Ambreen Shahriar | University of Northampton (original) (raw)

Papers by Ambreen Shahriar

The present study aims to unravel the language of fear aroused in the English Newspapers about he... more The present study aims to unravel the language of fear aroused in the English Newspapers about health and economy during Covid-19. The qualitative data was drawn from the daily Dawn, and 'The News'. Eight articles, four from each newspaper, were analyzed through qualitative lens. Findings reveal that the language of fear related to the country's healthcare system and economy is deployed mostly. The study demonstrates that certain phrases were used repeatedly to report about the worst economic recession and overwhelming situation in hospitals. A discourse of fear was created by sensationalizing certain situations and exploiting the language of Covid-19. The recommends reporting more about solutions to the problem than to create a hype that may damage the mental health of readers.

This study aims at exploring the practise of gender-based socialisation of girls for stereotypes ... more This study aims at exploring the practise of gender-based socialisation of girls for stereotypes in two of Bapsi Sidhwa’s novels “Ice Candy Man” and “Water” through Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of habitus (Bourdieu, 1988; 1992). This notion is adopted to analyse the role of habitus in formation of early age socialisation for gender-based stereotypes. The study is carried out by following the method of textual analysis and close reading of both the novels. The findings of the study can be seen in two ways. First, girls are trained for stereotypes in the very early age. For this, their parents, family, society and culture play an important role. The practise of different roles for men and women in societal order enhance these stereotypes associated with one’s gender. Agents are socialised for certain practises according to their gender i.e. girls are trained at an early for married life, by feeding sweetened speculation in their minds. They are taught their womanly roles i.e. being domest...

The International Journal of Learner Diversity and Identities, 2013

"My research is based in Pakistan and focuses on L1 Sindhi-speaking young people from ru... more "My research is based in Pakistan and focuses on L1 Sindhi-speaking young people from rural and economically weak backgrounds, from the province of Sindh. My participants include those who have been struggling through their lives and have not quit their struggle despite circumstances against them. The paper discusses dominant factors in the lives of my participants that helped them continue their struggle against all odds. Adopting the case study approach, the main method of data collection is the life story interview. The paper brings forward the effect of participants’ lives on their decisions which affect their choice and personal judgment. Strength to struggle is the over-arching theme, which gives rise to three other themes: sacrifice and suffering, struggling to be important and fighting for your own rights. The paper aims to discuss these themes in detail."

Globalisation and Historiography of National Leaders, 2016

This chapter analyses the contextual representation of national heroes in books of English and Ur... more This chapter analyses the contextual representation of national heroes in books of English and Urdu languages for higher secondary school students in Pakistan. Political leaders during partition of India and military personnel killed during wars with India form its content. The master narrative behind the portrayal of these heroes, in all cases except one, emphasizes patriotism. The only text titled Sir Syed Ahmed khan, which is uniquely different, was not specifically written for the school textbook, but is taken from an already published compilation of essays by a famous Urdu humorist. Life stories and ideas of the national heroes are focused at indoctrination through language and emotions. The texts on war heroes are presented as more emotive than those on partition heroes. The difference in tone and style can be observed among texts in two languages.

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2011

The research participants include the students of B.A. (Hons.) Part-II, who had studied English l... more The research participants include the students of B.A. (Hons.) Part-II, who had studied English language as a subject during B.A. (Hons.) Part-I as well. The data was collected through questionnaires, which asked questions related to English language learners' satisfaction on their language teacher, teaching learning environment, syllabus, and testing and assessment system, which are considered as the most factors that can affect and enhance learner motivation. The extent of their satisfaction, that they showed, in turn explains their motivation towards learning English language. The findings of the research include learning of English for both integrative and instrumental reasons with 'for getting importance' as the most commonly chosen reason. 100% students showed willingness to attend the language class, yet a number of them find it boring and gave suggestions related to improvement. Students showed a lot less satisfaction towards their teacher and the teaching method and suggested proper teacher training along with some other things. Suggestions are also given on the improvement of the content of syllabus, yet it needs further investigation. The most dissatisfying factor brought forward by this research is the assessment system, so the research definitely calls for the introduction of a proper improved assessment system. This research paves way for future research as it raises a number of issues and questions for researchers to address.

