SBBU Journal of Social Sciences

From Narrative Voice to Stylistic Form: Mapping Betrayal and Redemption in The Kite Runner

2026-07-14T06:39:40+00:00

This study investigates the relationship between the narrative voice, stylistic form and reader cognition in the construction of betrayal and redemption in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The study is based on an integrated approach which draws on the classical narratology of Gérard Genette, post-classical cognitive narratology, and stylistic linguistics, and examines how moral meaning and emotional involvement are not only created by the events in the narratives but also by the way the events are narrated and linguistically realized. The analysis is qualitative, text-based, and focused on three major narrative moments: Amir's betrayal of Hassan, Amir's psychological (emotional) exile in America, and Amir's act of redemption through Sohrab. The study discusses how the narration of moral development is narrated as a retroactive with the burden of new knowledge through the use of homodiegetic narration and internal focalization. On the stylistic level, deixis, modality, discourse markers, and transitivity are demonstrated to maintain the sense of immersion in the narrative, to mark moral uncertainty, and to allocate agency. The findings show how within a cognitive framework these narrative and linguistic structures produce reader sympathy by evoking the moral simulation of Amir, rather than moral validation, and place readers inside Amir's moral confusion and partial ethical repair. The study makes a significant contribution in the field of narratology and stylistics by providing a model of analysis that accounts for the interaction of narrative form, language and cognition in the production of ethical and emotional experience in postcolonial fiction.

A Computational Analysis of Syntactic Simplification in Gen Z Digital Communication Using NLP Tools

2026-07-06T11:15:26+00:00

In this paper, syntactic simplification patterns in Generation Z digital communication are analyzed based on the computational linguistic analysis of the data with Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools. With the trend of online communication platforms influencing the daily use of language, young users tend to use the simplified syntactic forms to ensure faster and more efficient communication. The data set used in this research is a set of 160 comments obtained in one of the discussion threads in the r/LawSchool sub-community on the Reddit platform, which is an informal online communication mainly between students of universities and young adults. The corpus that was gathered consists of 10,476 words and was processed in Python with NLP libraries, such as NLTK, spaCy, Stanza, and TextBlob. These linguistic aspects analyzed were the sentence length, the part-of-speech allocation and frequency of words in order to determine the patterns of simplified syntactic constructions. The findings indicate that Gen Z digital communication often depends on shorter sentence constructions, extensive use of pronouns and verbs, and frequent use of function words that help to maintain grammatical coherence and limit the use of complex lexical meanings. These tendencies are then explained within the framework of the Cognitive Load Theory that explains that the restrictions of working memory prompt speakers and writers to simplify language in communication situations where the speed is important. The results indicate that syntactic simplification in online communication is not linguistic loss but a survival technique due to cognitive and communicative resource limitations.
Keywords: Gen Z communication, syntactic simplification, computational linguistics, NLP analysis, cognitive load theory

Equity and Access in Education: A comparative study of Inclusive Education policies aligned with UNESCO standards

2026-08-28T07:52:12+00:00

Education is an important right of every person and acts as a driver of sustainable development goal (United Nations, 1948; UNESCO, 2020). Even though there are a lot of international and domestic initiatives, still many educational barriers imbue children from the poor communities thus denying them from quality education (UNESCO, 2020). In order to address these problems, Inclusive Education has introduced index of inclusive practice which can eliminate all barriers preventing children from gaining successful education. It is very important to mention that role of UNESCO's involvement into Inclusive Education promotion is very significant. The Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994); The Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education (UNESCO, 2009); and Sustainable Development Goal 4 (United Nations, 2015) should be also discussed. This paper assesses the concept of equity and access in education in the comparative light of Inclusive Education policies. The paper pays special attention to relevance of educational policies on international level.

