Home > Exploring What Shapes English Language Teachers of Teaching Formal Writing to Grade 11 Students in a Private Higher Secondary School in Gilgit-Baltistan
Exploring What Shapes English Language Teachers of Teaching Formal Writing to Grade 11 Students in a Private Higher Secondary School in Gilgit-Baltistan
This qualitative case study investigated the classroom practices of two English language teachers from Gilgit-Baltistan to understand what shaped their practices of teaching formal writing at the higher secondary level to identify what their current practices of teaching writing in use and the factors that hinder or help students’ formal writing skills according to the participants. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, classroom observations, document analysis and field notes. Analyses of the data suggest that contrary to the traditional lecture practice, the participants use various approaches such as, Integration of product and process approach, communicative language teaching, technology integration, co-operative teaching approach, and student-centred teaching in the classroom. Their teaching, however, was dominated by an integrated approach of product and process to develop formal writing skill at higher secondary (11) level. The study participants believe that sharing model texts help students in gaining a deeper understanding of the assigned writing tasks. However, there remain some apparent factors which hinder teachers’ practices in the learning process. Because of these hinders, multiple approaches being used show little improvement in the case of composition writing of struggling students and their motivation. This research work calls teachers to be more informed about these approaches in order to engage the students fully in meaningful writing exercises. It is evident from the findings that students, on the other hand, take formal writing skill development for granted and fritter the time provided by the teacher in trivial activities. Therefore, this study recommends that teachers and students need to spend more time in building a strong base in the form of background knowledge and vocabulary to help the students remember, recognize, apply and create coherent, meaningful and error-free written compositions. teaching formal writing at the higher secondary level to identify what their current practices of teaching writing in use and the factors that hinder or help students’ formal writing skills according to the participants. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, classroom observations, document analysis and field notes. Analyses of the data suggest that contrary to the traditional lecture practice, the participants use various approaches such as, Integration of product and process approach, communicative language teaching, technology integration, co-operative teaching approach, and student-centred teaching in the classroom. Their teaching, however, was dominated by an integrated approach of product and process to develop formal writing skill at higher secondary (11) level. The
ایڈیٹر برہان کو صدمہ قارئین برہان کو یہ معلوم کرکے افسوس ہوگاکہ ۱۰؍جولائی کومولانا سعیداحمد اکبرآبادی مدیر برہان کاجواں سال بیٹا ’’عمر سعید‘‘ عمر۴۰ سال مختصر علالت کے بعد انتقال کرگیا۔ اِنَّالِلّٰہِ وَاِنَّااِلَیْہِ راجعون۔ مولانا کو مفتی صاحب ؒ کی وفات کاصدمۂ جانکاہ ابھی تازہ ہی تھا کہ ناگاہ ایک یہ حادثہ بھی پیش آگیا۔مولانا کواس قدرسخت صدمہ ہے کہ انھوں نے لکھنا پڑھنا سب ترک کردیا ہے اور ان پرایک عالم گمشدگی طاری ہے۔ قارئین سے درخواست ہے کہ وہ مرحوم کے لیے دعائے مغفرت کریں اورمولانا کے لیے بھی دعا فرمائیں کہ اﷲ تعالیٰ انھیں صبر جمیل کی توفیق عطا فرمائے ۔ [عمید الرحمن عثمانی(منیجر)، اگست ۱۹۸۴ء]
This research is focused on press-government relationship on the issue of ‘War on Terrorism’ (WoT) during the dictatorial regime led by the then military ruler General Pervez Musharraf who remained in power till 2008 in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Global war against terrorism, generally known as ‘war on terror’ was actually started by the United States of America in the aftermath of 9/11 episode in 2001. Pakistan, on US demand, had not only become an important ally of the grand alliance formed under the umbrella of the United States but had also adopted the role of a frontline state just to fight the war against terrorism (WoT) alongside the war allies. Generally mass media have the potential to influence public opinion and help reshape the states’ policies on different issues. Likewise, mass media of Pakistan also took an active part in the war either by going alongside the then dictatorial government or against it. This research is based on examining the way the Urdu language elite press, the most popular mass media of Pakistan, covered the dictatorial regime of President General Pervez Musharraf with regard to its policy on the issue of ‘WoT’. Main purpose