ENGLISH MEDIUM PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN NEPAL: A NEW LINGUISTIC MARKET IN EDUCATION

Mohan Singh Saud(1*),

(1) Kailali Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


This article is the result of the pilot study of my PhD research project. It examines the views of the school principal, teachers, ethnic students and ethnic parents regarding the need and use of EMI along with its classroom practice. Nepal is a multilingual and multilicultural country with diverse geo-biological landscape. However, public schools in Nepal have been adopting English medium instruction as a new linguistic market in education, challenging the mother tongue based multilingual education policy of the government. This paradigm shift from Nepali as a medium of instruction (NMI) to English medium instruction (EMI) has raised controversy in the education system of Nepal. As this study found, there has been a growing demand of parents of EMI seeing English as a linguistic capital in the global socio-economic market and they have taken it as economic investment in education. A noticeable contradiction to the successful introduction of EMI in public school education is the tendency for there to be a gap between EMI policy and classroom practice. Teachers were found to have used bi-/trilingual language policy in the classroom neglecting the spirit of EMI. It seems that EMI public schools in Nepal need clear framework for the effective implementation of the spirit of English medium in the multilingual classroom contexts.

Keywords


English medium instruction; public schools; linguistic market; multilingualism; language ideology

Full Text:

PDF

References


Aguilar, M. (2015). Engineering lecturers views on CLIL and EMI. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Advance access published 11 September 2015; doi:10.1080/13670050.2015.1073664.

All Round National Education Committee (ARNEC, 1962). Kathmandu: Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal.

Al-Qahtani, Z., & Al Zumor, A. W. (2016). Saudi parents attitudes towards using English as a medium of instruction in private primary schools. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 5(1), 18-32.

Annamalai, E. (2013) Indias economic restricting with English: Benefits versus costs. In: Tollefson, J. W. (ed.) Language policies in education: Critical issues. London, Routledge, pp. 191-207.

Awasthi, L.D. (2011). The making of Nepals language policy: Importation of ideologies. In L. Farrell, U.N. Singh and R.A. Giri (Eds), English language education in South Asia, (pp.73-88). London: Foundation Books.

Awasti, L. D. (2004). Exploring the monolingual school practices in multilingual Nepal. Copenhagen, Denmark: University of education (PhD dissertation).

Bhattacharya, U. (2013). Mediating inequalities: Exploring English-medium instruction in a suburban Indian village school. Current Issues in Language Planning, 14(1), 164184. doi:10.1080/14664208.2013.791236

Blommaert, J. (2006). Language policy and national identity. In T. Ricento (ed.), An introduction to language policy: theory and method (pp. 238254). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Bourdieu, P. (1993). The field of cultural production: Essays on art and literature. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Bradford, A. (2016). Toward a typology of implementation challenges facing English-medium instruction in higher education: Evidence from Japan. Journal of Studies in International Education, 20(4), 339-356.

Census of Nepal (2011). National population and housing census. Kathmandu, Nepal: Central Bureau of Statistics.

Central Bureau of Statistics (2012). Nepal national living standards: Survey-III. Kathmandu: Government of Nepal.

Chapple, J. (2015). Teaching in English is not necessarily the teaching of English. International Education Studies, 8(3), 1-13.

Constitution of Nepal (2015). Kathmandu: Government of Nepal.

Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal (1990). Kathmandu: His Majestys Government of Nepal.

Dearden, J. (2014). English as a medium of instruction-a growing global phenomenon. British Council.

Dearden, J., & Macaro, E. (2016). Higher education teachers attitudes towards English medium instruction: A three-country comparison. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 6(3), 455-486.

Eagle, S. (2000). The language situation in Nepal. In R.B. Baldauf Jr, & R.B. Kaplan (eds.), Language Planning in Nepal, Taiwan, & Sweden (pp. 4-59). UK, Canada: Multilingual Matters.

Erling, E. J., Adinolfi, L., & Hultgren, A. K. (2017). Multilingual classrooms: opportunities and challenges for English medium instruction in low and middle income contexts. Reading: Education Development Trust/British Council.

Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and power (2nd ed.). London: Longman.

Ferguson, C. A. (1959). Diglossia. Word, 15(2), 325-340.

Floris, F. D. (2014). Learning subject matter through English as the medium of instruction: Students and teachers perspectives. Asian Englishes, 16(1), 47-59.

