https://ojs.plhr.org.pk/journal/issue/feed Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review 2025-07-15T12:25:28+05:00 Dr. Tariq Hussain editor@plhr.org.pk Open Journal Systems <p><strong>Orients Social Research Consultancy (OSRC) Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan (N0.ARL/INC4757)</strong> is an educational set up to manage the educational and research activities with modern scientific devices for the welfare and to educate the nation with these objectives</p> <ul> <li>To improve the quality of education and research activities</li> <li>To provide the chance to avail modern method of teaching and learning to students, teachers and researchers.</li> <li>To held conferences, lectures, discussions to raise research activities</li> </ul> <p>Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review (PLHR) publishes original and quality research in all disciplines of social sciences. PLHR is a <strong>Triple-blind peer-reviewed</strong> <strong>open access</strong> multidisciplinary research journal that publishes <strong>Quarterly</strong>. This academic research journal addresses both applied and theoretical issues in social sciences in English language. Likely subscribers are universities, research institutions, governmental, non-governmental agencies and individual researchers.</p> https://ojs.plhr.org.pk/journal/article/view/1221 Blurring Boundaries: The Use of Free Indirect Discourse in Contemporary Pakistani Novels 2025-06-24T17:52:53+05:00 Muhammad Ajmal yaseen.yen+MuhammadAjmal@gmail.com Safia Siddiqui yaseen.yen+SafiaSiddiqui@gmail.com Atiqa Kanwal yaseen.yen+AtiqaKanwal@gmail.com <p>The objective of this research is to investigate free indirect discourse (FID) in contemporary Pakistani novels written in English, analyzing how these blends the narrator with each character’s thoughts. The selected novels are Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie, The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid and Cracking India by Bapsi Sidhwa. The research is supported by using Dorrit Cohn’s (1978) elaboration of different narrative modes and Banfield’s (1982) interpretation of FID within a narratology and stylistics model. The analysis reveals how personal and political tensions are expressed with the help of FID. This narrative mode not only deepens psychological realism but also constructs an ambivalent space where personal and collective histories intersect. Through close readings and comparative analysis, the research reveals how FID contributes to the evolution of the Pakistani English novel as a site of aesthetic innovation and socio-political engagement.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+05:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review https://ojs.plhr.org.pk/journal/article/view/1226 Structural Patterns and Communicative Functions in Goodbye Mr. Chips: A Genre-Based Analysis 2025-07-02T23:18:27+05:00 Mussarat Aashiq yaseen.yen+MussaratAashiq@gmail.com Marya Sarwar yaseen.yen+MaryaSarwar@gmail.com Hafiz Muhammad Qasim yaseen.yen+HafizMuhammadQasim@gmail.com <p>This study analyzes the structural patterns and communicative functions in Goodbye Mr. Chips by James Hilton, a prescribed text in English (Book 3) in government colleges in Punjab, Pakistan, using White and Makki’s (2016) framework. Academic textbooks play an important role in student success, necessitating careful linguistic selection to engage readers. Employing a qualitative approach, the study examines how structural elements contribute to character development, plot progression, and thematic exploration. Findings reveal that specific narrative patterns enhance communicative effectiveness, offering pedagogical insights for literature instruction. The study recommends further genre-based analyses of academic texts and suggests integrating structural analysis into teaching methodologies to improve students' critical reading skills. Curriculum designers may also benefit from these findings when selecting literary texts for English courses.</p> 2025-07-02T00:00:00+05:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review https://ojs.plhr.org.pk/journal/article/view/1229 Traumas leading to Dilemmas: A Feminine Psychological Analysis of Alex Michaelides’ The Silent Patient 2025-07-06T00:08:11+05:00 Bismia Fatima yaseen.yen+BismiaFatima@gmail.com Saima Bashir yaseen.yen+SaimaBashir@gmail.com <p>The study is a complex examination of marital conflicts in Alex Michaelides’ The Silent Patient (2019), based on Karen Horney’s theory of Feminine Psychology as the framework guide. The psychological traumas of Alicia Berenson, the novel’s female protagonist, are central in decoding the intricacies of her broken marriage. A qualitative method and descriptive approach has been adopted to analyze the traumatic occurrences that cause the breakdown of the marriage and the resulting consequences. Through close reading of the narrative with reference to Horney’s theory that counters classical Freudian views on women's psychology, the study enlightens on the deep impacts of gender stereotypes and objectification in society. The study investigates how Alicia Berenson adapts to the outcome of her failed marriage, gaining insight into her personal journey of rebuilding and resilience. Female psyche, marriage dynamics, and societal influences on women’s roles in relationships can be better understood through such researches</p> 2025-07-05T00:00:00+05:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review https://ojs.plhr.org.pk/journal/article/view/1230 Under the Skin: Disability, Trauma, and Marginalized Psyche Divulged in The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie 