This research aimed at analysing the Grade VIII English textbook of Punjab Textbook Board against one of the five competencies, the Reading and Thinking skills and identifying the satisfaction level of Grade 8 students with their textbook for the fulfilment of this competency. The main parameters of the content analysis were Competency (C), Standards (S), Benchmarks (B) and SLOs. The data was collected through content analysis (of the textbook) and survey questionnaire. The student satisfaction level was measured with the help of an instrument comprising 10 statements on a 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaire respondents were 1440 students of Grade VIII studying in public schools of Lahore. The results of content analysis and student survey showed that the textbook partly meets the requirements related to the selected competency. It is therefore recommended that the English textbook of grade VIII should be updated in congruence with the SLOs of the selected competency.

This article describes the syllable of Pakistani English (PE. It compares the syllable of PE with British English, in the light of concepts of syllabic (Chomsky and Halle, 1968), syllabification, template, syllable pattern, model of syllable structure, phonotactics and syllable weight. In the end, the following differences in syllabic phonology of PE and British English are summarized: In phonotactic constraints, one difference is found that is in the syllable of PE cluster of three consonants i.e. /s/, /p or t or k/, /l or r/ is allowed only in monosyllabic words, whereas word internally this cluster is not permissible. So, [ek.sklIUd] becomes [eks.klIUd] in PE; the weight of the syllable in PE is not only based on the quality of vowel but also the quality of consonant; in PE every syllable must contain vowel as a nucleus.

Learner autonomy refers to a state where a learner seeks the understanding of the concepts more independently, takes charge of his own learning and becomes more motivated and self-supportive towards the learning procedures. The present study explored the existing practices of EFL learners with reference to autonomy practices, in the context of Punjab, Pakistan. The autonomy of the learners was examined through their use of foreign language learning strategies. The sample of the study consisted of 104 university students from arts and science groups. The results indicated that the students of science group were using more autonomous learning strategies as compared to the arts group.

Sara Suleri is divided between her fascination for her father's strong character and her repulsion for the consequent effect on woman's space in family life, connoting a critique of Pakistani patriarchal society in which women, irrespective of their social status, suffer from marginalization. Although Suleri's Boys Will Be Boys is an elegy for her father, as she announces in the sub-title of the work, she manages her tilt toward her father despite her advocacy of the woman's space miserably shrunk to domestic life in Pakistani society. Besides womenÂ’s position, she questions the dominant version of history and the state's political manipulation of religion for ulterior motives. She is close to Boehmer's theorization of the elitist continuities and intimacies with a view that develops from geographically and historically multiple contexts and histories. Her role as a native intellectual is two-pronged: her view is colored by Western discourse, but her status as a 'representative' Pakistani voice is also significant. This article analyzes how far Suleri's representation of women, religion and history of Pakistani society is colored by Western context.

Intending to identify that how meaning in the source text has been reproduced in the translated text, the study attempts to investigate deforming tendencies used in the selected poems of Abdul Ghani Khan translated from Pashto into English by Imtiaz Ahmed Sahibzada. Imtiaz Sahibzada has translated 141 poems from the mammoth corpus of Abdul Ghani Khan's Poetry into English and named it The Pilgrim of a Beauty. Using judgmental sampling, ten poems were selected and were analysed in the light of Antoine Berman's (1965) Text Deformation System which includes twelve deforming tendencies. While analysing the translated text in comparison with the source text, deformation in terms of semantics and the syntactic structure was found. Abdul Ghani Khan's poetry translation is considerably deformed, and the translator has little maintained the composition, musicality, and structure of the source text because of different reasons. He has deformed the beauty of the source text poems at the cost of the message due to the use of various deforming tendencies.

English is the certified language of Pakistan and intermediate of teaching in private schools. Learning an FL might be frustrating and challenging for some young learners. Stories in English as literature are an effective technique to teach young learners. This paper attempts to explore if reading stories in English as part of literature is a gendered activity with differences of interest by boys and girls. The study used a Reading Attitude Survey modified from Downing Object Activity Opinion and the Finnish questionnaire. The findings depict that stories in the schoolbooks are enthusiastic and are suitable according to learners' curiosity and standard. Results further specified that the general mainstream of students understands reading as an action that is more appropriate for girls, thus supportive of the study's hypothesis. The results also suggested that the gender-based insights strengthen with age for both boys and girls.

