Assistant Professor of English
Higher Education Department of Pakistan
Total years of experience :37 years, 6 Months
I am working as an Assistant Professor of English. As this institution is also running Master level program besides Graduation in English Linguistics, my major assignment is to teach the subject of 'Language Variation and Stylistics' to the Master level students.The course contents cover numerous topics of the subjects ranging form the origin and the development of stylistics, forms of various styles used by the ancient Greeks and the later developments in the last centuries about the new theories of style viz. individualist, emotionalist, formalist, functionalist, etc. The major concepts of language variations used for the linguistic analysis of different styles of language like 'Register' and its variables Field, Tenor and Mode are discussed in accordance with Halliday's suggestions. Analysis of discourse at syntactic, semantic and phonological levels is done.The notions of Foregrounding and Parallelism are discussed with special reference to the different kinds of linguistic deviations.Levels of spoken and written language are discussed.The salient features of the literary terms denoting the figurative language are also discussed in detail. As far as my work description in the BS English Linguistics Program is concerned it also encompasses the teaching work mainly. The contents of the course work vary from semester to semester. The major topics comprise the theories of Psycholinguistics and the ares of Sociolinguistics. Different theories of Language learning eg. Behaviourism and Mentalism are discussed in detail. The various approaches of language learning eg. the traditional or the natural is discussed with reference to the corresponding methods of language learning.The principles behind each method and the various techniques used in each methodology are taught and practised with reference to the teaching of all the four skills of the language.Phonetics and phonology is taught with reference to the learning of vowel and consonant sounds.
Being in the permanent service of the Higher Education Department of the Government of the Punjab I was posted at the Degree College Gogran after my promotion as an Assistant Professor of English in 2007and rendering my services to the same institution up to the present day. Further, being the senior most faculty member of the subject, I am working as Head of English Department since my posting there.The college was newly established in 2004 and the enrollment of the students is deplorably low up till now due to the various reasons . However, I had to perform my duty with a small number of students, no doubt with much less burden and pressure of work as compared to my earlier assignments in the previous institutions. English language is taught as a compulsory subject at the Degree College, both at Undergraduate and Graduate level therefore, I am teaching English at both the levels. My main assignment as an English teacher is the reading comprehension of the text which includes short stories, poetry and drama, all selected form the sources of native English writers.The process of reading comprehension involves the explanation of the text generally in oral but some assignments are given in writing to take feed back from the students. The other important component of the reading comprehension is verbal explanation of the selected items of vocabulary by the L2 learners. The writing skill includes letter writing, application writing, story writing and essay writing. The lessons of applied grammar are given in the form of correct use of tenses by the exercises of correction, use of pair of words into sentences and the use of idioms and phrasal verbs into sentences. The precis writing is given buy selecting a passage of English text and the L2 learners are required to answer five or six questions about the selected passage and to make precis of the passage with the suitable title. Besides, teaching assignments I also worked as a Controller of Examinations for three years.
Education at the Degree Colleges of Pakistan is up to four years after successfully completing the Secondary level. This four years program is further divided into two categories of two years each i e, Undergraduate and Graduate level. English language is taught as a compulsory subject during these four years. Being a senior most Lecturer in English I acted as Head of English Department at the Degree College Yazman. However, my main assignment was teaching English language to all the four classes of students enrolled at the college. The language teaching work was basically divided into various segments. The reading comprehension in the classroom was based upon selected contents of the English text, all taken from the native English writers comprising of essays, short stories, poetry and drama. Comprehension of all these text was done through the explanation of the text followed by the questions and answering session by the teacher and the L2 learners. Skimming and scanning techniques were used to get gist of the text and explanation of the selected words of vocabulary used in the particular text. The second important segment of the English language teaching was developing the writing skill of the L2. No doubt, the major portion of writing skill was focused to answer the questions taken from the text which had already been discussed in the classroom while the course of reading comprehension and these questions were pertaining to all major forms of English Literature mentioned earlier. However, the writing skill of the L2 learners was further strengthened by giving them certain topics of essay writing, letter writing, application writing and story writing. As the medium of instruction in the classroom was English the L2 learners used to get ample chances to improve their speaking skill of the target language. Most of the colleges in Pakistan are not degree awarding institutions therefore, final examinations on annual basis were conducted by the external authorities.
