The Use of Sociocultural Approach for Teaching ESL Reading Skills to ‘O’ Level Students in Pakistan

Reading comprehension skills are very important for ESL Pakistani O, level learners. Paying attention to the troubles they and the instructors face in Pakistan, the present study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of sociocultural approach in reading comprehension skills. This is a novel approach for Pakistani teachers as it has not yet been tried in teaching especially in reading comprehension skills. To carry out this research, semi-experimental research design was employed including pre and post tests. Keeping in mind the nature of the data, it was analyzed quantitatively and interpreted qualitatively i.e. summary method. The findings of the study clearly exhibited that sociocultural approach is quite effective for teaching reading comprehension skills. The independent sample t-tests were conducted both for pre and post tests which strikingly show the difference of collaborative language learning approach. The results of this research suggest the use of more social and supportive methods in the perspective of language learning and teaching. It is more in support of a collaborative learning atmosphere which requires the presences of a professional or expert-peer that provides students with possibilities to correct themselves and simultaneously to understand the ideal procedures required for the learning of new and challenging abilities

A Socio-Pragmatic Analysis of Appropriateness in a Speech Act of Apology in English

Studies in interlanguage pragmatics have shown that L2 learners’ proficiency has an influence on the occurrences of L1 pragmatic transfer. This paper is designed to study the issues related to the pragmatic aspects of the use of apology strategies in English and the pragmatic transfer. To carry out this research, the qualitative research design is employed. Focus Group Discussion questionnaire is used to elicit data (recorded) from the EFL university students in Pakistan. The results of the study reveal that all the participants reported that they do not translate apology strategies from their L1 cultural norms, except one respondent who replied that he/she use apology strategies having in mind L1 social norms. Anyhow, they all agree that they use apology strategies while keeping in mind the interlocutor’s social status. The study further indicates that Urdu-speaking learners of English in universities use apology strategies according to the severity of the offence. If the situation is severe they use intensifiers and indirect apology strategy and if situation is not severe, they use explicit apology strategy. The results of this study might be of pedagogical help and important for teachers, policy makers, curriculum developers, material designers, students, and researchers. Keywords: interlanguage pragmatics, pragmatic transfer, cultural norms, pedagogical help, Pakista

H Factor of Personality and Dark Tetrad: A Correlational Study

Personality traits are relatively consistent and distinct which adds uniqueness and stability to behaviour. Honesty-humility can be said to measure brighter side of personality as it covers traits such as sincerity, modesty, fairness and greed-avoidance. Dark tetrad can be said to measure darker side of personality as it covers traits such as narcissism, machiavellianism, psychopathy and sadism. The present study aimed at associating both honesty-humility and dark tetrad by utilizing Urdu translated version of honesty-humility domain level scale from HEXACO-PI-R and Short dark Tetrad (SD4). A total of four hundred and eighty-four (N = 484) individuals participated in the study belonging to age range from 17 to 30 years. Purposive sampling was used to collect data. Correlational analysis was carried out and the results indicated that honesty-humility is negatively correlated with dark tetrad and they both are on the opposite pole

Cerebellopontine Angle (CPA) Tumors Presenting with Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN): A Study from LRH, Peshawar

Background/Objective:  The cerebellopontine angle (CPA) is the most prevalent site for brain tumors, accounting for 10% of all cases. CPA tumors can have a direct or indirect pathogenic impact on the auditory nerve and brain stem. The study aimed to quantify the prevalence of cerebellopontine angle tumors in patients with trigeminal neuralgia. Material and Methods:  A cross sections study was conducted and 100 patients were included from the Neurosurgery department of LRH, Peshawar. Magnetic resonance images (MRI) were used to look for CPA tumors. The data on CPA tumors were stratified for age and gender. Suboccipital retromastoid craniectomy was performed. Results:  The mean age of the patients was 43 years. 38 patients were male and 62 were female. CPA tumors were seen in three percent of trigeminal neuralgia patients. There existed a significant difference (p < 0.00001) between the presence and absence of CPA tumors. A maximum number of patients (n = 37) were not having CPA tumors from the age group of 51-60 years. An insignificant association was reported for CPA distribution concerning age and gender. Conclusion:  According to our findings, 3% of trigeminal neuralgia patients had cerebellopontine angle tumors. We urge more investigation and screening of trigeminal neuralgia patients for CPA tumors based on the findings of this study

