This paper investigates the impact of stress on the performance of students in the light of Krashen’s affective filter theory. Stress, according to Krashen, is responsible for high affective filter which in turn is responsible for low input and as a result, poor performance of the students in terms of language acquisition. Stress is, therefore, a key factor in affecting the academic performance of students at various levels. Students are often under pressure either on the part of their parents, colleagues or from their teachers to secure good grades. There are certain other variables too which contribute to the stress level of students and thereby affect their language acquisition. This quantitative study uses a questionnaire to collect data from 90 students of 1st semester in Women University Swabi. The background of the students was from social and applied sciences where the students study this as compulsory course. The results of the data show that stress has a definite negative impact on the performance of students. The study has important implications for educationists, academics, and policy makers.

The issue of representation has always been a concern in postcolonial discourse. It is the result of colonialism. Earlier, it was the physical domination of the West and it ruled over their colonies in various parts of the world like the Caribbean, and South Asia. Currently, it is cultural and imperialistic domination by the same powers and of the same territories. The basic concern of these western powers is that the colonized cannot represent themselves since they are inferior, uncivilized, barbaric, and illiterate and so many other terms are used for their disposition and particularly after the catastrophic incident of 9/11. This paper investigates the issue of representation in Sikanadar, a novel by M Salahuddin Khan where he confronts, although in soft language, this European/Western stance, and stresses on the importance of mutual respect and dignity and love for humanity. This is a qualitative research where the researcher has used interpretation and textual analysis through the lens of postcolonialism. It has used an eclectic framework by combining both Edward Sarian and Bhabha concepts of colonialism.

Diasporic dislocation due to transcending boundaries and its consequences is a much-focused issue in postcolonial literature. All those writers who are living in a foreign culture have faced this issue. Therefore, the clash between the indigenous and the foreign cultures splits their personalities and they search for their identity. The present research is intended to explore the implicit optimism in diasporic dislocation and its consequences in Bapsi Sidhwa’s An American Brat (2012). This is a qualitative research using an eclectic approach, which is the combination of Edward Sarian and Homi K Bhabha frameworks. The results show that identity crisis is a pertinent concept in diasporic literature and the protagonist in the novel under discussion goes certain transformations. In this process, the heroin of the novel faces a dislocation and a cultural crisis in terms of her cultural identity. She could not assimilate a foreign culture completely due to her indigenous cultural roots to apply Said’s terminology.

The study highlights elements of totalitarian regime in the light of the pattern given by Hanna Arendt in her book Origin of Totalitarianism. The authorities of such regimes prove to be despotic, centralized, horrible, and non-democratic. They use different techniques such as tyrannical exertions, oppression by the state, fright and trepidation, constant war on purpose, censorship of media and demand of unquestionable obedience from the masses. The research article has taken into consideration The Queue by Bisma Abdul Aziz. There is a consistent approach on the part of the ruler to set up and sustain the absolute government. It projects the desperate struggle of the regime to impose authority on the masses and signifies that any possible revolt is stricken hard as it may prove to be a threat to the regime. The study contextualizes the current political upheaval across the globe since on the one hand, there are frequent efforts to develop the democratic norms across the world while on another hand, there are countries which smash these norms just for the sake of attaining the power. The article works on the basic question that how the selected text of fiction portrays the tyrannical exertions by the omnipotent authority for the accomplishment of its ends? The aims of the study are to highlight these horrendous efforts of the authority in the selected text and to highlight its undemocratic practices.