Arun Kumar Ph. D.
Bio
I am a semi-retired geologist, presently affiliated with Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. During my almost five decades long career I worked around the world. Now I live in Ottawa, the beautiful capital city of Canada.
Stories (23/0)
WHEN GOING TO A HOSPITAL BECAME WALK IN A PARK
WHEN GOING TO A HOSPITAL BECAME WALK IN A PARK Arun Kumar Ottawa morning at quarter to seven on October 25, 2023, was dark, windy, and rainy with thunder and lightning sky. The highways were packed with bumper-to-bumper cars. I wonder whoever said that most Ottawans are working from home these days. Being a senior citizen, it was not the ideal time for me to drive.
By Arun Kumar Ph. D.8 months ago in Families
History of English in multilingual India: A study in language contact and spread
The linguistic and cultural diversity among Homo sapiens is remarkable and difficult to fathom. Socio-linguistic identities are also very strong. At present there are thousands of languages and dialects spoken around the world. I strongly believe that languages are like biological species, they originate, evolve, and constantly change for a certain time and eventually becoming extinct. Traditionally people have lived in communities that were spread over limited geographical boundaries and had their own language for communication. The problem of inter-communal communication must have been quite severe in the past due to lack of a common language, and most probably was the source of misunderstandings, mistrust and conflicts.
By Arun Kumar Ph. D.3 years ago in Education
Institutional ethnography: A tool for sociological inquiry
Institutional ethnography as a method of sociological inquiry has its origin in the feminist movement of the 1970s in North America. This concept was developed by a Canadian sociologist Dorothy E. Smith. She describes a ‘line of fault’ that working women traverse between their professional and domestic life daily. These two work situations are radically different modes of consciousness that cannot co-exist. Until 1970s sociological literature was mainly written by men that excluded women’s experiences and concerns from the discourse. Smith (1974) was a pioneer in making sociology feminist. She redefined sociological inquiry in which women’s every day and every night worlds would be rediscovered as they are organized by social relations not wholly visible within them (Smith 1997). She called this ‘making the everyday world a sociological problematic’ (Smith 1979,1987).
By Arun Kumar Ph. D.3 years ago in Education
Ecology of a long-term health care institution: An institutional ethnographic inquiry
The use of scientific terms in social sciences and language studies is quite frequent, but such terms usually lose their original meaning when they are used by sociologists or linguists. Farmer (1996) uses weather as a metaphor for the organizational climate of nursing homes and compares meteorological features of climate systems to the physical features of nursing homes. Likewise, Cooper (1986) uses the biological concept of ecology to explore how writers interact to form systems. Environmentalism as a socio-political movement uses phrases like “deep ecology” and “ecological thought” in a very different context (McKenzie, 2002).
By Arun Kumar Ph. D.3 years ago in Education
The genre of the matrimonial advertisements
This article discusses various rhetorical and linguistic aspects of matrimonial advertisements from a weekly newspaper published from the USA. The language of such ads is studied under different theoretical frameworks. The notions of Russell (1998) and Winsor (1999) about relationship between text and context is used to demonstrate influence of context over text in the language used in matrimonial ads. Since the genre of matrimonial ads has never been studied, such genre was analyzed following Bhatia’s (1993) approach to analyzing unfamiliar genres and move structure in ads by Bhatia (2004). These ads were also examined in the light of Cook’s (2001) notion of discourse and genre of advertisement, and finally a look at whether the readers and writers form a “Discourse Community” of Swales (1990).
By Arun Kumar Ph. D.3 years ago in Education
A philosophical discussion on grammar pedagogy
It is imperative to understand the meaning of grammar and its relationship with the language before discussing grammar pedagogy. Although several grammarians have defined and described grammar in diverse ways, I think my understanding of grammar is best conveyed by Thornbury (2004). He defines grammar as ‘a description of the rules for forming sentences, including an account of the meanings that these forms convey’. He says that grammar enables us to use language in terms of how, where and when things happen, and it also facilitates the way we interact with each other. However, not only grammar but contextual information also plays an important role in the interpretation and understanding of various forms of communication. He discusses strong arguments both in favour of and against teaching grammar.
By Arun Kumar Ph. D.3 years ago in Education
Versatility in Hindi phonetics
Phonetics as defined in Fromkin et al. (2001) is the study of linguistic sounds. Its three components comprise of articulatory phonetics: the study of linguistic sound pronunciation; auditory or perceptual phonetics: the study of how sound is perceived; and finally acoustic phonetics: the study of physical aspects of speech sounds. Phonetics aims to provide sets of properties that can be used to describe and distinguish all sounds used in human language. This essay examines the versatile nature and diversity of articulatory and auditory phonetics in Hindi.