Being a senior English Teacher in the Pakistan School Bahrain, I was assigned the task of teaching English language to the Secondary, Undergraduate and Graduate level classes affiliated with the the Federal Board of Education Islamabad and the University of Karachi, Pakistan as the degree awarding institutions. All these three levels had the tenure of two years study and English was taught as a compulsory subject at all the levels therefore, I had been teaching English language accordingly. As the practice of teaching English language at each level was not much different from one an other therefore, it would look improper to describe each level separately. Rather, it would be most appropriate to give a general view of the English language teaching practice done by me at all the three levels collectively for the better understanding of my learned evaluators. Honestly speaking, the practice of teaching English at the Pakistan School Kingdom of Bahrain was not much different from that one which was done in educational institutions of Pakistan, except with the single exception of strict adherence to the medium of instruction being in English. Although it was basically a community school, yet there always a small number of native Bahraini students at the secondary and undergraduate level. The salient features of my teaching assignments were reading comprehension of the contents taken from various forms of English literature, followed by questioning answering session about the text and the oral explanation of vocabulary. Subsequently, the the same ideas were reflected by the L2 learners in writing. The teacher used to check the spelling, grammar, cohernce and cohesion of the pieces of writing. Grammatical structures were taught, exercises of the correction of incorrect sentences and the use of idioms, phrasal verbs and similar words into their own sentences. In addition to the teaching work I also acted as a sub Editor of the English section of the school magazine.
I have been teaching English Language and Literature at the college level.The process of English language teaching included in the training of the L2 learners in all the four skills . Reading comprehension of the text comprising of authentic and unauthentic text was practiced in the class room.The teaching of writing skills was conducted in the classroom in order to teach creative writing, expository writing and letter writing by the use of appropriate activities. Pair work and group work activities were conducted to enhance the speaking skills of the L2 learners.Reading aloud of the sample lesson was done in the classroom by the teacher or the participants having good reading skill of L2, in order to expose the L2 learners towards the listening skill of L2.Great attention was paid to develop the understanding of General English, therefore the L2 Learners were made fully aware about the basic rules of English Grammar. The use of tenses with their various situations was fully communicated to them, for this purpose L2 learners were involved in a drill type practice where they were required to transform one specific structure of a tense into various forms of that tense and finally into the all forms of different tenses. Similarly the L2 learners were required to transform the active sentences into the passive and vice verse.Due importance was given to the use of narration in English language, for this purpose the L2 learners were involved in the practice of direct and indirect narration.Teachers Training courses for the secondary school teachers were also conducted where I acted as a Master Trainer in the subject of English.The language teaching techniques involved in different teaching methodologies e.g.direct method, grammar translation method and audio lingual methods were elaborated.The basic principles expounded in the different theories of learning were discussed.The Behaviorist and Mentalist approaches pertaining to language learning were exhaustively debated.
Government Commercial Training Institutes in Pakistan impart the technical training courses to the commerce students up to the undergraduate level. Although the students were engaged in the training of technical courses of shorthand, account and manual type writing as IT was not introduced at that time, yet English Language was taught as a compulsory subject to the student of Certificate of commerce (C.Com) and Diploma in commerce (D.com). As an Instructor of English Language I taught both the general and functional English to the commerce students. The contents of the general English included reading comprehension of the the English text form the various sources of English literature including prose, poetry and drama. Whereas, in writing composition main attention was given to the business English; which was comprised of writing of commercial letters to the business or industrial organizations e, g. for the inviting information about the products of some organization and seeking quotations for their purchase or the possibility of the provision of samples of the goods before the purchase. The L2 learners were also taught report writing of certain affair or on an event of immense importance for any business or commercial organization. Similarly keeping in view the the basic norms of business English the L2 learners were made fully aware of about the basic information regarding the Negotiable Instruments. Therefore, they were taught how to write a cheque and draw amount from a bank. What is the difference between a cross and uncrossed cheque or how an uncrossed cheque can become a crossed cheque by simply drawing two parallel lines on the left corner of the uncrossed cheque. The L2 learners were also engaged in in the different types of form filling process e, g. filling of form to open a bank account, to apply for the connection of electricity or the filling of form for the booking of some shipment or to any cargo service or filling of form to the Pakistan Railway.