2025-07-08T00:12:50+05:00 Qasim Ali Kharal yaseen.yen+QasimAliKharal@gmail.com Shanza Dilawar yaseen.yen+ShanzaDilawar@gmail.com Amna Khalil yaseen.yen+AmnaKhalil@gmail.com <p>The present study aims to explore the intertwined theoretical perspectives of psychological trauma, disability, and social marginalization in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap (2021). It argues that the play’s structured plot and complex characterization, particularly of Christopher Wren and Miss Case Well, reveal deeply embedded portrayals of marginalized pMarginalized Psychesyches shaped by personal and collective trauma. Engaging an argumentative approach grounded in Cathy Caruth’s trauma theory and modern disability studies, the research inspects repressed narratives of abuse, mental health, and institutional violence. The findings suggest that The Mousetrap transcends its genre as a murder mystery by metaphorically staging a site of psychological containment and confrontation. The study commends a critical reconsideration of the play as a nuanced interpretation on alteration, urging readers and scholars to move beyond traditional readings centered on entertainment or deception</p> 2025-07-07T00:00:00+05:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review https://ojs.plhr.org.pk/journal/article/view/1231 Transnational Labour Vulnerability and Shared Precarity in the Neoliberal World Order: A Neo-Marxist Study of Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West 2025-07-10T00:10:45+05:00 Ayaz Muhammad Shah yaseen.yen+AyazMuhammadShah@gmail.com <p>This paper aims to critically examine the global condition of working class under neoliberal capitalism as represented in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West, contending that economic precarity and systemic vulnerability are transnational phenomena impacting workers across both the Global South and Global North. Neoliberalism—an advanced stage of capitalism— dismantles the welfare infrastructures, thereby intensifying labour insecurity and marginalisation. Engaging with contemporary neo-Marxist and leftist theorists such as David Harvey, Werlhof, and Rajesh Makwana, the study interrogates how neoliberal regimes facilitate upward wealth redistribution while undermining collective protections. Through close textual analysis, the novel is shown to destabilise the dominant narrative that migration to the West guarantees economic opportunity, exposing instead the transnational reach of neoliberal disposability. By situating Exit West within the framework of Anglophone Pakistani resistance literature, the research foregrounds the novel’s critical intervention into global labour politics and its call for post-neoliberal solidarities transcending national and economic boundaries.</p> 2025-07-09T00:00:00+05:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review https://ojs.plhr.org.pk/journal/article/view/1232 Psychological Wellbeing, Life Satisfaction and Hopelessness in Delayed Marriages 2025-07-10T23:38:02+05:00 Ajwa Arooj yaseen.yen+AjwaArooj@gmail.com Sadia Iqbal yaseen.yen+SadiaIqbal@gmail.com Muhammad Luqman Khan yaseen.yen+MuhammadLuqmanKhan@gmail.com <p>Delayed marriage is increasingly common in Pakistan, particularly among urban and educated populations, yet its mental health consequences remain underexplored. In a society where marital status is socially significant, postponement of marriage can induce emotional distress, stigma, and reduce life satisfaction. This research explores how gender and voluntariness affect psychological responses to delayed marriage. A quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted with 210 participants (105 men and 105 women) using purposive sampling. Data was collected through standardized tools: Ryff’s 18-item Psychological Well-Being Scale, the 5-item Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the 7-item Beck Hopelessness Scale. Statistical analysis included correlation, regression, and independent t-tests using SPSS v23. Findings revealed that psychological well-being positively predicted life satisfaction and negatively predicted hopelessness. Females and those who voluntarily delayed marriage reported significantly higher psychological well-being and life satisfaction, and lower hopelessness. Mental health awareness programs, culturally sensitive counseling services, and public education campaigns are needed to support individuals facing societal pressures due to delayed marriage.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> 2025-07-10T00:00:00+05:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review https://ojs.plhr.org.pk/journal/article/view/1233 An Insight Into Palestine Politics: Edward Said Vs. Yasser Arafat 2025-07-12T21:44:37+05:00 Muhammad Ilyas yaseen.yen+MuhammadIlyas@gmail.com <p>The objective of the study is to critically review the ideological perspective by Edward Said concerning the Yasser Arafat leadership in the 1970s 1990s. Yasser Arafat has been known globally as a major player in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, whereas Edward Said despite his international stature most times criticized the policies of Yasser Arafat. Said is seen as the supporter of resistance movement and secular ideals of democracy whose partial contradictory stand offers a multidimensional ideological stance that has to be examined more properly. The qualitative approach utilized and a critical discourse analysis is carried out on the published text of Edward Said, language, tone, and strategic rhetoric of such an analysis on Arafat is considered. The results highlight that Said was inconsistent in his arguments, so that his critiques, although based on the intellectual truths, could have interfered with the Palestinian political unity when it was needed the most.