Dialogical Odes by John Keats: Mythologically RevisitedBahram Kazemian
This paper, using Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of dialogism tries to investigate the indications of dialogic voice in Odes by John Keats. Indeed this study goes through the dialogic reading of ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, ‘Ode to Psyche’, and ‘Ode on Melancholy’, considering mythological outlooks. Analyzing Keats’s odes through dialogical perspective may reveal that Keats plays a role of an involved and social poet of his own time. Moreover, Keats embraces the world of fancy and imagination to free himself from sufferings of his society. Keats’ odes are influenced by expression of pain-joy reality by which he builds up a dialogue with readers trying to display his own political and social engagement. Applying various kinds of mythological elements and figures within the odes may disclose Keats’s historical response and reaction toward a conflicted society and human grieves in general.
Ideational Grammatical Metaphor in Scientific Texts: A Hallidayan PerspectiveBahram Kazemian
This study looked into a particular lexico-grammatical resource, the resource that SFL refers to as IGM. Proposed and evolved mainly by Halliday (1985, 1994), GMs can be identified in terms of the metafunctions. This paper adopts Hallidayan Systemic Functional Grammar to pinpoint and analyze nominalization and the role played by it. With a corpus of 10 authentic scientific texts drawn from very influential magazines, the analysis is conducted based on nominalization, its frequency and process types. The analysis displays that Ideational Grammatical Metaphor has permeated scientific texts and the prevailing process types are material and relational types.
Code-Switching in Urdu Books of Punjab Text Book Board, Lahore, PakistanBahram Kazemian
The study highlights English code-switching in Punjab Urdu textbooks. The research aims at finding and categorizing Urdu-English code-switches. Another rationale behind the study is to present Urdu equivalents of the switches from an Urdu-English dictionary; for instance, adakar for actor and sayyah for tourist. Textbooks of 5th, 6th, 9th and 10th class are selected for data collection and analysis. A number of instances are observed at morpheme, word, phrase and clause levels. Data is analyzed qualitatively. The data analysis shows switches at all the mentioned levels. The researchers propose a revision of the existing textbooks in the light of the given equivalents and a careful scrutiny of the compilation of future textbooks to preserve the purity of Urdu language.
Critical Discourse Analysis of a Reading Text ‘Pakistan and the Modern World’...Bahram Kazemian
This paper presents some key concepts in studying and analyzing the aspects of communication critically. It has always been crucial and a complex phenomenon for the experts in the field of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to decode and deduce the meaning of a text through context. They examine and attribute language as a social process involving context to determine the meaning of an utterance to its producer and receiver. It has also been of great interest and enthusiasm for discourse analysts to explore and identify the underlying objective of meaning carrying an ideological message based on religious, sociopolitical, and historical assumptions. The discourse practitioners are seriously occupied with critical studies on revealing social inequality, power relations, and dominance operated through language (Wodak, 2001a). Critical studies have actively pursued such discursive practices of power dominance, the imposition of an ideology, and discrimination through text and talk. There have been important insights on sociopolitical and historical discourse serving the purpose at (macro and micro) levels of analysis (van Dijk, 1993). It suggests the use of conversation analysis, narrative analysis, rhetoric/stylistics, and media analysis. The underlying approach may be used to analyze the discourse of speeches delivered by renowned politicians, parliamentarians, and national leaders. Following van Dijk (1993) approach/model, this study aims to analyze a political speech, titled as ‘Pakistan and the Modern World’ made by the first Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan at the University of Kansas, United States of America.
An Investigation of the Reading Text ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ (Long Live Pakistan)...Bahram Kazemian
This paper is a critical study in Critical Discourse Analysis paradigm of a Textbook prescribed for intermediate students (Second Language Learners) in Government Colleges affiliated to the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan. The textbook contains selected texts to improve students reading skills integrated with writing activities. Each of the texts contains questions at the end to be answered. It is observed that the reading tasks are badly designed and there is no mental activity to involve students in the text discourse. The study focuses on critical discourse of the underlying text to inspect whether the text reading involves students in the critical discourse or not; it also attempts to analyze the Reading Text ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ to identify problems showing the gap and unawareness on the part of teachers and students regarding the critical discourse of the text in classroom reading context. It is also suggested that teachers need to bring about a change in their traditional teaching methods in order to tackle the issue. The awareness of critical discourse analysis is recommended on the part of the teachers in order to analyze and understand the real meaning of the text. In result, it may develop the critical approach which is very essential for a reader.