of this study is to know the nature of relationship between the Urdu-language elite press and the dictatorial government of Gen Musharraf in Pakistan with regard to their policy positions on ‘WoT’ from 2001 to 2008. Three newspapers including daily Jang, daily Nawa-I-Waqt, and daily Pakistan, considered to be representatives of the Urdu-language elite press of Pakistan, were selected for this study. The method used to measure the phenomenon is called framing where contents of the selected dailies were measured both quantitatively and qualitatively. Data were collected through systematic sampling method, while coding sheet was used as a tool for data collection. Unsigned main editorials of the selected newspapers were analyzed to examine the nature of relationship existed between the two entities i.e. The Urdu-language elite press, and the dictatorial government of Gen Pervez Musharraf, on the issue of ‘WoT’ in Pakistan. The results revealed that the selected elite newspapers, in general, remained critical to the dictatorial regime on the issue of ‘WoT’. The findings also revealed that daily Nawa-I-Waqt remained highly critical to the government as compared to its other contemporaries i.e. Daily Jang, and daily Pakistan. It was also revealed that the Urdu-language elite press while framing the ‘War on Terror’ remained somewhat supportive and rarely neutral to the dictatorial regime on it policy on ‘WoT’.
Water is the basic necessity for life and equally important for every human being. However, water scarcity is a very serious problem in the world that is becoming a global challenge for the decision-makers and planners despite recent technological advancement. Phenomenal population growth with haphazard urban development and climate change are the main reasons behind growing water crisis that is mostly affecting metropolitan cities around the globe. Karachi, a city of more than 20 million people, obtains water from Indus River for its domestic use. Its local water resources are insufficient in quantity as well as quality. Water scarcity for metropolitan is getting worse day by day due to exponential population growth, insufficient water supply from Indus River, scarce but erratic rainfall and the overall absence of sustainable water management. The watershed potential is unexploited rather depleting due to massive impermeable infrastructure development for settlements and uncontrolled sand excavation activity in river beds. These are increasing surface runoff and reducing groundwater as a result. In case of heavy rain, a large amount of runoff water drained into the Arabian Sea due to lack of water storage arrangements. This research aims to explore the watershed potential in Karachi region for identifying local resources and their harnessing. The study evaluates the surface water potential for rainwater harvesting (RWH) and to find the best practices for optimum water resource management in nearby villages and newly planned urban housing schemes located in the potential watersheds. Advanced techniques of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing disciplines are integrated with rainwater runoff model to discover the potential of watershed areas in the region. Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Curve Number (CN) method is adopted to evaluate rainfall runoff potential, as this technique is widely used and most reliable as compared to other methods used for such studies. Spatial Multi Criteria Evaluation (SMCE) technique is integrated with Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method in GIS environment for rainwater harvesting sites (check dam, percolation tank, and farm pond) and dam site selection Thirty years rainfall and runoff data are used for watershed modelling. In the study, watershed characteristics are delineated over high scales from stream network to sub-watersheds and watershed boundaries along with area maps of RWH sites (11 check dams, 11 percolation tanks and 19 farm ponds) and dam sites (3 dams) to understand their potential in a geospatial context. It is estimated that annually about 4,22,280 m3 water is available only in Malir River. If this water is harnessed in a realistically feasible proportion, it may be a sustainable solution for overcoming the water crises. The RWH and dam sites suitability maps provide a clear picture of the existing potential and its spatial extent; while projected dam profiles and their characteristics give an in-depth overview of the suggested sites that can be used for future planning and estimations. Furthermore, this study is very effective for creating awareness among the stakeholders at the local and regional scale. It is recommended to implement the RWH techniques for all stakeholders including government authorities who should improve their knowledge and take sustainable initiatives with full ownership.