Emotional Finance, Financial Literacy, and Investment Decisions:

2026-08-20T14:15:31+00:00

While financial theory assumes rational markets, behavioral finance suggests that investment decisions are often driven by emotions, particularly during periods of macro-financial uncertainty. This study investigates whether financial literacy moderates the relationship between emotional finance and individual investment decisions at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), Karachi. Emotional finance is measured through four established behavioral biases: overconfidence, the disposition effect, herding, and risk aversion. The findings reveal that emotional finance has a significant negative effect on investment decisions (β = −0.29, p < 0.001), whereas financial literacy significantly weakens this adverse relationship by reducing behavioral biases and improving decision quality. The analysis is contextualized within the April 2025 KSE-100 market sell-off triggered by a global tariff shock, providing real-world evidence of how external policy shocks amplify investor biases in a retail-dominated emerging market. This study contributes to the emerging-market behavioral finance literature by being the first PSX study to integrate all four dimensions of emotional finance within a single PLS-SEM framework. It concludes with theoretical, methodological, and policy implications, highlighting the importance of financial literacy initiatives by the SECP and PSX and recommending longitudinal, cross-market, and AI-based research to further advance the field.

Uncertainty and Risk Around Debt Sustainability Analysis of Pakistan: A Fan Chart Approach

2026-07-14T01:52:29+00:00

The debt sustainability has emerged as a critical challenge for many emerging economies, including Pakistan. The fiscal response function (FRF), is the framework to focus on the government’s capability to adjust its fiscal position in react to increasing debt levels. This study fills a critical gap in the current literature by integrating the idea of the primary expenditure gap, demarcated as the deviation of actual primary expenditure from its mean expenditure level. This research paper focuses on fiscal imbalances in Pakistan, which are mostly expenditure-driven, and ignoring this element may lead to lacking or ambiguous conclusions regarding debt sustainability in Pakistan. This research models the primary balance as a function of total public debt, GDP gap, primary expenditure gap and a democracy dummy variable to capture macroeconomic and institutional effects on fiscal policy behavior through ARDL econometric model for the time period of 1976 to 2024. Furthermore, the study employs a fan chart forecasting approach to forecast total public debt, domestic debt, and external debt, incorporating uncertainty and risk into future debt paths. The FRF approach provides an organized method to assess whether fiscal policy in Pakistan gratifies the sustainability condition, while the primary balance responds positively to an increase in public debt. The empirical results of study evaluates whether Pakistan demonstrate a stabilizing fiscal response to public debt and examines the role of cyclical conditions, captured by the GDP gap, primary expenditure gap as well as political regimes insight through the democracy dummy. The study offers important policy implications for designing effective fiscal consolidation strategies, emphasizing the need to manage primary expenditure alongside improving fiscal responsiveness to ensure long-term debt sustainability in Pakistan.

A Content Analysis Employing the FCET Model:

2026-07-11T19:45:45+00:00

This research examines the quantitative content analysis of three news framing of emerging technologies, Big Data, Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Augmented Reality (AR/XR) in Pakistani and international online news media outlets over two years (24-month period from 1 May 2024 to 1 May 2026). Developing on the Frame Categories for Emerging Technologies (FCET) model established by Graves-Sandriman (2026), a stratified purposive sample of N = 612 news items/ articles was coded in the line of four analytic classes: Conceptualization, Newness, User Experience, and Evaluation. The corpus was drawn from 11 Pakistani news platforms (both based on English and Urdu languages) and three international English language-based news platforms, segmented into four six-month temporal strata. Results discovered that FCET-4 (Evaluation) was the leading frame category across the complete sample (27.3%), with noteworthy variation by technology: Big Data news coverage highlighted Newness frames (28.9%), Generative AI shared evenly amid Conceptualization and Evaluation (25.5% each), and AR was most strongly rooted in Evaluation (30.4%). The IT Export Boost (n =59) and Regulatory Need (n = 8) frames overshadowed evaluative coverage, indicating Pakistan specific monetary and governance concerns. User Experience (FCET-3) was lacking 22.1% of completely coded articles, supporting Graves-Sandriman's (2026) research that user perception remains understated in emerging technology news media coverage. Largely, article valence was mixed in nature or unbiased in over 50% of the corpus, with Generative AI drawing the largest negative valence rate (27.9%). No statistically meaningful variance was noted in valence between Pakistani English language and Pakistani Urdu language news platforms. These results contribute to the growing body of knowledge on News Media coverage on emerging technology in the Global South and approach methodological replication and extension of the FCET model in a non-Western settings.