Audience Perception of Synonyms from the Pulpit: A Case among Six Church Anci...Bahram Kazemian
This work investigated audience perception of messages that contained synonyms. Some church members opined
that synonyms changed meanings of messages intended by Ministers of the Christian religion. The study was conducted among 161 church members drawn from six church ancillary groups in Madina, a suburb of Accra. The groups were selected from Orthodox, Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches in Madina. A qualitative approach was used in this study. It was found that sets of words used as synonyms did not make any much difference in meaning to the majority of the members in the audience nor did it have any significant effect on their perception of the messages preached from the pulpits. The work concludes that, so long as synonym use in the pulpits does not create any misunderstanding among the audience, its’ use by Ministers of the Christian faith will continue.
Dialogical Odes by John Keats: Mythologically RevisitedBahram Kazemian
This paper, using Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of dialogism tries to investigate the indications of dialogic voice in Odes by John Keats. Indeed this study goes through the dialogic reading of ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, ‘Ode to Psyche’, and ‘Ode on Melancholy’, considering mythological outlooks. Analyzing Keats’s odes through dialogical perspective may reveal that Keats plays a role of an involved and social poet of his own time. Moreover, Keats embraces the world of fancy and imagination to free himself from sufferings of his society. Keats’ odes are influenced by expression of pain-joy reality by which he builds up a dialogue with readers trying to display his own political and social engagement. Applying various kinds of mythological elements and figures within the odes may disclose Keats’s historical response and reaction toward a conflicted society and human grieves in general.
Ideational Grammatical Metaphor in Scientific Texts: A Hallidayan PerspectiveBahram Kazemian
This study looked into a particular lexico-grammatical resource, the resource that SFL refers to as IGM. Proposed and evolved mainly by Halliday (1985, 1994), GMs can be identified in terms of the metafunctions. This paper adopts Hallidayan Systemic Functional Grammar to pinpoint and analyze nominalization and the role played by it. With a corpus of 10 authentic scientific texts drawn from very influential magazines, the analysis is conducted based on nominalization, its frequency and process types. The analysis displays that Ideational Grammatical Metaphor has permeated scientific texts and the prevailing process types are material and relational types.
Code-Switching in Urdu Books of Punjab Text Book Board, Lahore, PakistanBahram Kazemian
The study highlights English code-switching in Punjab Urdu textbooks. The research aims at finding and categorizing Urdu-English code-switches. Another rationale behind the study is to present Urdu equivalents of the switches from an Urdu-English dictionary; for instance, adakar for actor and sayyah for tourist. Textbooks of 5th, 6th, 9th and 10th class are selected for data collection and analysis. A number of instances are observed at morpheme, word, phrase and clause levels. Data is analyzed qualitatively. The data analysis shows switches at all the mentioned levels. The researchers propose a revision of the existing textbooks in the light of the given equivalents and a careful scrutiny of the compilation of future textbooks to preserve the purity of Urdu language.
