The Forms and Functions of English for Army Personnel in Pakistan With
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The Forms and Functions of English for Army Personnel in Pakistan with a Specific Reference to Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul PhD Thesis By Qamar Khushi SUPERVISOR Professor Dr. MubinaTalaat Thesis submitted in requirement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The Department of English Language and Literature Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan 2011 ii SUPERVISOR’S CERTIFICATE It is certified that the work contained in the thesis entitled, “The Forms and Functions of English for Army Personnel in Pakistan, with specific reference to Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul” has been carried out by Qamar Khushi under my supervision and is approved for submission in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the reward of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English. ________________ Dr. MubinaTalaat iii DECLARATION I hereby declare that the work in the thesis entitled “The Forms and Functions of English for the Army Personnel in Pakistan, with specific reference to Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul” is the result of my own independent investigation. I also declare that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degree elsewhere. _______________________ Qamar Khushi iv Dedicated to the loving memory of my parents v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would thank Almighty Allah whose mercy enabled me to complete this thesis successfully. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Dr. Mubina Talaat, for taking on this project at a difficult and crucial stage. I am particularly indebted to her for her encouragement and support that proved a strong source of motivation through difficult periods. Without her support, diligence and good sense this thesis would never have reached completion. I want to extend special thanks to Professor Dr. Zafar Iqbal, Dean, Islamic Studies and Languages, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, who motivated me to work on a doctoral project and helped me at every stage of my research. I truly thank Ms. Pauline Robinson and Professor Dr. Samina Amin Qadir for graciously sharing their expertise and invaluable comments and suggestions regarding literature review and methodology of research. I wish also to express my gratitude to my colleagues Dr. Saiqa Asif, and Dr. Naveed Ahmed, who have been so kind and helpful. Their innumerable constructive comments and suggestions have always challenged me to go beyond what I had not earlier thought possible, and definitely made my study a very rewarding learning experience. I would also like to recognize the tremendous effort put in by Mr. Imdadullah, Lecturer, Department of Statistics, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, for conducting the statistical analysis of my data, formatting, and editing the final copy of my thesis. vi My heartfelt thanks go to all those persons who assisted me in various ways from time to time to complete the work successfully. Finally, I would like to thank my husband Ejaz and my son Bilal for their moral support, patience and understanding throughout the period of my research project. The unconditional love that I received from my family has been a very powerful source of emotional strength. vii ABSTRACT Most of the ESL programmes in Pakistan do not cater to the potential needs of the learners, both in their academic as well as professional settings. This is due to the fact that the prescribed English syllabi are not in accordance with the specific needs of the learners. The professional institutions as such fail to equip the learners with the required linguistic and communicative competence. The Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Kakul, the target research site of the project, one of the multiple cases in point, is also facing the same problem. The present study chooses to focus on the evaluation of the English Teaching Programme (ETP) of the PMA, Kakul, to discover those factors, which may have decreased the efficiency of the syllabus and attempts to find out as to why it does not achieve the desired goals. This research is also a thorough investigation to measure the level of existing linguistic adequacy of the PMA cadets with reference to the specific roles they are required to perform so that their problem areas could be systematically identified and subsequently reported with recommendations. A mixed methods approach has been followed to investigate the academic and professional language needs of the learners. In this regard, information was obtained through questionnaire and interviews from three population groups of the discourse community of army: cadets, ex-cadets and instructors. