C H R O N I C L E A B S T R A C TMobile computing represents a need of this decade. Mobile computing is possible with a tablet device, for which there is no clear-cut definition. It is partly because mobile computation field is still an emerging field. Tablet industry is still in its infancy stage and therefore, standards have yet to be defined. Given the limitations, however, a tablet device can be defined as a computing device smaller and slower than a laptop, however larger, and faster than a palm type device. In this research work, factors affecting adoption behavior for tablet device among computer users have been studied. An integral part of the study was to compare effect of the income level on adoption behavior. In this regard, two samples of private and public university students were studied. A modified technology acceptance model (TAM) has been used. Two variables were added to TAM model based on Pakistan's demographics. A questionnaire was used to collect data. 1000 questionnaires were distributed from which we received 972; twenty two questionnaires were having major missing values so they were separated from analysis. Twenty five respondents were found outliers during data screening; by this sample used in this study is 925. Results were analyzed using linear regression which showed only perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness affected attitude to adopt tablet device. These results were found to be consistent for both private and public universities. Facilitation conditions and price perception play an insignificant role. The results confirmed perceived usefulness and ease of use are the only important factors affecting adoption behavior for tablet device.
very new and fresh area where scholarly world is focusing its attention on is linguistic landscape. Linguistic landscape is ‘the language of public road signs, advertising billboards, place names, street names, commercial shop signs and public signs on government buildings of a given territory, region or urban agglomeration’ (Landry & Bourhis, 1997, p.25). Linguistic landscape can be taken as observing the minute words present in the public space in the bigger picture of the landscape of an urban area. It is becoming an interesting phenomenon to uncover social realities. It can be used to observe and analyze the changing trends and discourses in a given territory. Research on linguistic landscape started in late 1970s and sped its pace from the year 2006 onwards and now has become a proper field of study in applied linguistics, having a total of more than three hundred research papers to date. Linguistic landscape has been used to analyze jargons and register of different types of institutions for example, a hospital, a disco club, a restaurant or a Church etc. It has been used to analyze the semiotics of a particular area. The study of linguistic landscape has shown which languages are popular in one area and which are getting abandoned in another area. It has also focused on the negative attitudes of people related to one language and positive perceptions linked with another language. This conceptual paper will trace its history and reach conclusions on how this thriving field of study can be further extended.
Qualitative research is known as an exploratory research, in which the common modes of data collection are interviews, focus group discussions and observational methods. Though there is a large amount of data available on how to conduct qualitative research through the above-mentioned three modes, little do we know about photographic documentation as a rather new and under researched mode of data collection in qualitative research. This paper attempts to explore photographic documentation as a primary mode of data collection in linguistic landscape. Linguistic landscape is a very popular and thriving area of research in applied linguistics. It is the visibility and salience of languages in public spaces, most commonly conducted on public and private signboards. The usual norm of conducting research in linguistic landscape is to click pictures of signboards and conduct an analysis of the language used on those signboards. This paper discusses the pilot testing of this mode of data collection, i.e. photographic documentation. After clicking pictures of public signboards from two public parks in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan (following a very systematic approach), mediated discourse analysis was applied on it. Mediated discourse analysis is a specialized form of discourse analysis, having its roots in critical discourse analysis. Mediated discourse analysis observes the relationship between discourse and action. According to Scollon & Scollon (2003), we can only fully interpret the meaning of public texts by considering the social and physical world that surrounds them. The photographic data collected was analyzed at three levels; the text, the physicality of signboards and the social world in which they are displayed. This study suggests ways in improving this mode and procedure of data collection as to get notable findings in a qualitative research on linguistic landscape.
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