International Journal of Academic Research, 2014

In this paper on our small scale research on phonology in which we have first audio taped the con... more In this paper on our small scale research on phonology in which we have first audio taped the conversation of a Polish student who is studying in United Kingdom. After recording of 5 minutes we have analysed rhotic r, consonant cluster and rising tone of the Polish learner of English. After analysis we have identified difficulties faced by the Polish student of English leaner and have also suggested how can these difficulties be tackled.

This PhD has been a long journey for me, and my personal life changed much through the course of ... more This PhD has been a long journey for me, and my personal life changed much through the course of my studies. However, with my share of problems, struggles and responsibilities, the best thing was that this PhD was a sort of refuge. I would like to express my warmest gratitude to both my supervisors, who were unstinting with their time and patience. Professor Eve Gregory was unfailingly positive and supportive throughout, both academically and personally. I have gained a lifelong friend and mentor in her. Dr John Jessel was always encouraging and combined insight with incisiveness helping me understand different aspects of research clearly. I feel privileged to have worked under Dr John's supervision. At the centre of this research are my seven participants. Their passion, commitment and strength have been a continuing example throughout my work. I hope I have done them justice. Special thanks are due to Dr Peter Winbourne and Prof. Ken Jones for their valuable feedback. I would also like to thank Joan Lofters and Myrna Felix for their support during all these years. Thanks are also due to Dr Klaus Bung, my proofreader , for his insight into the English syntax. I would like to thank my family for their continuous love and support over the past years. For the unequivocal support of Shahriar, my husband, throughout, I cannot thank him enough. Malhaar, my son, has been a great relief in the stressful times during the final stages of my thesis. My late father-in-law, Abdul Jabbar Daudpota, had been a great source of encouragement and support throughout. If only he were here… I would, especially, like to thank my brother, Saquib, who with his fight against death, which he ultimately lost, taught a lesson 'never give up' and I understood the importance of life. I gratefully acknowledge the scholarships and bursaries that I received through this study from The

This study examines the learning experiences of students belonging to rural areas in English as S... more This study examines the learning experiences of students belonging to rural areas in English as Second Language (ESL) at a public sector university of Pakistan. The aim is to understand how students’ rural-ethnic identities affect their learning. With an interpretivist epistemological stance, qualitative approach has been used to collect and analysis data. Twenty students and four teachers were purposively sampled for in depth interviewed and observations. The findings suggest that students’ rural-ethnic identities as ‘villagers’ conflict with certain units of ESL course, particularly those which are based on exclusively urban context; however, other units which are set in rural contexts complement students’ these identities. In the later case, students from rural backgrounds demonstrated a high level of interest and motivation; and their familiarity with the rural context led them to participate enthusiastically and confidently in class discussions and writing tasks. It is also fou...

The conceptual triad of Pierre Bourdieu is discussed in easier and simpler way for novice readers... more The conceptual triad of Pierre Bourdieu is discussed in easier and simpler way for novice readers of Bourdieu in this paper. His concepts of habitus, field and capital are discussed in detail along with the relevant concepts like power struggle between agents’, dominant and dominated agents and field of production and the field of consumption. Following which, a brief over view of the research work done by researchers in various fields of studies using Bourdieu’s framework is given in a separate section. Before conclusion, a contextual reference from Pakistan is provided in a section, with special reference to my PhD research in that context, in which I plan to apply Bourdieu.

AbstractThis paper discusses the significance of learner autonomy in English language learning pr... more AbstractThis paper discusses the significance of learner autonomy in English language learning process and explains the importance of understanding learners' needs. It aims at building a curriculum around autonomous learning with special reference to the University of Sindh. The need for introduction of autonomous learning at the University of Sindh is explained through reference to the situation in the context. After providing an overview of literature on learner autonomy, transfer of roles, role of teacher and learner and the strategy training for the development of autonomy, we relate it to the prevailing conditions in the target situation. An important section is based on practical implications, followed by suggestions for teacher and learner training. The teachers have special significance and their role is equally important, if not more, in autonomous learning. There is a need for a special curriculum designed for autonomous learning. We have presented some practical sugge...

This paper explores experiences and perspectives of women from poor rural areas of Pakistan regar... more This paper explores experiences and perspectives of women from poor rural areas of Pakistan regarding their choice to get higher education and pursue their individual identity. It is based on the narratives of three women from different villages of Sindh, the southern province of Pakistan. Participants’ narratives indicate that they faced gender discrimination since their birth at home. When they showed a wish to get higher education, they were permitted with an unwritten contract with their families that their education would never be a hurdle in performing their duties as women. Society stifled their motivation to move ahead and grow out of the accepted social norms. Yet once they realised themselves as individuals, they strive for their place and make space in society. The study suggests further research in the lives of women who refuse to be overwhelmed by social challenges and continue their pursuit for identity.