Critical Discourse Analysis of a Reading Text ‘Pakistan and the Modern World’...Bahram Kazemian
This paper presents some key concepts in studying and analyzing the aspects of communication critically. It has always been crucial and a complex phenomenon for the experts in the field of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to decode and deduce the meaning of a text through context. They examine and attribute language as a social process involving context to determine the meaning of an utterance to its producer and receiver. It has also been of great interest and enthusiasm for discourse analysts to explore and identify the underlying objective of meaning carrying an ideological message based on religious, sociopolitical, and historical assumptions. The discourse practitioners are seriously occupied with critical studies on revealing social inequality, power relations, and dominance operated through language (Wodak, 2001a). Critical studies have actively pursued such discursive practices of power dominance, the imposition of an ideology, and discrimination through text and talk. There have been important insights on sociopolitical and historical discourse serving the purpose at (macro and micro) levels of analysis (van Dijk, 1993). It suggests the use of conversation analysis, narrative analysis, rhetoric/stylistics, and media analysis. The underlying approach may be used to analyze the discourse of speeches delivered by renowned politicians, parliamentarians, and national leaders. Following van Dijk (1993) approach/model, this study aims to analyze a political speech, titled as ‘Pakistan and the Modern World’ made by the first Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan at the University of Kansas, United States of America.
An Investigation of the Reading Text ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ (Long Live Pakistan)...Bahram Kazemian
This paper is a critical study in Critical Discourse Analysis paradigm of a Textbook prescribed for intermediate students (Second Language Learners) in Government Colleges affiliated to the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan. The textbook contains selected texts to improve students reading skills integrated with writing activities. Each of the texts contains questions at the end to be answered. It is observed that the reading tasks are badly designed and there is no mental activity to involve students in the text discourse. The study focuses on critical discourse of the underlying text to inspect whether the text reading involves students in the critical discourse or not; it also attempts to analyze the Reading Text ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ to identify problems showing the gap and unawareness on the part of teachers and students regarding the critical discourse of the text in classroom reading context. It is also suggested that teachers need to bring about a change in their traditional teaching methods in order to tackle the issue. The awareness of critical discourse analysis is recommended on the part of the teachers in order to analyze and understand the real meaning of the text. In result, it may develop the critical approach which is very essential for a reader.
Audience Perception of Synonyms from the Pulpit: A Case among Six Church Anci...Bahram Kazemian
This work investigated audience perception of messages that contained synonyms. Some church members opined
that synonyms changed meanings of messages intended by Ministers of the Christian religion. The study was conducted among 161 church members drawn from six church ancillary groups in Madina, a suburb of Accra. The groups were selected from Orthodox, Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches in Madina. A qualitative approach was used in this study. It was found that sets of words used as synonyms did not make any much difference in meaning to the majority of the members in the audience nor did it have any significant effect on their perception of the messages preached from the pulpits. The work concludes that, so long as synonym use in the pulpits does not create any misunderstanding among the audience, its’ use by Ministers of the Christian faith will continue.
Distinctiveness of Pakistani English in Online Travel Guides of PakistanBahram Kazemian
The study highlights the distinctive features of Pakistani English (PE) in a new genre: online travel guides of Pakistan uploaded by Pakistan Tourism. The data has been gathered through internet resource. British National Corpus has been used for the conformation of the distinctiveness of those features. The features highlighted in the paper validate the previous studies in order to take a serious step towards the codification of PE. It also presents new features such as a divergent use of
punctuation and orthography of compound words from BSE and contributes to the existing body of knowledge. It is helpful for the researchers interested in a compilation of register based lexis and also offers a number of dimensions for further research by taking new genres into account in the study of non-native varieties of English. It also provides a good source of data for the compilation of corpus of PE.
A contrastive linguistic analysis of inflectional bound morphemes of English,...Bahram Kazemian
In order to contrast and compare inflectional bound morphemes of English, Azeri and Persian languages and to identify their similarities and dissimilarities, inventories of English, Azeri and Farsi inflections, i.e. their set of affixes, were gathered, studied, and elaborated with some examples, and with English meanings. Eventually, after comparison, the researchers ended up with a series of statements about similarities and differences between these languages. The design of the present study is comparative-analytic which concentrates on the comparison and contrasting inflections of English, Azeri and Persian languages. The data is analyzed and illustrated through the contrastive method.