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 13) was used for analyzing the quantitative data and thematic analysis was used for analyzing the qualitative data. In addition, an eclectic checklist based on the criteria suggested by various scholars was prepared to evaluate the textbooks taught at the PMA. viii The findings indicate that knowledge of English is a decisive factor for success in Pakistan Army. However, the results revealed that there is plenty of scope for improvement in the present courses that are being taught at the PMA and that a literature oriented general English course does not help the cadets achieve the required proficiency in English language. In identifying the language needs of cadets, a vast majority of all the population groups have ranked writing and speaking skills as the most important language skills required, followed by reading and listening. The results also provided a clear picture of the learners’ level of inadequacy in the skills required for performing academic and professional roles in military settings. It was also found that some changes need to be made in teaching style in order for courses to be more effective. Based on the findings of this study, a needs-based course has been proposed for implementation at the PMA. The study concludes with various recommendations that may help improve the English language teaching and learning at the PMA. ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 From topic to researchable questions 17 Figure 2.1 Kizhirmak’s integrated approach to course book evaluation 62 Figure 5.5.2c Number of cadets from different schools found difficulties in 144 understanding English dialogs while watching media programs or movies Figure 5.5.5c Number of cadets from different school found difficulties in 147 speaking English to foreigners Figure 5.5.6c Number of cadets from different schools found difficulties in 149 speaking English to foreigner Figure 5.5.7c Number of cadets having different level of competency in 150 written English found difficulties in making a presentation in English Figure 5.5.9c Number of cadets having different level of Spoken 153 competency in English found difficulties in participating in seminars/ discussion Figure 5.5.13c Number of cadets having different level of competency in 157 written English found difficulties in the aspects of listening lectures found difficult x LIST OF TABLES Table 5.3.1a Frequency Analysis: Fathers’ Profession Table 5.3.1b Descriptive Statistics: Fathers’ Profession Table 5.3.2a Frequency Analysis: Household Income Table 5.3.2b Descriptive Statistics: Household Income Table 5.3.3a Frequency Analysis: Medium of Instruction at Matriculation (Secondary) Level Table 5.3.3b Descriptive Statistics: Medium of Instruction at Matriculation (secondary) Level Table 5.3.4a Frequency Analysis: Medium of Instruction at Intermediate (Higher Secondary) Level Table 5.3.4b Descriptive Statistics: Medium of Instruction at Intermediate (Higher Secondary) Level Table 5.3.5a Frequency Analysis: School attended at the Matriculation level Table 5.3.5b Descriptive Statistics: School attended at the Matriculation level Table 5.3.6a Frequency Analysis: Speech Community Table 5.3.6b Descriptive Statistics: Speech Community Table 5.3.7a Frequency Analysis: Cadet’s Spoken Competency in English Table 5.3.7b Descriptive Statistics: Cadet’s Spoken Competency in English Table 5.3.8a Frequency Analysis: Cadets’ Competency in Written English Table 5.3.8b Descriptive Statistics: Cadets’ Competency in Written English Table 5.4.1.1a Frequency Analysis: Fulfilling the linguistic requirements of the PMA Table 5.4.1.1b Descriptive Statistics: Fulfilling the linguistic requirements of the PMA Table 5.4.1.2a Frequency Analysis: To pass examination Table5.4.1.2b Descriptive Statistics: To pass examination Table 5.4.1.3a Frequency Analysis: Acquiring new ideas and broadening one's outlook Table 5.4.1.3b Descriptive Statistics: Acquiring new ideas and broadening one's outlook xi Table 5.4.1.4a Frequency Analysis: Access to information technology Table 5.4.1.4b Descriptive Statistics: Access to information technology Table 5.4.1.5a Frequency Analysis: Getting access to international books and journals Table 5.4.1.5a Descriptive Statistics: Getting access to international books and journals Table 5.4.1.6a Frequency Analysis: To improve my social acceptability Table 5.4.1.6b Descriptive Statistics: To improve my social acceptability Table 5.4.1.7a Frequency Analysis: For success in future professional life Table 5.4.1.7b Descriptive Statistics: For success in future professional life Table 5.5.1a Frequency Analysis: Difficulty level in listening to lectures in English Table 5.5.1b Descriptive Statistics: Difficulty level in listening to lectures in English Table 5.5.2a Frequency Analysis: Understanding dialogues while watching English programmes and movies Table 5.5.2b Descriptive Statistics: Understanding dialogues while watching English programmes