By Arun Kumar Ph. D.3 years ago in Education
Teaching and usage of “articles” in English grammar
Before embarking on a journey to “discover meaning of articles” in English grammar, it is very important to understand the meaning of grammar and its relationship with the language itself. Thornbury (1999) defines grammar as “a description of the rules for forming sentences, including an account of the meanings that these forms convey”. He says that grammar enables us to use language in terms of how, where and when things happen, and it also facilitates the way we interact with each other. However, not only grammar but contextual information also plays an important role in the interpretation and understanding of various forms of communication. He discusses strong arguments both in the favour of and against teaching grammar.
By Arun Kumar Ph. D.3 years ago in Education
Profile of an effective ESL teacher
This article investigates the profile of an effective teacher of English as second language (ESL). An effective teacher is one who can teach a course successfully. Successful teaching begins with designing a suitable syllabus for a course. Sometimes the syllabus for a course is already available. In that case, a teacher must plan lessons in a manner to complete the designed course work within the prescribed time. In case the syllabus is not available, it becomes a challenge for a teacher to decide what to teach in the course. Under these circumstances, a teacher must consider the students’ academic background, level of knowledge in the subject, scope of the course and then design it accordingly. Sometimes government sponsored language benchmarks are available as a guide that define the syllabus and lesson plans for different levels of teaching, for example, Holmes et al. (2001) and Pawlikowska-Smith (2002). This essay examines the characteristics of an effective language teacher including how he/she develops a syllabus, uses various teaching methods, plans lessons, manages the classroom, uses various technologies, evaluates learners, and finally uses his/her personality for effective teaching.
By Arun Kumar Ph. D.3 years ago in Education
Linguistic characteristics of Indian English
Indian English is a collective phrase for the dialects or varieties of English spoken widely in India. Variations in the pronunciation of several phonemes are affected by the regional tongues across India, the greatest distinction being that between South India and North India. Several idiomatic forms from Indian languages have made their way into the English of the masses. Despite India’s diversity, however, there is indeed a general homogeneity in syntax and vocabulary that can be found among speakers across India. The form of English that Indians are taught in schools is essentially British English. However, the influence of American English, due to the burgeoning influence of American pop culture on the rest of the world, has begun challenging traditional British English as the premier brand of English spoken in India, though this is largely limited to the youth in the last three decades (CIIL website).
By Arun Kumar Ph. D.3 years ago in Education
Enrichment of English through globalization
The linguistic and cultural diversity among Homo sapiens is remarkable and difficult to fathom. Socio-linguistic identities are also very strong. At present there are thousands of languages and dialects spoken around the world. Languages are like biological species, they originate, evolve, and constantly change for a certain period and finally become extinct. We will never know how many languages existed in the past, how long they existed, how many people spoke to them, and in what part of the world where they used. Such questions fall under the realm of proto linguistics. The answers to these questions are investigated by anthropologists and archaeologists. Even though mankind had a quest for a universal language, unfortunately they never had one. Traditionally people have lived in communities that were spread over limited geographical boundaries and had their own language for communication. The problem of inter-communal communication must have been quite severe in the past due to lack of a common language, and most probably was the source of misunderstandings, mistrust, and conflicts.
By Arun Kumar Ph. D.3 years ago in Education
Rediscovering Manisha
The following 1975 song was Manisha’s favourite; I absolutely understand why. She wrote about this song in her letter on January 30, 1976, for St. Valentine’s Day. She wrote, “St. Valentine’s Day is celebrated here also not only by those who are in love, but also for those who are very dear to you. This song by Steve Lawrence, the words are very nice and meaningful, I like it.” She loved romantic songs of Steve Lawrence, a well-known American singer. Since a lot of her time, she spent alone at home she enjoyed these songs on the radio and imagined me near her and felt the love we shared. In her earlier letter dated January 12, 1976, she had said that she keeps all my letters and photographs in a separate album; she wrote, “Everyday especially when I am alone, I take out all your photos and letters to keep me company.” I contemplate that during such moments she might be playing her favuorite Hindi songs and music of Steve Lawrence on her record player. Her favourite song was “Now That We're in Love” sung by Steve Lawrence. The lyrics is as follows:-
By Arun Kumar Ph. D.3 years ago in Humans