The Importance of Culture in Second and Foreign Language Learning.Bahram Kazemian
English has been designated as a source of intercultural communication among the people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. A range of linguistic and cultural theories contribute meaningful insights on the development of competence in intercultural communication. The speculations suggest the use of communicative strategies focusing on the development of learners’ efficiency in communicating language through cultural context. However, the teaching of culture in communication has not been paid due importance in a number of academic and language settings of Pakistan and Iran. This assignment study indicates problems in view of teaching English as a medium of instruction in public sector colleges of interior Sindh, Pakistan and prescribed textbooks in Iranian schools. It also aims to identify drawbacks and shortcoming in prescribed textbooks for intermediate students at college level and schools. Therefore, the assignment study recommends integration of cultural awareness into a language teaching programme for an overall achievement of competence in intercultural communication.
Critical Discourse Analysis of Barack Obama's 2012 Speeches: Views from Syste...Bahram Kazemian
In the light of Halliday's Ideational Grammatical Metaphor, Rhetoric and Critical Discourse Analysis, the major objectives of this study are to investigate and analyze Barack Obama's 2012 five speeches, which amount to 19383 words, from the point of frequency and functions of Nominalization, Rhetorical strategies, Passivization and Modality, in which we can grasp the effective and dominant principles and tropes utilized in political discourse. Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis frameworks based on a Hallidayan perspective are used to depict the orator’s deft and clever use of these strategies in the speeches which are bound up with his overall political purposes. The results represent that nominalization, parallelism, unification strategies and modality have dominated in his speeches. There are some antithesis, expletive devices as well as passive voices in these texts. Accordingly, in terms of nominalization, some implications are drawn for political writing and reading, for translators and instructors entailed in reading and writing pedagogy.
Systemic Functional Linguistics Mood Analysis of the Last Address of the Holy...Bahram Kazemian
The study highlights the functional and semantic properties of the last address of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The
study is based upon Halliday’s (1985) SFL Mood analysis. The data obtained from the last address of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) are analyzed in tables. The analysis of 56 clauses reveals that 32 are declarative, 22 are imperative; whereas, only one is interrogative clause. A brief discussion explains the functional structural meanings based on clausal Mood classification. The study of the religious text discusses interpersonal metafunction of language. It highlights the power relations of the participants. The study fills the gap of SFL based linguistic study of the religious texts. The research shall act as a torch light for young researchers for further investigation in this regard.
The Role of Error Analysis in Teaching and Learning of Second and Foreign Lan...Bahram Kazemian
The aim of this paper is to investigate errors made by second and foreign language (L2) learners so as to understand the strategies and techniques used in the process of second and foreign language learning. Error analysis is a very important area of applied linguistics as well as of second and foreign language learning. It is also a systematic method to analyze learners' errors. Errors are not always bad, rather they are crucial parts and aspects in the process of learning a language. They may provide insights into the complicated processes of language development as well as a systematic way for identifying, describing and explaining students' errors. Errors may also help to better understand the process of second and foreign language acquisition. This study tries to investigate why Pakistani ESL and Iranian EFL learners fail to produce grammatically correct sentences in English, in spite of having English as a compulsory subject at all levels in their learning institutions and schools. What are the reasons for their poor English written performance? In the present study, the writing assignments of university students as well as intermediate English learners were analyzed for the purpose of error analysis. Results of the analysis suggest that students lack grammatical accuracy in their writing and are not sure of the grammatical rules that may apply in their writing in English. The study concludes that they are highly influenced by the rules of their first language (L1).
Nominalizations in scientific and political genres: A systemic functional lin...Bahram Kazemian
Halliday (1985, 1994) contemplates that there are two kinds of utterances: congruent, also called non-metaphorical; and incongruent, or metaphorical. Predominantly, it is believed that people, places and things are realized by means of a noun; actions are realized verbally and so on. However, all meanings may have more than one way of realization, and sometimes, in written language and particularly in scientific register, the realizations of the semantic functions of the clause are not typical, but marked. The general characterization of GM in terms of alternative realizations is stated more precisely as alternative lexico-grammatical realizations of a choice in the semantics (Simon-Vandenbergen, Taverniers, & Ravelli, 2003).