Giri, R. A. (2009). The politics of unplanning of languages in Nepal. Journal of NELTA, 14(12), 3244.

Giri, R. A. (2011). Languages and language politics: How invisible language politics produces visible results in Nepal. Language Problems & Language Planning, 35(3), 197-221.

Heller, M. (ed). (2007). Bilingualism: A social approach. New York: Palgrave ? Macmillan.

Hornberger, N. H. (2003). Multilingual language policies and the continua of biliteracy: An ecological approach. In N. H. Hornberger (Ed.), Continua of biliteracy: An ecological framework for educational policy, research, and practice in multilingual settings (pp. 315-339). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.

Hu, G., & Lei, J. (2014). English-medium instruction in Chinese higher education: A case study. Higher Education, 67(5), 551-567.

Huang, D. F. (2015). Exploring and assessing effectiveness of English medium instruction courses: The students perspectives. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 173, 71-78.

Ibrahim, H. A., Shafaatu, M. H. D., & Yabo, N. U. (2017). English as a medium of instruction: Challenges to Nigerian primary schools. The Victorian, 5(2). Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/Win%207/Desktop/Challenges%20of%20EMI%20at%20school.pdf

James, Z. & Woodhead, M. (2014) Choosing and changing schools in Indias private and government sectors: Young Lives evidence from Andhra Pradesh. Oxford Review of Education, 40(1), 7390.

Lei, J., & Hu, G. (2014). Is English-medium instruction effective in improving Chinese undergraduate students English competence? International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 52(2), 99-126.

National Curriculum Framework for School Education in Nepal (NCF, 2007). Curriculum Development Centre: Sanothimi Bhaktapur.

National Education Commission (NEC, 1992). Kathmandu: Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal.

National Education System Plan (NESP, 1971). Kathmandu: Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal.

Nepal National Education Planning Commission (NNEPC, 1956). Kathmandu: Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal.

Nguyen, D. (2017). Teaching science subjects in English: A Case study of high-school teachers perception and practice. Research Journal Phranakhon Rajabhat: Social Sciences and Humanity, 12(2), 87-101.

Obiols, M.S. (2002). The matched guise technique: A critical approximation to a classic test for formal measurement of language attitudes. Noves SL. Revista de Sociolinguistica, 1, 1-6. Retrieved from http://www.gencat.cat/llengua/noves/noves/hm02estiu/metodologia/a_solis.pdf

Ojha, L.P. (2018). Shifting the medium of instruction to English in community schools: Policies, practices and challenges in Nepal. In D. Hayes (ed.), English language teaching in Nepal: Research, reflection and practice. Kathmandu: British Council.

Paulsrud, B. Y. (2016). English-medium instruction in Sweden: Perspectives and practices in two upper secondary schools. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 4(1), 108-128.

Phillipson, R. (1992) Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Phyak, P. B. (2011). Beyond the faade of language planning for Nepalese primary education: Monolingual hangover, elitism and displacement of local languages? Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(2), 265-287.

Phyak, P. B. (2016). Local-global tension in the ideological construction of English language education policy in Nepal. In R. Kirkpatrick (Ed.), English language education policy in Asia (pp. 199218). New York, NY: Springer.

Phyak, P., & Ojha, L. P. (2019). Language education policy and inequalities of multilingualism in Nepal: Ideologies, histories and updates. In The Routledge International Handbook of Language Education Policy in Asia (pp. 341-354). Routledge.

Piller, I., & Cho, J. (2013). Neoliberalism as language policy. Language in Society, 42(1), 2344. doi:10.1017/ S0047404512000887

Reay, D. (2006). The zombie stalking English schools: Social class and educational inequality. British journal of educational studies, 54(3), 288-307.

Reisigl, M, & Wodak, R (2009). The Discourse-historical approach. In: Wodak, R, and Meyer, M (Eds.). Methods in critical discourse analysis (2nd ed.) (pp.87-121). London: Sage Publications, Ltd.

Republica (August 29, 2016). Public schools in Kathmandu Valley switching to English medium. Retrieved from https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/4632/

Ricento, T. (2000). Historical and theoretical perspectives in language policy and planning. Journal of sociolinguistics, 4(2), 196-213.