This paper discusses that a meaningful English text is always coherent. Also, the role of cohesio... more This paper discusses that a meaningful English text is always coherent. Also, the role of cohesion in a coherent English text is discussed in the light of literature. In order to further understand the significance of cohesion in discourse, we have analysed two English texts; a poem, 'Daffodils' by William Wordsworth and an advertisement from a UK website gumtree.co.uk. A report is then developed on the textual analysis, which discusses that different genres have different elements that bring coherence. However, it is noticed that lexical cohesion forms strong cohesive ties and bring coherence in case of both the texts analysed. The paper argues that although cohesion is an important aspect of developing a coherent text, yet coherence is also possible without cohesion.

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences

In ESL/EFL countries like Pakistan where language is learned through the set of rules and tools p... more In ESL/EFL countries like Pakistan where language is learned through the set of rules and tools provided to them like, Grammar books and Dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, there it is considered as reliable source of vocabulary building and most helpful tool. Bilingual dictionaries are bi-directional they go from one direction i.e. from English to Another language. Bilingual

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences

It has always been a challenging task for the students at undergraduate level to have mastery in ... more It has always been a challenging task for the students at undergraduate level to have mastery in English academic writing. The researcher being a teacher, at the locale of the study had particularly observed that at undergraduate level at Shah Abdul Latif university Ghotki campus, the students are not even able to produce a well coherent and cohesive write-up, when it come to their academic writing in English. This observation persuaded the researcher to investigate and to identify the problems that hinder them in English academic writing. Thus, the study was conducted with an aim to identify the problems that students at Shah Abdul University Ghotki campus face in English Academic writing. The population of this study was the undergraduate students of Shah Abdul Latif University Ghotki Campus. In this connection, purposive sampling technique was employed to select a representative sample from the above mentioned population. The sample for the data was twenty enrolled undergraduate students of Shah Abdul Latif University Ghotki Campus. The design of the study was purely quantitative. The students were asked to write/type an essay on a topic of their choice by using a computer. Their write-ups were analyzed with the help of Markin 4.Ink software. Moreover, the analysis was cross-checked by two (03) other experts in order to establish the reliability of the study. The results showed that most of the students were facing the problems like, sentence formation, subject-verb agreement, punctuation, lack of ideas and vocabulary etc. As a future implication the researcher shall try to design a study to study the causes of the academic writing problems that these students face.

This study examines the learning experiences of students belonging to rural areas in English as S... more This study examines the learning experiences of students belonging to rural areas in English as Second Language (ESL) at a public sector university of Pakistan. The aim is to understand how students' rural-ethnic identities affect their learning. With an interpretivist epistemological stance, qualitative approach has been used to collect and analysis data. Twenty students and four teachers were purposively sampled for in depth interviewed and observations. The findings suggest that students' rural-ethnic identities as 'villagers' conflict with certain units of ESL course, particularly those which are based on exclusively urban context; however, other units which are set in rural contexts complement students' these identities. In the later case, students from rural backgrounds demonstrated a high level of interest and motivation; and their familiarity with the rural context led them to participate enthusiastically and confidently in class discussions and writing t...

The International Journal of Learner Diversity and Identities, 2013

Globalisation and Historiography of National Leaders, 2016

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2011

International Journal of Academic Research, 2014

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences

This study examines the learning experiences of students belonging to rural areas in English as S... more This study examines the learning experiences of students belonging to rural areas in English as Second Language (ESL) at a public sector university of Pakistan. The aim is to understand how students' rural-ethnic identities affect their learning. With an interpretivist epistemological stance, qualitative approach has been used to collect and analysis data. Twenty students and four teachers were purposively sampled for in depth interviewed and observations. The findings suggest that students' rural-ethnic identities as 'villagers' conflict with certain units of ESL course, particularly those which are based on exclusively urban context; however, other units which are set in rural contexts complement students' these identities. In the later case, students from rural backgrounds demonstrated a high level of interest and motivation; and their familiarity with the rural context led them to participate enthusiastically and confidently in class discussions and writing t...