A Radical Shift to a Profound and Rigorous Investigation in Political Discour...Bahram Kazemian
Drawing on overarching methodological frameworks of Hallidayan grammatical metaphor, Fairclough’s
perspective on critical discourse analysis and rhetoric, this study attempts to posit a novel, integrated and
practical approach to political, the media, advertisement and other discourses. To this end and based on the
proposed approach, it aims to critically and eclectically exemplify and dissect three speeches delivered by Mr.
Barack Obama, former president of the US, to first manifest the integrated approach practicality and adeptness
through analysis; then by virtue of analysis to unveil how language is manipulated and distorted by orators in
order to convey seamlessly intended messages and political creeds to the audience. Surveying recent annals of
literature, to date no one has conducted an integrated study applying these disciplines in an individual paper and
this study as a trial one can be useful for upcoming research. The analysis depicts practicality and efficiency of
the integrated approach and displays that the speeches abound with nominalizations, modal verbs, parallelisms
and antitheses. Furthermore, there are some three-part listing, the use of passivization, quotations and modality
metaphors. Therefore, a tendency to utilize more nominalizations, parallelism and other devices by the speaker
can be a fundamental reason for making his political language more powerful, impressive, persuasive and
ambiguous as well.
A Rhetorical Identification Analysis of English Political Public Speaking: Jo...Bahram Kazemian
Since political discourse reflects the close relation between politics and language, it has attracted many scholars’
attention at home and abroad. Therefore, English political public speaking (EPPS for short), the subcategory of political
discourse, has been chosen as the subject of the study. Based on the findings of Kenneth Burke’s new rhetoric and classical
rhetoric, the identification strategies of EPPS in John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address from the perspectives of rhetorical content and rhetorical form were probed. Since EPPS is always well-prepared rather than impromptu, the identification strategies via rhetorical content and form are always employed by the speaker to accomplish their purposes.
Pilot Study for Validity and Reliability of an Aptitude TestBahram Kazemian
The study was conducted in the department of the English University of Gujrat during Spring- 2012 semester. A question
paper was designed to check the aptitude of the intermediate students of population 25. There were three sections; Grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension, in the question paper. Section: A (Grammar) was proved valid with 84.33 % of validity. The validity of Section: B (vocabulary) and Section C (reading comprehension) were 91.64 % and 52.00 respectively. As a whole, the validity of all the questions was 75.99 %. Thus, the designed aptitude test may be considered reliable.
The Language of TV Commercials’ Slogans: A Semantic AnalysisBahram Kazemian
This qualitative-descriptive study highlights the semantic property of the slogans of TV commercials. The study
focuses on the analysis of linguistic tools used by the copywriters of TV commercials to influence the target audience. Leech’s (1981) associative meaning with its sub-types provide a theoretical basis to the study. The research displays multiple strategies used by the copywriters. It underscores the associations attached to the keywords of the selected slogans according to the mentioned theory of meaning. The research helps the TV viewers to understand the guile used by the copywriters to entrap them as well as the researchers of the field of semantics.
Factors Responsible for Poor English Reading Comprehension at Secondary LevelBahram Kazemian
The present study shows factors responsible for poor English reading comprehension at secondary school level students. The purpose of this study is to explore those factors and to suggest remedies how to strengthen English reading comprehension of the students. English is the 2nd language of Pakistani students and Kachru (1996) places it in the outer circle. Test and interviews are conducted to get the data. Different factors like poor command of vocabulary, habit of cramming, no interest to learn creativity in reading but the sole goal is just to pass the examination which are found responsible for poor English reading comprehension. Motivation to learn reading can develop reading comprehension skill of students.
Although, chaos/complexity theory and SLA have commonplaces, they seem to be different in that chaos/complexity theory offers the wider perspective that has served SLA in the past. As opposed to SLA, chaos/complexity theory encourages linguists to think in relational terms. It refers to the fact that by accepting participation metaphor/language use/emergent grammar position, chaos/complexity theory does not reject psychological perspective. As it is stated , chaos complexity theory like socialists focus on the following issues: 1. all languages are static 2. there are mechanisms for language change 3.language and learning are seen as an open systems.