Trends of Safety Performance in Construction and Civil Engineering Projects in Pakistan

The major construction and  civil engineering projects are sponsored by public sector in Pakistan. The users contracting and bidding procedures do not offer a significant space to the aspect of safety performance in construction and engineering projects. The prevalent measures of safety are after- the- fact measures - that means safety is given importance once casualties have actually been occurred. Such practices or measures are termed as inductive, reactive, trailing, down stream or lagging indicators. This is so because they are based upon retrospective data. As the country has undergone through massive development in engineering, construction and infrastructure sectors, safety aspect has been transformed from lagging indicators to leading indicator. Companies and organizations have started focusing on good safety performance under safety climate and culture. In this paper, a sincere research effort has been made to assess and analyze the health and safety performance of various constructions firms as well as overall construction engineering industry of Pakistan. In order to achieve this objective, various structured interviews and survey questionnaire were designed. The data collected from industry specific respondents has been analyzed using statpro   software. The salient findings of this study are as follows; the majority of the casualties are Fall of Individuals from Heights, Electric Shocks, Caught in between the Plants, Machinery and Confined Spaces and Struck by an Object or Machinery. Similarly there is no positive mindset from top down, non application of safety laws, lack of safety management plan, lack of safety and health of workplace, inadequate arrangement of first aid, lack of personnel’s protective equipment and absence of accident reporting mechanism. The major recommendations of the study are as follows; At industry level, safety rules should be  as regulated and re-defined, documented and enforced. Moreover  provision of personnel protective equipment, training of entire organization, safety management plan under safety officer, adequate first aid at sites, efficient reporting mechanism and safety awareness of employees and workforce will also improve the existing situation. It is also recommended that more research should be carried out in order to evolve a comprehensive safety management policies. Keywords: Construction, civil engineering, Pakistan, safet

Caught between Two Cultures: Pragmatic Transfer in English-using Pakistanis Apology Responses

In Pragmatics, scholars have given special attention to study the influence of leaners culture and social rules in understanding and using target language pragmatics. For this purpose, speech acts have been studied quite widely. This study investigates the speech act of responding to apology in Pakistani English, British English and Pakistani Urdu, and tries to highlight whether respondents transfer their cultural and social rules in the target language or not. The present study followed quantitative approach for data collection and analysis. A discourse completion test (DCT), consists of 12 apology response scenarios is used for data collection. The findings illustrate that English-using Pakistanis pragmatic choices are clearly influenced by their perceptions of various sociocultural and contextual variables. The English-using Pakistanis and Pakistani Urdu speakers are found using two main strategies (Acceptance, and Acknowledgment). In contrast, British English speakers tend to use Acceptance and Evasion strategies more often. Further, the findings have indicated that English-using Pakistanis and Pakistani Urdu speakers have used more Rejection strategies than their British English counterparts, though such communicative features are not salient in their ARs, and Pakistanis are surprisingly found quite clear and direct. The findings of the study may be helpful to English teachers who should be made aware that L2 learners’ pragmatic transfer is influenced by learners’ culture and social rules, and, as a result, should not be treated simply as a pragmatic ‘error’ or ‘failure’ to be corrected and criticized

Impact of Leader-Member Exchange Relationship and Job design on Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB): The Role of Job Burnout

The aim of this study is to synthesize the effect of Leader-member exchange relationship (LMX) and Job design on Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) through the mediating lens of all three dimensions of Job Burnout that based upon Conservation of Resource (COR) theory. A sample size of 350 respondents was used for collecting data with the help of research survey by distributing questionnaires to the employees who are working in public sector universities of higher education sector that are currently based in twin cities (Islamabad and Rawalpindi) of Pakistan. Techniques of Simple and Multiple linear regressions were carried out for accessing mediation analysis via SPSS version 21.0 and AMOS version 27.0.  Findings of this study has revealed that LMX relationship is significantly but negatively related to Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and Job design is significantly and positively related to (CWB). Also Job Burnout is a significant variable that mediates between Leader-member exchange for developing quality exchange relationships, job design and counterproductive work behaviors. This study gave into new insights and results into the existing body of knowledge along with practical implications and outcomes. Limitations for this study along with future directions of research are also discussed at the end

Multidisciplinary Management and Outcome of Intradural Extramedullary Spinal Tumors

