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Roots and Routes in Construction of Immigrant Identity in Nadeem Aslam's Maps for Lost Lovers

Nadeem Aslam's novel Maps for Lost Lovers deals with tensions faced by immigrants and migrants: how much can and should one's old identity be preserved, and how much should one adapt and change to suit new surroundings? One key tactic in this preservation and development of immigrant identity is spatial practices, or what characters do in space. The spatial practices of the characters in Maps for Lost Lovers, and in particular the extent to which those practices focus on either roots or routes, reveal different strategies of identity formation in the novel's Pakistani immigrant community: while some emphasize their roots in Pakistan and make no attempt to adapt to their new lives in England, others make routes that travel back and forth between different communities and try to form a new more adaptable identity. Susan Sanford Friedman's discussion of routes and roots in her book Mappings: Feminism and the Cultural Geographies of Encounter provides a useful framework for analyzing identity formation in the immigrant community of Maps for Lost Lovers. Roots and routes are at play in Aslam's novel, in the way that identity comes not only from roots in Pakistan and tradition, but also in their new routes developing in their new community in northern England. However, adaptation is taking place in an unexpected direction that focuses on place, space, and the environment: the immigrants are rebuilding their own roots in the land around them, exercising a spatial practice by claiming and changing the land to suit them.

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The Win-win Situation: Integrating English Used in a Conventional Hand Tool Industry into the Classroom

In this study, by means of working with a group of staff members from a machinery company on the overall area of English learning, the teacher-researcher attempted to examine the real needs of specific English required in industry and counterpart English courses offered in academics. As such, the teacher could bridge the gap of English practice for both sides. There were five participants with different educational backgrounds joining this project. The data sources collected from the workplace included survey questionnaires, interviews, participant observation, and field notes. In the findings, a series of required English skills needed in the workplace was pointed out, such as reading comprehension and oral skills, and specific courses offered by the English department with appropriate disciplinary modification were exemplified. Hopefully, with the modified contents learned in the classroom setting, students are able to put the knowledge and skills into practice once they enter the job market.

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Socio-cultural Perspectives on English Medium Instruction Experiences in the Context of Internationalization at Home

In the climate of Internationalization, English medium instruction (EMI) studies have been conducted to reveal the pros and cons of the programs. Alternatively, the current study takes on socio-educational views for a closer look at students and teachers in a domestic context through their accounts of their EMI experiences. Three college juniors and three teachers involved in EMI programs were invited to take part in semi-structured interviews. With Gardner's socio-educational model of L2 learning and Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory in view, content analysis of the data was employed. Three major themes emerged: Interaction, Attitudes toward Learning Context (ALC), and Learners' Motivation. First, the concept of Interaction was shown in the participants' desire for learning and teaching in the program. Second, the participants' attitudes toward the learning context were both positive and negative. The most prominent attitude is concerning teaching quality. The last theme is the learners' motivation which is closely tied to the students' interest in and perceived value of the EMI programs. This motivational theme is reflected in how the teachers were challenged in dealing with the diversity of students' motivation and English proficiency. Accordingly, future development of EMI programs may focus on EMI teacher training and enhanced resource allocation.