Nevertheless, C/CT never rejects the following characteristics which psychological perspective focuses on: 1. languages are sensitive to initial conditions 2. there are systemic patterns with dynamic paths.
A Bakhtinian dialogical nature of theme in Keats’s odes as a circular escape ...Bahram Kazemian
This paper, applying Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of dialogism as a theoretical starting
point, attempts to study the manifestations of dialogic voice in Odes by John Keats.
In essence, this study investigates the dialogic reading of ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, ‘Ode on
a Grecian Urn’, ‘Ode to Psyche’, ‘To Autumn’ and ‘Ode on Melancholy’, regarding thematic viewpoints. A scrutiny upon Keats’s odes through dialogical viewpoints may
disclose that Keats is an involved and social poet of his time. Besides, Keats as an
escapist poet clings to the world of fancy and imagination to release himself from
conflicts of his society. Keats’ odes are dominated by expression of joy-pain reality
through which he, in an intimate dialogue with readers tries to show his own social
and political engagement. Examining various themes within the odes may display
Keats’s historical response toward a troubled society and human sufferings in general.
Distinctiveness of Pakistani English in Online Travel Guides of PakistanBahram Kazemian
The study highlights the distinctive features of Pakistani English (PE) in a new genre: online travel guides of Pakistan uploaded by Pakistan Tourism. The data has been gathered through internet resource. British National Corpus has been used for the conformation of the distinctiveness of those features. The features highlighted in the paper validate the previous studies in order to take a serious step towards the codification of PE. It also presents new features such as a divergent use of
punctuation and orthography of compound words from BSE and contributes to the existing body of knowledge. It is helpful for the researchers interested in a compilation of register based lexis and also offers a number of dimensions for further research by taking new genres into account in the study of non-native varieties of English. It also provides a good source of data for the compilation of corpus of PE.
A contrastive linguistic analysis of inflectional bound morphemes of English,...Bahram Kazemian
In order to contrast and compare inflectional bound morphemes of English, Azeri and Persian languages and to identify their similarities and dissimilarities, inventories of English, Azeri and Farsi inflections, i.e. their set of affixes, were gathered, studied, and elaborated with some examples, and with English meanings. Eventually, after comparison, the researchers ended up with a series of statements about similarities and differences between these languages. The design of the present study is comparative-analytic which concentrates on the comparison and contrasting inflections of English, Azeri and Persian languages. The data is analyzed and illustrated through the contrastive method.
The Importance of Culture in Second and Foreign Language Learning.Bahram Kazemian
English has been designated as a source of intercultural communication among the people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. A range of linguistic and cultural theories contribute meaningful insights on the development of competence in intercultural communication. The speculations suggest the use of communicative strategies focusing on the development of learners’ efficiency in communicating language through cultural context. However, the teaching of culture in communication has not been paid due importance in a number of academic and language settings of Pakistan and Iran. This assignment study indicates problems in view of teaching English as a medium of instruction in public sector colleges of interior Sindh, Pakistan and prescribed textbooks in Iranian schools. It also aims to identify drawbacks and shortcoming in prescribed textbooks for intermediate students at college level and schools. Therefore, the assignment study recommends integration of cultural awareness into a language teaching programme for an overall achievement of competence in intercultural communication.
Critical Discourse Analysis of Barack Obama's 2012 Speeches: Views from Syste...Bahram Kazemian
In the light of Halliday's Ideational Grammatical Metaphor, Rhetoric and Critical Discourse Analysis, the major objectives of this study are to investigate and analyze Barack Obama's 2012 five speeches, which amount to 19383 words, from the point of frequency and functions of Nominalization, Rhetorical strategies, Passivization and Modality, in which we can grasp the effective and dominant principles and tropes utilized in political discourse. Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis frameworks based on a Hallidayan perspective are used to depict the orator’s deft and clever use of these strategies in the speeches which are bound up with his overall political purposes. The results represent that nominalization, parallelism, unification strategies and modality have dominated in his speeches. There are some antithesis, expletive devices as well as passive voices in these texts. Accordingly, in terms of nominalization, some implications are drawn for political writing and reading, for translators and instructors entailed in reading and writing pedagogy.