Keywords: news framing, FCET model, emerging technologies, Pakistani News media, content analysis, Big Data, Generative AI, Augmented Reality (AR), media framing

The 8-Second Brain: How TikTok and Reels Are Reshaping Attention Span and Memory in Gen Z Pakistan

2026-08-22T17:54:21+00:00

The rapid expansion of short-form video platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts has transformed the way Generation Z consumes information. Unlike traditional digital media, these platforms deliver highly personalized, algorithm-driven content within seconds, providing continuous novelty and instant gratification. While these features have increased user engagement, they have also raised concerns regarding their potential influence on cognitive processes, particularly attention span, working memory, executive functioning, and academic performance. Pakistan is among the countries with rapidly growing smartphone and social media use, making Gen Z especially vulnerable to excessive short-form video consumption. Despite increasing international evidence, empirical studies examining these cognitive consequences within the Pakistani context remain limited.

The present study explores how excessive engagement with TikTok and Instagram Reels influences attention span and memory among Pakistani Generation Z university students. This article integrates findings from recent Pakistani research and international literature to examine the relationship between short-form video addiction, internet addiction, attention control, working memory, and academic outcomes. Evidence from Pakistani studies demonstrates a strong positive relationship between internet addiction and short-form video addiction, while excessive short-video consumption has been linked with reduced attention span, poorer academic performance, increased distractibility, and cognitive overload.

The study further explains these findings through Cognitive Load Theory, Reward Processing Theory, Executive Function Theory, and the Interaction of Person–Affect–Cognition–Execution (I-PACE) model. It argues that repeated exposure to rapidly changing digital stimuli gradually conditions the brain toward immediate rewards, reducing tolerance for sustained cognitive effort and deep information processing. This phenomenon, popularly referred to as the "8-Second Brain," reflects a shift from prolonged concentration toward fragmented attention and rapid information switching.

The study concludes that although short-form video platforms offer educational, social, and entertainment benefits, excessive and uncontrolled use may reshape attention habits, working memory, learning behaviors, and academic engagement among Pakistani youth. The study provides practical recommendations for educators, parents, policymakers, clinicians, and digital platform developers to encourage healthier digital habits while preserving the cognitive well-being of Generation Z.

Keywords: TikTok, Instagram Reels, Short-form Video Addiction, Attention Span, Working Memory, Executive Function, Digital Addiction, Cognitive Load, Generation Z, Pakistan

Intermedia Agenda-Setting in Pakistan’s Hybrid Media System

2026-07-20T18:46:17+00:00

The emergence of a hybrid media system has shifted the agenda-setting process from one-directional to two-way, as social media and mainstream news media interact constantly. In Pakistan, the influence of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and television news channels is growing more influential in the realm of political and public discourse. Intermedia agenda-setting dynamics between X and prime-time television news channels (Geo News, ARY News and Samaa TV) have been explored in the context of this study with the help of longitudinal quantitative content analysis. Data were collected using a purposive sampling technique during 16–31 January 2023 and 16-31 January 2025, with descriptive statistics, cross-lagged correlation analysis, and the Rozelle–Campbell Baseline used to analyze the data. The results show a statistically significant but relatively weak bidirectional relationship between the agendas of X and television news. But the relationship is significant and more enduring in one direction than the other, with X influencing television news more than television news influencing X. There is less stability in television news's agenda, and it is more responsive to issues that arise on X. The study shows that X is becoming an agenda setter and television news is becoming an agenda amplifier and legitimizer of the agenda in Pakistan's hybrid media system.