</p> 2025-07-11T00:00:00+05:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review https://ojs.plhr.org.pk/journal/article/view/1234 Exploring the Causes of Language Anxiety in English Speaking Classrooms: A Qualitative Case Study 2025-07-13T13:15:37+05:00 Farah Naz Abbasi yaseen.yen+FarahNazAbbasi@gmail.com Sanullah Ansari yaseen.yen+SanullahAnsari@gmail.com Saira Niaz yaseen.yen+SairaNiaz@gmail.com <p>This research, with implications for language learning, aims to explore the Causes of language anxiety among English-speaking students at Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur Mirs, Sindh, Pakistan. This study used a qualitative method and was based on a case study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 15 students. According to the study's findings, the primary elements associated with the high degree of anxiety among English language learners in a particular environment include communicative apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, test anxiety, fear of forgetting vocabulary, and fear of the opposite gender. Furthermore, according to the study, students who report having higher levels of anxiety related to foreign language anxiety have a poor opinion of themselves and their capacity to communicate in English in front of others, such as their teachers and classmates.</p> 2025-07-13T00:00:00+05:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review https://ojs.plhr.org.pk/journal/article/view/1235 Applied Linguistics: CLIL and Language Learning Outcome in ESL Learners 2025-07-14T15:55:33+05:00 Maryam Munir yaseen.yen+MaryamMunir@gmail.com Shumaila Ahmad yaseen.yen+ShumailaAhmad@gmail.com <p>The motive of this research is to dig deep down into CLIL and different techniques to incorporate in it. The term was first coined in 1994, yet there is still a lack of its implementation in Asian Educational Context .CLIL is a teaching prospective that unites teaching of Language and Content. A mixed method approach was followed and a sample size of 36 students was selected through stratified random sampling and data was analyzed through paired sample T-tests and classroom observation through thematic analysis. The result approved that CLIL is a contemporary way of teaching English Language. It is recommended that for effective incorporation of CLIL teacher’s training is a must and the use of resource materials which integrate Content and Language for better learning outcome. Different levels of competence (Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening) must also be explored with regards to CLIL.</p> 2025-07-14T00:00:00+05:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review https://ojs.plhr.org.pk/journal/article/view/1236 Rewriting Culture and Womanhood: A Postcolonial Feminist Study of Ice Candy Man and Burnt Shadows 2025-07-14T16:02:33+05:00 Shamsa Faiz yaseen.yen+ShamsaFaiz@gmail.com Chahat Batool yaseen.yen+ChahatBatool@gmail.com Rizwana Sarwar yaseen.yen+RizwanaSarwar@gmail.com <p>The objective of this study is to make a comparative postcolonial feminist reading of Ice-Candy-Man (1988) by Bapsi Sidhwa and Burnt Shadows (2009) by Kamila Shamsie with respect to the manner in which Pakistani culture is represented. The research is defined within themes of gender, trauma, and cultural displacement within the understanding of postcolonialism. Sidhwa and Shamsie present the socio-political breaks of Partition, migration, and war through what is central to the female experience. Their writings challenge and re-define conservative gender roles and identity in postcolonial context. Close reading approach was chosen to critically review the selected passages in the two novels. The textual meaning was informed with the postcolonial feminist theory. The results show that both writers portray women as strong individuals struggling with hybrid identities molded out of colonial history. Sidhwa gives pride of place to indigenous culture whereas Shamsie renders transnational trauma and perseverance.</p> 2025-07-14T00:00:00+05:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review https://ojs.plhr.org.pk/journal/article/view/1238 Echoes of a Warming World: An Ecolinguistics Lens on Salience and Conviction in Global Climate Change Discourse at COP28 2025-07-15T12:25:28+05:00 Abdul Moiz Khan yaseen.yen+AbdulMoizKhan@gmail.com <p>The current research study delineates the concepts of Conviction and Salience with reference to CoP28, through the selected speeches. In the present era, one of the pressing global issues is climate change, which calls for world leaders to act immediately. So, developing the understanding of the power of language is inevitable in this regard. Therefore, this research study employs a qualitative methodology to unearth these concepts and achieve their objectives. The study examines how speakers emphasize important climate issues, arouse moral and emotional responsibility, and use persuasive language features like modal auxiliaries, personal pronouns, and hopeful framing to encourage international collaboration. The findings show that while emphasis on climate finance, the transition from fossil fuels, and sustainability promotes salience, emotional and moral appeals, inclusive language, and urgency signals strengthen conviction. Hence, to encourage climate action through emotionally and morally compelling messaging, policymakers should take advantage of language's persuasive power.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> 2025-07-15T00:00:00+05:00 Copyright (c) 2025 Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review