This study explores the shattered Pakistani nationalism in Nadeem Aslam's 'The Blind Man's Garden' (2013) in the context of the post-9/11 invading military globalism and reactionary social globalism. Focusing on Nadeem Aslam's hallmark work, 'The Blind Man's Garden' (2013), this article not only explores the current foundationless nationalism of Pakistan as the byproduct of undue chauvinism instead of being the outcome of its real ideology but also stresses the need for renewal of ideological boundaries of Pakistan in the light of current sweeping effects of thick globalism. Being a diaspora and much influenced by the secularity of the host society, Aslam seems to be desirous of featuring the nationalist inscription of home society in accordance with the global world, as is revealed from the roles played by his characters like Mikal etc. in the novel. The study motivates us to revisit the national myths with an aim to devise the marks of nationalism, provided if we are to rehabilitate our national identity.

The research aims to pinpoint the socio-cultural suppressive crisis faced by the Pakistani women and tends to evaluate the standards through which Pakistani women are (mis)recognized through Shazaf Fatima Haider's How It Happened (2012). It focuses upon the internalized social norms regarding women's conduct to achieve perfection and a state of acceptability which have terrifyingly placed a question mark upon women's existence. Zeba, being the protagonist of How It Happened, undergoes anunnerving situation, being continuously displayed as an object for her marriage. Simone de Beauvoir's cultural feminist ideologies in her work, The Second Sex(1997), tend to deconstruct falsely existing cultural archetypes. She illustrates in her work the transformative stages of women's life beginning from the oppressive state towards the protesting state. Consequently, celebrating women's strength by acknowledging biological differences. Through the methodological application of a Textual analytical apparatus, this research tends to reverse the suppressive patriarchal patterns, bringing women from the periphery to the center, also providing a voice to silenced women entangled in the fabricated culture.

English Law of Insanity proceeds in making assessments of the legal wrongfulness of an accused by fitting the circumstances within four slots established in line with M’Naghten case.During this process, the judges’ role becomes more robust than the jury as technical and medico legal issues are beyond the grasp of lay jury members.So we offered a critical appraisal of the approach adopted in English Law to fit the psychological science' in legal moulds through vast discretion vested in judges to deal with the defense of insanity. For this purpose, the authors extracted various pieces of information from case laws, books, law commission reports, Acts, statutes, and research articles published related to the subject matter and developed a synthesis to reach a conclusion. Our findings suggest the trial judge decides the extent and types of evidence to be induced for resolving the issues in contention regarding insanity and to be decided by the jury. Some issues pertaining to insanity are too difficult for the trial judge to decide, which requires expert evidence. The application of defense of insanity rests with the evaluation to see whether the judge's discretion has proved a right mechanism to plug medico legal gaps in this process or not.

Poverty is the root cause of exploitation of the poor at the hands of the rich in the root structure of the society that leads the poor towards the state of self-pity. This study is an interlink between the domains of World Englishes, Freudo-Marxist Literature, Trauma Literature and Postcolonial Literature. The postcolonial context of the subcontinent amidst language appropriation is the major theme that witnesses the phenomenon of exploitation and poverty through the canvas of Freudo-Marxist Literature. The current study attempts to find Marxist themes, predominantly exploitation and poverty, from a short story Death of an Insect by Zakia Mashhadi. The textual qualitative method of analysis proceeds under the operational theoretical lens of Edgar W. Schneider and Karl Marx. The former deals with textual analysis through language appropriation, while the latter deals with thematic analysis through the behaviour of the bourgeoisie towards the proletariat, respectively. The study has found that the upper class, for their vested interests, even for the satisfaction of their ego, brutally exploit the poor working class, who have to suffer and bear all inhuman behaviour without any resistance. Thus, this continuous Vicious Circle of exploitation and poverty cause difficulties and hardships for the poor class.