.

Factor Effecting on Quality Teaching Learning at Public Sector Schools in Karachi Pakistan

Madeeha Jabeen, Dr. Zahid Ali, Dr. Nazir Ahmad — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Pakistan stands in the lowest ranks in effective teaching and learning in the world. There are more than a few reasons which are responsible for this state of concern. Incompetency of facilitators is the key factor among many of them. This study, grounded on an in-depth analysis of the prevailing literature, critically investigates the problems faced by students by the irresponsible behaviour, incompetency and lack of dedication towards quality teaching and lack of resources at public schools in Karachi, the most populated and metropolitan city of Pakistan. The study exposed that the teaching profession is run by the least trained, unmotivated teachers, as they are highly affected by biases, duplicity, and merit. Inadequacy of trained teachers in schools, absence of newest technical and pedagogical abilities as well as the paucity of teaching and learning resources in schools leading in overworked teaching personnel. All these things together have a tremendous detrimental impact on the nurturing and education of children which has sharply damaged the process of teaching and learning in schools. These difficulties can be removed to a maximum level by giving a warm and trustworthy environment to teachers as well as kids. Teaching resources should be provided to public schools, constant professional development and teacher training sessions should be undertaken and promotions must be made on the credibility of the instructors on merit basis. In addition, a comprehensive study of the topic is recommended.

Effectiveness of Early Childhood Teachers’ Pre-service Training Regarding Social and Emotional Development among Children: An Analysis of Pre-Service Teacher Competencies

Ms. Sadaf Iqbal, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Majoka, Dr. Sadaf Naz — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this study was to review ECE pre-service teachers’ training in the context of social and emotional development of children. A mixed method sequential explanatory research design was used. Two research instruments (questionnaire and semi-structured interview) were developed to have an understanding of research problem through the triangulation of data. A sample of 300 teachers was selected through purposive sampling from 8 selected districts of Pakistan (100 teachers were selected from Government Schools, 100 from Beacon House Schools, and 100 from City School System). Quantitative data were analyzed, using chi-square test of independence. A semi-structured interview was administered to 10 teachers from public and private schools (Beacon School System, City School System, and Government school). No significant difference was found in the views of public and private sector teachers regarding most of the factors of social and emotional development. Teachers indicated that pre-service teachers’ trainings were ineffective in developing skills among teachers for fostering the social and emotional development of the children. Similarly, findings from qualitative data also indicated that socio-emotional development was not given due consideration in ECE Pre-service teachers’ training programs. This research has implications for heads of teacher training institutions, early-year caregivers, and policymakers in Pakistan.

The Effect of Part Time Jobs on University Students’ Academic Achievement

Fatima Saddique, Dr. Farhana Khurshid, Dr. Bushra Inayat Raja — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This research investigated the effect of Part-time jobs on university student’ academic achievement. A sample of 150 students from 3 reputed public sector universities was examined for this purpose. Both students of arts and science departments were the sample of the research. A quantitative approach was used to investigate the effect of part-time job on university students’ academic achievement. The factors that were used to find out perceived effect of Part-time jobs on university students’ academic achievements were students’ GPA, working hours in a day, type of part-time job, as well as workload at job. The findings of the study showed that part-time jobs have a positive effect on students’ GPA as it was above 2.6. It was also found in a few cases, the students having part time jobs have taken more time to complete their degree than the other students. Moreover, the respondents were satisfied with their job but not satisfied with their salary, with most students supported the freedom provided by the job. Students believed their part-time job would help them find employment and they wanted to have such a job in future. These students have flexible work schedules and also worked on weekends. They believed that getting a part-time job will help them break into the workforce and increase their prospects of landing better positions in future. Therefore, having a part-time job is quite helpful for university students.

Linking Head Teachers’ Ratings of Teacher Evaluation with School Performance

Dr. Muhammad Irfan Malik, Dr. Muhammad Akram, Dr. Moafia Nader — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The study examined how linking head teachers’ ratings of teacher evaluation with school performance. Teacher evaluation is defined as how quality practices: evaluating teachers, documentation of teachers’ performance, and sharing legal guidelines with teachers were implemented by head teachers while evaluating their teachers. School performance can be defined as accomplishment of goals by students, teachers and schools. In district Sahiwal, 124 head teachers evaluated themselves for teacher evaluation on HTEQ through selecting them conveniently. For school performance, MEAs monthly visit reports were used to collect data on following factors: school cleanliness, presence of teachers, functionality of facilities and student presence, while data on student achievement score were obtained from their schools. The study found that head teachers were used quality practices of teacher evaluation effectively and their schools’ performance were also revealed at the level of excellence. The study revealed moderate relationship between both these variables (r=.58) and 34% variance in school performance could also be explained through quality practices of teacher evaluation. The study also added the recommendations.

Teachers’ Perceptions about Students’ Learning Outcome (SLO) based Assessment: A Case study of Govt. Colleges of Sukkur, Sindh

Salma Channa, Rabia Aslam, Tabasum Raza — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper investigated teachers’ challenges while implementing outcome-based assessment in government girls ‘degree colleges in Sukkur Sindh, Pakistan. This study has a qualitative research which utilized a case study research design. The sample of this study included seven teachers of govt. girl’s degree college, Sukkur. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample. In-depth interviews were done for the collection of the data. Thematic analysis was done to analyse the data. Teachers faced various issues while implementing SLO-based assessment in their teaching such as lack of training, time management, and overcrowded classroom. In light of these findings, it is recommended to organize a series of workshops for the teachers on using SLO-based assessment in a crowded classroom.

Effect of Energy Crisis on Performance of Export and Non-Export Oriented Textile Companies in Pakistan

Muhammad Ayaz, Ghulam Mujtaba Chaudhary, Muhammad Asif Masoom — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Energy plays a pivotal role in industrial and economic progression of any country. Pakistan has been observing a persistent energy shortfall during last few decades. This energy crisis negatively affected the performance of many units and sectors of the economy. The present study aimed at investigating the overall and relative effect of energy crisis on performance of export and non-export oriented non-financial companies in Pakistan. The sample of the study was comprised of 118 listed companies selected from the textile sector. In the study, annual firm level data of 2004-2015 were utilized and empirical analysis was conducted by using panel data technique. Return on assets was the dependent variable and used as a proxy of financial performance for sample companies. Other firm level and macroeconomic variables having certain impact on performance of the companies were used as explanatory and control variables. Effect of the energy crisis on performance of the companies was captured by adding a dummy variable in panel regression model. Relative effect across export and non-export oriented companies was examined with the help of interaction terms. Results of this study revealed that the performance of companies declined significantly during episodes of energy crisis in the country. The comparative analysis, however, didn’t report any significant difference for export and non-export oriented companies in terms of bearing the consequences of crisis. The study concluded that energy crisis negatively affected all the companies and sectors of the economy in Pakistan. Remedial measures should be taken to overcome the energy deficiency for stimulating the industrial and economic growth in the country.