I did M. Phil in English Linguistics during the session 2006-08.The degree was awarded in 2011 with CG PA, score of 2.72 out of 4 with the cumulative percentage of 67.1 in the Grade B-. This M. Phil degree program was consisted of four semesters.The first two semesters were assigned to the course work. It was a mandatory requirement of to pass the first two semesters of course work with 2.7 G.P.A out of 4.The first semester included four subjects of hundred marks each, viz. 1.Geneal Linguistics 2. Descriptive Linguistics 3. Applied Linguistics- I 4. Phonetics and Phonology. The second semester of the course work also consisted of four subjects of hundred marks each, viz. 1.Sociolinguistics 2. Applied Linguistics - II 3. Discourse Analysis 4. Research Methodology. The 3rd and 4th Semester was assigned to the Research work. The thesis on the topic of " The Use of Authentic Material Through Guided Activities in Teaching Writing Skills to the L2 Learners:A Study conducted at Intermediate Level at Bahawalpur" was completed at Bahawalpur. Dr. Mamuna Ghani Ph.D (Essex, U.K) and the Chairperson of the Department of English, the Islamia University of Bahawalpur acted as supervisor of this research work.The objectives of the Research were following. 1.To observe which type of authentic material can help to develop the writing skills of the L2 learners. 2.To analyze whether we can develop the writing skills of the L2 learners through the guided writing activities. 3.To investigate the ways and possibilities how photographs, pictures, cartoons can be used by the language teacher for developing writing skills in English. 4.To reflect how can the use of Authentic Material in teaching writing skills motivate Pakistani L2 learners to complete their composition according to the desired length and standard. 5.To enhance the confidence and competence of L2 learners of undergraduate level in developing their writing skills by using authentic material.
B.Ed is basically a teaching degree.The basic objectives of this degree are to enable the teachers to learn the methods of teaching English, to teach them the art of lesson planning and how to conduct the lesson in the classroom, to enable them to learn four basic skills viz. Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing to introduce the basic sense of Essay writing and English Grammar, to familiarize them to manage the classroom activities and the purpose of A.V Aids, to teach them how to set the questions in the examination papers and how to evaluate students' performance.The degree program was consisting of the following course work of ten subjects of one hundred marks each. 1. Perspectives of Education in Pakistan 2. Human Development and Learning 3. Research and evaluation 4. School Organization and Class room Management 5.Curriculum and Instructional Technology 6. Islamiat and Pakistan Studies 7. English 8. Islamiat 9. Guidance and Counseling 10.Teaching Practice. The subject of English occupies prime importance in the B. Ed program.The brief introduction of the included topics are following: Factors involving second language learning, the importance and objectives of teaching English in Pakistan, principal theories of language learning e g. Behaviorism and Mentalism, methods and approaches to language learning e g. grammar translation method,direct method, audio lingual method, teaching poetry grammar, Nature and utility of poetry, introduction of literary terms of poetry, types of grammar and its utility, correct use of tense, parts of speech, active and passive voice, direct and in direct narration, precis writing and summarizing, poems: True Love By William Shakespeare, Leisure by W.H. Davies, The Owl Critic by J.T Fields, The Man Who Killed by Thomas Hardy the War Songs of Sarcens by J.E. Flecker, the essays: The Little Black Car by J.B.Boothroyed, The Fire of London by Samual Pepys, How to live long by E.V. Knox, Are Women Human? by Drothy Sayers.
The degree of M A. in TEFL was awarded after passing course work and completing the research work consisting the following ten subjects of hundred marks each. 1.Psycholinguistics and Sociolinguistics:Theories of learning Behaviorism and mentalism, different teaching methodologies e g. Grammar Translation Method, Classical approach, Direct Method, Krashan's Natural Approach were debated.The general concepts of sociolinguistic e g. dialect,sociolect, idiolect, sociolect, isogloss, diaglossia, register, pidgin and creole etc. were studied. 2.Grammar and Phonology: The basic difference in the concepts of traditional grammar and functional grammar, morphemes, base forms and affixes, chain choice, verbs, kinds of sentences etc. Whereas, phonology consisted of introduction to phonemes, consonants and vowels, syllables and word stress, sentence stress and intonation, pronunciation etc. 3.The Language Skills: The developing Techniques of all the four skills of the English viz. listening, speaking, reading and writing. 4.EFL in the Classroom: The role of the teacher and learnes, pair work, group work use of authentic material, using teaching aids etc. 5.Education Psychology and the Management of Learning: 6.Language variation and Stylistics: The variations in English language relating to particular culture, social interaction and style of English discourse were discussed by applying linguistics principles and theories. 7.Sementic and Discourse Analysis: Study of meanings and analysis of discourse of poetry and prose was done through foregrounding and parallelism etc. 8. English for Specific Purposes: The use of specific repertoire was discussed with reference to different professions e g. medical engineering, law etc. 9. Modern Grammatical Theory: The concepts of Generative(TG) and Universal grammar by Noam Chomsky. 10. Thesis: Research work on the topic of "Utility of Direct Method for the Development of Language Teaching". was completed.