Rubagumya, C. M. (2010). English-medium primary schools in Tanzania: A new Linguistic Market in education?. In Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa-Highlights from a Project (pp. 43-59). Brill Sense.

Ryan, E. B., & H. Giles. (Eds.). (1982). Attitudes towards language variation: Social and applied contexts. London: Edward Arnold.

Sah, P. K., & Li, G. (2018). English Medium Instruction (EMI) as linguistic capital in Nepal: Promises and realities. International Multilingual Research Journal, 12(2), 109-123.

Saud, M.S. (2019). Linguistic diversity in the English-medium instruction classroom in Nepal: Challenge or chance. International Journal of English Language Education, 7(1), 70-83. doi:10.5296/ijele.v7i1.14887

Savage, M. (2003). Review essay: a new class paradigm?. British journal of sociology of education, 24(4), 535-541.

Schmidt-Unterberger, B. (2018). The English-medium paradigm: a conceptualisation of English-medium teaching in higher education. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(5), 527-539.

School Sector Reform Plan (SSRP, 2009-2015). Kathmandu: Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal.

Seidlhofer, B. (2005). English as a lingua franca. ELT journal, 59(4), 339-341.

Silver, R. E. (2005). The discourse of linguistic capital: Language and economic policy planning in Singapore. Language Policy, 4(1), 47-66.

Sonntag, S. K. (1995). Ethnolinguistic identity and language policy in Nepal. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 1(4), 108-120.

Sorrell, D. W., & Forlin, C. I. (2015). A comparison of student perceptions towards learning English versus L1 language in an international EMI school in Hong Kong. International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 17(1), 57-70.

Taylor, S. K. (2010). Beyond bilingual education: Multilingual language education in Nepal. Gist Education and Learning Research Journal, 4, 138-154.

Tollefson, J. W. (2000). Policy and ideology in the spread of English. Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 7-21.

Tollefson, J. W. (2015). Language education policy in late modernity: Insights from situated approachescommentary. Language Policy, 14(2), 183-189.

Uwambayinema, E. (2013). Science teachers challenges implementing Rwanda s English as a medium of instruction policy: a case study of nyarugenge district rural secondary schools. Doctoral dissertation. Retrieved from http://repository.library.fresnostate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.3/105373/EmmanuelUWAMBAYINEMApdfA.pdf?sequence=1

Viriri, E. &, Viriri, M. (2013). The prevalence of code-switching in secondary schools where English is the official medium of instruction: A case study of Buhera south district. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education an d Development, 2(1), 227-234.

Vu, N. T., & Burns, A. (2014). English as a medium of instruction: Challenges for Vietnamese tertiary lecturers. The journal of Asia TEFL, 11(3), 1-31.

Walkinshaw, I., Fenton-Smith, B., & Humphreys, P. (2017). EMI issues and challenges in Asia-Pacific higher education: An introduction. In English Medium Instruction in Higher Education in Asia-Pacific (pp. 1-18). Springer, Cham.

Weinberg, M. (2013). Revisiting history in language policy: The case of medium of instruction in Nepal. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics (WPEL), 28(1), 6.

Wijayatunga, A. (2018). English as a medium of instruction in secondary schools in Sri Lanka: Challenges. In Proceeding of the 4th International Conference on Education, 4, 151-161.

Williams, E. (2014) English in African politics of education: Capital or capital illusion? International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 225, 131-145.

Woolard, K. & Schieffelin, B.B. (1994). Language ideology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 23, 55-82.

Yildiz, M., Soruc, A., & Griffiths, C. (2017). Challenges and needs

of students in the EMI (English as a medium of instruction) classroom. Konin Language Studies, 5(4), 387-402.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v23i2.2571

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2020 Mohan Singh Saud

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Indexed and abstracted in:

     

 

 

LLT Journal Sinta 2 Certificate (S2 = Level 2)

We would like to inform you that LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching has been nationally accredited Sinta 2 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia based on the decree  No. Surat Keputusan 158/E/KPT/2021. Validity for 5 years: Vol 23 No 1, 2020 till Vol 27 No 2, 2024

  

 

This work is licensed under CC BY-SA.

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

 

Free counters!


 LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching, DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/llt, e-ISSN 2579-9533 and p-ISSN 1410-7201is published twice a year, namely in April and October by the English Language Education Study Programme of Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.