Introduction/Objective:  About fifteen percent of the primary CNS tumors are intraspinal. About two-thirds of tumors are intradural extramedullary (IDEM). This study was conducted to review the outcome of operative management of intradural extramedullary tumors in correlation with the factors, both clinical & histopathological, influencing the neurology of patients & prognosis. Materials and Methods:  It was a multicenter study including 42 patients conducted from December 2018 to December 2020. All patients were diagnosed by MRI with and without contrast. Patients were surgically treated & analyzed for clinical features i.e., pain by visual analog scale (VAS) & neurology by modified McCormick scale both preoperatively & post-operatively. Clinical features & outcomes were correlated with tumor size & histopathology. p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results:  This study included 42 cases. The most common diagnosis was schwannoma (76.19%). The average intradural space occupied at presentation was 82%. The most common location was dorsal (90.4%). The visual analog score for pain (VAS) improved in all patients post-operatively from 7 ± 1.9 to 2 ± 0.8 (p = 0.003) & modified McCormick scale from 3.0 ± 1.3 to 2.0 ± 1.0 (p = 0.005). The preoperative symptoms were correlated with the only size of the tumor occupying the intradural space (VAS p = 0.021, modified McCormick scale p = 0.018). Conclusion:  All the tumors excised showed some improvement in neurological status. Therefore, all patients diagnosed with IDEM should be operated on even if present with prolonged symptoms or severe neurological compromise. Keywords:  Intradural Extramedullary, Meningioma, Schwannoma, Intraspinal

Epidemiology and Surgical Outcome of Traumatic Sub Axial Cervical Spine Injuries in a Tertiary Care Hospital of KPK, Pakistan

Objective:  The purpose of this study was to characterize the epidemiologic characteristics, a pattern of traumatic subaxial cervical spine injuries, and their surgical outcomes in a tertiary care hospital in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Materials and Methods:  This retrospective descriptive study was conducted at the Department of Neurosurgery at Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar. The records of 40 patients between the ages of 15 and 60 who had cervical spine injuries were evaluated to characterize the injuries and surgical outcomes. We employed the anterior route for surgery regularly and the posterior method only when the reduction failed or substantial instability. We used a tricortical bone graft or titanium cages with autologous bone and secured them through titanium plates to achieve fusion. Results:  80% of patients presented with sub axial cervical injury. Regarding the etiology of injury, 37.5 % had motor vehicle accidents, 28.12% had a history of height falls, and the remaining had sustained injuries due to other causes. The majority of the patients, 68.75% (n = 22), had isolated subluxation injury.87.5% (n = 28) underwent surgical intervention; surgical outcomes such as pain relief were measured using the VAS, which was 6.09 ± 1.42 preoperatively while 4.5 ± 1.29 postoperatively with a difference of means of 1.59. There was a significant improvement in neurological functions as measured through the ASIA impairment scale. Conclusion:  Most cervical spine injuries occurred in young male patients, motor vehicle accidents were the most prevalent cause, and isolated subluxation was the most frequent injury pattern. 

Non Surgical Causes of Acute Abdomen in Children: Surgeons Standpoint for Exclusion

Objectives: The aim of this study is to find out the non-surgical causes of acute abdomen, their frequencies, and to make an algorithm to make a methodology for excluding surgical abdomen. Methodology:  This descriptive case series study was carried out in departments of pediatrics and surgery in Aero hospital from January 2021 to November 2022. One hundred children with acute abdomen who were referred for surgical opinion and found to have non-surgical abdomen were included in the study. Surgical causes were ruled out after serial examinations and investigations by consultant surgeons. All non-surgical causes, their frequencies of presentation were recorded and an algorithm was made. Descriptive data was analyzed using SPPS version 25. Results: Gastroenteritis was found to be the most important cause of non-surgical acute abdomen and found in 23% (n=23) children followed by 18% (n=18) mesenteric lymphadenitis, nonspecific abdominal pain 12% (n=12), UTI 7% (n=7), worm infestation 7% (n=7), enteric ileitis 06% (n=6), Covid 05% (n=5), hepatitis 05%(n=5), constipation 04% (n=4), dengue 4% (n=4), ruptured ovarian follicle 3% (n=3), renal calculi 2% (n=2), Henoch schonlein purpura 2% (n=2) and gastritis 2% (n=2). An algorithm also made at the end of study to help treating surgeons to rule out surgical abdomen. Conclusion: Gastroenteritis is the leading cause of acute non-surgical abdomen in children along with many other causes and these must be carefully ruled out by an algorithm to avoid unnecessary surgeries