User:Tnmif0801/sandbox

Topic Paragraph
The topic that I am going to cover in this Wikipedia article is Language policy within Nepalese education. The official language is Nepali but over 30 minority languages are spoken and in many cases are the first language of rural communities. Only 50% of people in Nepal speak Nepali as their first language. I will aim to cover previous language policies where the dominant medium of Instruction has been Nepali or English (mainly in private schools). The article will briefly touch on the inequalities and learning outcomes as a result of using only Nepali in the classrooms, especially inequalities between government and private schools. The 2016 ‘School Sector Development Plan’ recognised the importance of minority languages being used as the primary means of instruction for younger children. The article will delve into the current and future proposals on how to integrate these languages into the government education system. It is difficult to introduce this multi-lingual learning, especially in areas poorer areas where there is less access to resources, funding, and teachers who are fluent in English, Nepali, and minority languages. Presently, there are two main schools of thought when it comes to Nepali education. The first stresses the importance of delivering education in the mother tongue and the other sees using English as the language of instruction as the best way to provide both educational and career opportunities for Nepali children.

I am interested in this topic because I recognise the difficulties in designing and implementing language policies in a country that has such a wide variety of languages across the country. Also, as a country that was not formally colonised, it is interesting that there is still such a pressure to use and learn in English despite not being forcefully implemented during colonial occupancy. However, I would like to read further into the ties of South-Asian colonisation and see if it did have some, if any, influence on past education language policies.

Annotated Bibliography

Beyond Bilingual education: Multilingual Language Education in Nepal, Taylor (2010)

The paper outlines the framework for implementing MLE countrywide in Nepal. Asking what a countrywide MLE would look like in practice. Suggests that the MLE framework in Nepal is a good example of countries implementing L1 instruction in schools; ‘Other countries may now learn from this unique model in order to design a path to academic success that will best serve the future generations of their own citizen’ p150. However, Taylor acknowledges the importance and value placed on learning English that can only be achieved if children stay in school. To prevent dropouts there needs to be widescale L1 instruction because indigenous children who do not receive L1 are most likely to drop out. Taylor accepts that socio-political and economic (especially Nepal’s lack of and dependence on foreign funding for education) considerations are likely to affect such programmes and create barriers. The article fails to mention other barriers such as finding/training teachers that can speak the minority languages required, especially when these languages are found in the poorest areas where people are less likely to qualify as teachers.

English education in Nepal: A brief overview, Shrestha (2018)

Simple outline of the linguistic landscape of Nepal and its education. Discusses the influx of students attending private school because of the access to learning English and the challenges of retaining children in state schools. Identifies the attempts of state schools to switch to English of medium of instruction. Mentions the demand for higher education English courses over other subjects, and that all courses are taught in Nepali or English. Article fails to acknowledge the effects of state school students being behind in English and writing themselves off as not worthy or not academic – socio-economic power relations in the communities are replicated and exacerbated in the education system.

Changing faces of English: Why English is not a foreign Language in Nepal, Giri (2014)

Describe the history of the importation of English into Nepal. ‘A landmark of English education, however, was the commencement of recruitment of Gurkha soldiers as a part of the famous Sugauli Treaty in 1815, the training of which took place in English’ (p.192) and ‘English was formally imported into Nepal during the Rana oligarchy and was seen as a linguistic advantage favouring the ruling elites’ (p.192). This is interesting because Nepal was never formally colonised yet still imported the language of the British Empire through Indian influences and was still linguistically hegemonic with both English and Nepali. The paper argues that English in Nepal not a foreign language but a local language. The article examines evidence of the Nepalese population wanting English to be the medium of instruction and relates Woods ‘Linguistic reductionist theory’ to the Nepalese context. It theorises that English has changed from the elites language to every bodies language and is no longer tied to caste or class, however this does not acknowledge the uneven access to learn fluent English between private and state Education. My main concern with this article is that is seems to lack acknowledgement of the power relationships and dynamics between those who can and cannot speak English. It seems to homogenise the entire Nepalese population as having the same language ability and not recognise the important links between of socio-economic status, language and education.