Post Graduate Diploma in English Language Course ( ELT ) was started by the Government for the in service college lecturers working in the Government sector colleges only, to improve their qualification and abilities of English language teaching. The Program of this diploma course included the course work and workshop of up to the fortnight. The course work contained the study of various methods of language teaching e g. the grammar translation method, the direct method, the audio lingual method, with reference to different approaches of language learning e g. the classical approach, the natural approach, the communicative approach and the structural approach. Similarly while discussing the methodology of language teaching the impact of teaching methodology in the learning process of L2 was discussed with reference to the merits and demerits of respective teaching methods adopted by the L2 teacher. All the four skills were discussed separately and in integrative manner also.The teaching of listening skill was done through the techniques of discrete or intensive listening and extensive or global listening. The process of reading skill was discussed with reference to the brain storming session followed by intensive reading by applying the techniques of skimming and scanning later to be intensified the extensive reading. The pair work, role play techniques used to develop the speaking skill were discussed and the basic concepts of phonetics and phonology were discussed including phonetic transcription, stress assimilation,elision and intonation. The development of writing skill was discussed with reference to the gradual process by using the the techniques of controlled writing, guided writing and free writing step by step. Lesson planning was discussed with its different stages e g. preparation, presentation, production and recaptulation.The importance of A.V aids was discussed with the demonstration how different kinds of A.V aids can become beneficial in L2.
The degree of M A. in English was awarded after passing the course work of two years duration as a full time student under the annual system program of the Department of English. The course work consisted of eight subjects of hundred marks each for the reading Comprehension, critical appreciation and and explanation with reference to the context of the stanzas of poetry and speeches of the different charters of dramas. The brief description of course work is following. 1. Classical Poetry: Geoffery Chaucer: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. John Milton: Paradise Lost Book I, II & Lycidas. John Doone: Selection of Metaphysical Poetry. Alexandandar Pop: The Rape of the Lock. Edmund Spenser: The Faerie Queene. John Dryden 2. Drama: Christopher Marlowe: Dr. Fastus.William Shakespeare: King Lear, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest. Thomas Becket: Waiting for Godot. George Bernard Shaw: Pygmalian. 3. Novel: Henery Fielding: Tom Jones.Thomas Hardy: The Return of the Native.Charlas Dickens: Great Expectation.George Eliot : Mill on the Floss. Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice. E. M Foster: Passage to India. Joseph Conrad: Lord Jim. Virgenia Wolf: To the Light House. 4. Romantic and Modern Poetry: William Wordsworth: The Prelude Book I& II. P.B Shelly : Adonis. John Keats: Famous Odes, Endymion, Hyperion. S.T. Coleridge: Ancient Marniers. Lord Byron: Child Harold's Pilgrimage. Robert Browning, W.B Yeats, T.S Eliot. 5.Prose Fransis Bacon: Essays. J. S Mill: On Liberty, Bertrand Russel: Sceptical Essays, Jonothan Swift: Gulliver's Travels Aldous Huxley: Adonis and the Alphabet. 6. Literary Criticism : Aristotle : The Poetics. Dr. Johnson : The Preface to Shakespeare. S.T. Coleridge: Biogriphia Literiaria. Philip Sydeny: Defense of Poetry, Mathew Arnold: The Functions of Criticisim. T.S. Eliot: Tradition and Individual Talent,The Metaphysical Poets. 7. Essay Writing: Essy Writing on any one given topic. 8. Islamiat: Compulsory.
Although, Bachelor Degree study in Arts is completed after two years full time study, yet two years under graduate study at the college level is also required to be successfully completed before getting admission into B.A Program. In other words B.A in Pakistan is done in four years study program after passing secondary level. English Language is taught as a compulsory subject in B.A and is treated as the major field of study. The subject of English Language in those days was taught with extensive syllabus of English Literature, English Composition and English Grammar. The Course Work of the subject included all the forms of English Literature in varied ways such as short stories, plays, poetry, essays, and novel. The course work was further sub divided into three papers of English; classified as English Paper A, English Paper B, and English Paper C. English Paper A consisted of prose which included a number short stories by the eminent English short story writers, essays written by the famous English essayists and a novel 'Jane Eyre' by Charlot Bronte. English Paper B was restricted to the English Composition and English Grammar.This paper covered a vast range of topics such as precise writing, letter writing to the editor of a newspaper on an issue of public importance, essay writing on a given topic, Direct and Indirect narration, Correct use of tenses, translation of the given passage into English, usage of idioms and phrasal words into your own sentences.The Paper C of English Language consisted of plays and poetry, some of the short plays by the English dramatists were included in the course work besides one major play " The Devil's Disciple' by George Bernard Shaw, whereas a very extensive collection of one hundred and thirty English poems was also the subject of this paper which included all the classical , modern and romantic poets of English Literature such as Chaucer, Spencer, Donne, Pope, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelly, Byron, Keats, Browning, Frost.