A Comparative Multidimensional Study of Online University Prospectus of Pakistan and UK: A Corpus-based Analysis

Abstract

The online university prospectus has become a key promotional tool in the field of education, designed to capture the attention of potential students and promote the institution's courses. The emergence of online prospectuses has added an extra dimension to the marketization of universities and their strategies to promote themselves. With the increasing use of technology, online university prospectuses have become a widely-used tool in educational contexts worldwide. The purpose of the present study is to conduct a multidimensional comparative analysis of online university prospectuses from Pakistan and the United Kingdom. The study aims to identify a set of linguistic features through multidimensional analysis, which involves three out of five dimensions proposed by Biber, including involved versus informational discourse, narrative versus non-narrative concerns, and explicit versus situation-dependent discourse. By analyzing these dimensions, the research aims to highlight the similarities and differences between online university prospectuses from Pakistan and the UK. The research will play a vital role in helping to identify the language used on online university websites to represent educational institutions, which is beneficial for both native and non-native speakers. The findings of this research paper will help educational institutions in designing their prospectuses to attract more students. The findings of the research will contribute to the development of cross-cultural perspectives in the field of education. In conclusion, the analysis of online university prospectuses in Pakistan and the UK through multidimensional analysis provides valuable insights into the promotional language and strategies used by universities. It is significant as it contributes to the development of cross-cultural perspectives in the field of education and provides insight into the similarities and differences in the language of online university prospectuses from two culturally different countries.