http://dspace.daffodilvarsity.edu.bd:8080/handle/123456789/11125 2026-04-27T00:31:36Z http://dspace.daffodilvarsity.edu.bd:8080/handle/123456789/11149 Speaking and Listening in English For Today at SSC and HSC Levels Uddin, Md. Rafiz; Reza, Md. Shamim To be communicatively competent, speaking and listening skills are two of the four macro-skills to be given importance. However, teaching these two is highly neglected in Bangladeshi classrooms as there have been no initiatives to assess them although the prescribed textbooks English For Today: Classes Nine-Ten and English For Today: Classes Eleven-Twelve by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, Bangladesh (NCTB) assign speaking and listening tasks to perform in CLT methodology, which Bangladesh introduced in 2001 (Rahman & Karim, 2015). This study investigates how much emphasis these two set books have given to the two neglected skills i.e., speaking and listening by comparing the tasks assigned in the books. Also, this paper attempts to find out the classroom practices of these activities in reality. To achieve these aims, the books were evaluated following a textbook evaluation checklist. Five teachers teaching English in classes 9-10 and 11-12 were interviewed and 50 students in classes 9-10 and 11-12 were given questionnaires to know the actuality of classroom practices following the activities in the books. The study shows that the books have a range of listening and speaking activities though little exposure to speaking and listening activities is made in classrooms and there is no sufficient logistic support or motivation (i.e., central assessment) for the actualization of them. Keywords: Speaking, Listening, Textbook, Secondary Level, EFL, CLT 2022-07-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.daffodilvarsity.edu.bd:8080/handle/123456789/11148 The Tale of a Raju in The Guide Sarker, Md. Abdul Momen By nature, people love peace. But, sometimes, they reveal their devastating instincts both towards themselves and others. This phenomenon of conflict between love and hate prevails in many parts of the present world, especially in the Middle East and South-East Asia. Consequently, the extreme sufferings of humanity have impacted the creative writers of the world. This has, off late, become a popular area of literary exercise among fiction writers in South Asia. Following this trend, The Guide written by RK Narayan, portrays a bigger picture of a human and humane process peace-building that makes us constantly imagine of and get involved in establishing an ideal world. He, in the novel, proves how important it is for us to have peace in our life, which comes at the cost of self-sacrifice. This paper investigates, through theories and critiques, textuality and intertextu- ality, how Raju, the central character in The Guide, turns into a peace-build- er, and how this peace-building puts back calm and happiness in his life as well as in the lives of others around him. Keywords: Peace, peace-building, ideal world, self-sacrifice 0022-07-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.daffodilvarsity.edu.bd:8080/handle/123456789/11147 Impact of Photojournalism on Readers' Exposure and Retention Shill, Prashanta Kumar; Dey, Barsha Since our world is so connected these days, growth of digital devices, news, and media organizations will pay a high premium for the greatest and most interesting photographs available. As events unfold, it's easy to feel cynicism and skepticism. Word travels fast, and many search for the most trustworthy and reliable sources of information. Photojournalists are present, alongside more traditional journalists, to create a story that speaks for itself. Using the qualitative research method, this study primarily focuses on the social cognition theory to demonstrate the effect of photojournalism on readers' exposure and retention. The purpose of this research is to show that visual aids like photographs can significantly improve memory retention. The visual aid greatly increases the chances of remembering what was read. Images that aren't directly associated with the text tend to be forgotten quickly. In this study, social cognition theory is applied to the people of Chattogram to determine the optimal conditions for maximizing reader engagement and knowl- edge retention focusing on the cognitive level of the audiences. This research also demonstrates the wide variety of quick-read news stories available in visual formats. Pictures in the news need to be just the right size to keep the attention of the readers. 150 people from the general public aged between 18-30 were chosen for this study and three renowned newspapers from both online and offline modes (Daily Ittefaq, The Daily Star, and Bdnews24.com) were selected for gathering data. Research results lend considerable credence to social cognition arguments. Keywords: Social cognition theory, Photojournalism, Readers' exposure and retention, Impact of the picture 0022-07-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.daffodilvarsity.edu.bd:8080/handle/123456789/11145 Begum Rokeya’s Sultana’s Dream Mondal, Shipra Begum Rokeya’s Sultana’s dream is considered worldwide as a feminist utopian story. However, Sultana’s Dream does not talk about women’s empowerment and women’s issues only. The story talks about a complete social transformation. It visualizes an ideal country and social system free of hunger, theft, and untimely death. This is a country where people live in harmony with nature. A country whose economic and political affairs are based, not on profit mongering, but on ethical standards. A country which is uncompromising to the imperialists and revolutionary in ideals. Most importantly, this is a country where women take active roles in scientific research, economical activities, country planning and political decisions. Marxism is a philosophy which calls for the transformation of the worn-out society and women’s active participation in all the state’s affairs. The paper aims to show that many Marxist thoughts have been implemented in Begum Rokeya’s imaginary country, ‘Ladyland,’ showcasing a complete social transformation based on perceived Marxist ideals that emphasize equality, justice, and the well-being of all members of society. The article presents an analysis of the Marxist elements in the text through a close reading and comparison to Marxist theory. The article also explores the historical and social context of the author and the text to gain a deeper understanding of the Marxist elements present in the work. Through this analysis, the article presents Begum Rokeya as a Marxist feminist. Keywords: Marxism, Feminism, Women, Society, Emancipation 0022-07-01T00:00:00Z