Systemic Functional Linguistics Mood Analysis of the Last Address of the Holy...Bahram Kazemian
The study highlights the functional and semantic properties of the last address of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The
study is based upon Halliday’s (1985) SFL Mood analysis. The data obtained from the last address of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) are analyzed in tables. The analysis of 56 clauses reveals that 32 are declarative, 22 are imperative; whereas, only one is interrogative clause. A brief discussion explains the functional structural meanings based on clausal Mood classification. The study of the religious text discusses interpersonal metafunction of language. It highlights the power relations of the participants. The study fills the gap of SFL based linguistic study of the religious texts. The research shall act as a torch light for young researchers for further investigation in this regard.
The Role of Error Analysis in Teaching and Learning of Second and Foreign Lan...Bahram Kazemian
The aim of this paper is to investigate errors made by second and foreign language (L2) learners so as to understand the strategies and techniques used in the process of second and foreign language learning. Error analysis is a very important area of applied linguistics as well as of second and foreign language learning. It is also a systematic method to analyze learners' errors. Errors are not always bad, rather they are crucial parts and aspects in the process of learning a language. They may provide insights into the complicated processes of language development as well as a systematic way for identifying, describing and explaining students' errors. Errors may also help to better understand the process of second and foreign language acquisition. This study tries to investigate why Pakistani ESL and Iranian EFL learners fail to produce grammatically correct sentences in English, in spite of having English as a compulsory subject at all levels in their learning institutions and schools. What are the reasons for their poor English written performance? In the present study, the writing assignments of university students as well as intermediate English learners were analyzed for the purpose of error analysis. Results of the analysis suggest that students lack grammatical accuracy in their writing and are not sure of the grammatical rules that may apply in their writing in English. The study concludes that they are highly influenced by the rules of their first language (L1).
Nominalizations in scientific and political genres: A systemic functional lin...Bahram Kazemian
Halliday (1985, 1994) contemplates that there are two kinds of utterances: congruent, also called non-metaphorical; and incongruent, or metaphorical. Predominantly, it is believed that people, places and things are realized by means of a noun; actions are realized verbally and so on. However, all meanings may have more than one way of realization, and sometimes, in written language and particularly in scientific register, the realizations of the semantic functions of the clause are not typical, but marked. The general characterization of GM in terms of alternative realizations is stated more precisely as alternative lexico-grammatical realizations of a choice in the semantics (Simon-Vandenbergen, Taverniers, & Ravelli, 2003).
A Radical Shift to a Profound and Rigorous Investigation in Political Discour...Bahram Kazemian
Drawing on overarching methodological frameworks of Hallidayan grammatical metaphor, Fairclough’s
perspective on critical discourse analysis and rhetoric, this study attempts to posit a novel, integrated and
practical approach to political, the media, advertisement and other discourses. To this end and based on the
proposed approach, it aims to critically and eclectically exemplify and dissect three speeches delivered by Mr.
Barack Obama, former president of the US, to first manifest the integrated approach practicality and adeptness
through analysis; then by virtue of analysis to unveil how language is manipulated and distorted by orators in
order to convey seamlessly intended messages and political creeds to the audience. Surveying recent annals of
literature, to date no one has conducted an integrated study applying these disciplines in an individual paper and
this study as a trial one can be useful for upcoming research. The analysis depicts practicality and efficiency of
the integrated approach and displays that the speeches abound with nominalizations, modal verbs, parallelisms
and antitheses. Furthermore, there are some three-part listing, the use of passivization, quotations and modality
metaphors. Therefore, a tendency to utilize more nominalizations, parallelism and other devices by the speaker
can be a fundamental reason for making his political language more powerful, impressive, persuasive and
ambiguous as well.
A Rhetorical Identification Analysis of English Political Public Speaking: Jo...Bahram Kazemian
Since political discourse reflects the close relation between politics and language, it has attracted many scholars’
attention at home and abroad. Therefore, English political public speaking (EPPS for short), the subcategory of political
discourse, has been chosen as the subject of the study. Based on the findings of Kenneth Burke’s new rhetoric and classical
rhetoric, the identification strategies of EPPS in John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address from the perspectives of rhetorical content and rhetorical form were probed. Since EPPS is always well-prepared rather than impromptu, the identification strategies via rhetorical content and form are always employed by the speaker to accomplish their purposes.
Pilot Study for Validity and Reliability of an Aptitude TestBahram Kazemian
The study was conducted in the department of the English University of Gujrat during Spring- 2012 semester. A question
paper was designed to check the aptitude of the intermediate students of population 25. There were three sections; Grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension, in the question paper. Section: A (Grammar) was proved valid with 84.33 % of validity. The validity of Section: B (vocabulary) and Section C (reading comprehension) were 91.64 % and 52.00 respectively. As a whole, the validity of all the questions was 75.99 %. Thus, the designed aptitude test may be considered reliable.
The Language of TV Commercials’ Slogans: A Semantic AnalysisBahram Kazemian
This qualitative-descriptive study highlights the semantic property of the slogans of TV commercials. The study
focuses on the analysis of linguistic tools used by the copywriters of TV commercials to influence the target audience. Leech’s (1981) associative meaning with its sub-types provide a theoretical basis to the study. The research displays multiple strategies used by the copywriters. It underscores the associations attached to the keywords of the selected slogans according to the mentioned theory of meaning. The research helps the TV viewers to understand the guile used by the copywriters to entrap them as well as the researchers of the field of semantics.
Factors Responsible for Poor English Reading Comprehension at Secondary LevelBahram Kazemian
The present study shows factors responsible for poor English reading comprehension at secondary school level students. The purpose of this study is to explore those factors and to suggest remedies how to strengthen English reading comprehension of the students. English is the 2nd language of Pakistani students and Kachru (1996) places it in the outer circle. Test and interviews are conducted to get the data. Different factors like poor command of vocabulary, habit of cramming, no interest to learn creativity in reading but the sole goal is just to pass the examination which are found responsible for poor English reading comprehension. Motivation to learn reading can develop reading comprehension skill of students.
Although, chaos/complexity theory and SLA have commonplaces, they seem to be different in that chaos/complexity theory offers the wider perspective that has served SLA in the past. As opposed to SLA, chaos/complexity theory encourages linguists to think in relational terms. It refers to the fact that by accepting participation metaphor/language use/emergent grammar position, chaos/complexity theory does not reject psychological perspective. As it is stated , chaos complexity theory like socialists focus on the following issues: 1. all languages are static 2. there are mechanisms for language change 3.language and learning are seen as an open systems.
Nevertheless, C/CT never rejects the following characteristics which psychological perspective focuses on: 1. languages are sensitive to initial conditions 2. there are systemic patterns with dynamic paths.
A Bakhtinian dialogical nature of theme in Keats’s odes as a circular escape ...Bahram Kazemian
This paper, applying Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of dialogism as a theoretical starting
point, attempts to study the manifestations of dialogic voice in Odes by John Keats.
In essence, this study investigates the dialogic reading of ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, ‘Ode on
a Grecian Urn’, ‘Ode to Psyche’, ‘To Autumn’ and ‘Ode on Melancholy’, regarding thematic viewpoints. A scrutiny upon Keats’s odes through dialogical viewpoints may
disclose that Keats is an involved and social poet of his time. Besides, Keats as an
escapist poet clings to the world of fancy and imagination to release himself from
conflicts of his society. Keats’ odes are dominated by expression of joy-pain reality
through which he, in an intimate dialogue with readers tries to show his own social
and political engagement. Examining various themes within the odes may display
Keats’s historical response toward a troubled society and human sufferings in general.