Dear Colleagues,

Here is the April issue of NELTA Choutari. We have an interview with Mr. Hemanta Raj Dahal, newly elected President of NELTA. The President has covered a wide area of issues about NELTA focusing on how he will lead the organization forward and address the increasing expectation of its members. Please share your thoughts and reactions to his plans and strategies on how to lead NELTA in more professional ways and how to enhance the practice and scholarship of ELT in Nepal. In addition, Mr. President highlights the significance of the role of NELTA Choutari in promoting NELTA’s professional/academic activities.

In this issue, you will also find ELT articles which address a variety of issues about teaching English in Nepal. Shyam  Pandey’s article Mentoring in Nepalese Context highlights the necessity of mentoring in the context of Nepal. The article is based on the writer’s teaching and learning experience. It stresses that mentoring as one of the best modes of teacher professional development, which is being late to be formally adopted it in Nepal.

Similarly, Suman Laudari’s article Use of Authentic Materials in Language Classrooms: A Fashion or Compulsion? explains what authentic language teaching materials are. It also highlights the importance of using authentic material in the EFL classroom. It concludes that the use of authentic materials should reflect the language change in the classroom which helps teachers and students become aware of such changes.

Ganesh Gnawali’s article Reflective Learning concentrates on the subject of reflective teaching practice which can lead us to better understanding of pedagogy and professional development. It involves one’s own critical thinking and analysis with the goal of improving professional practice. Engaging in reflective practice requires individuals to assume the perspective of an external observer in order to identify the assumptions and feelings underlying their practice and then to speculate about how these assumptions and feelings affects practice.

In his article Outrunning the Unknown, Mr Hemraj Kafle reflects on his professional experiences as a teacher by drawing an analogy between  professional life and a race. Whether you like it or not, there is always the pressure to run faster. You may not know others’ speed but must constantly try to outrun them without tresspassing their trails.

Mabindra’s article The Role of Local Culture and Context in English Language Teaching is based on the assumption that English is fast becoming a global language and it will become more so in the future. We are learning to use English in our communication; so, the local context cannot be disregarded, and also it is important to consider the cultural values. Although the opinions about how or if local context and culture should be used in teaching English are divided,  the use of local context and culture can be done at least in the  earlier stages to facilitate learning of English language. It will also enhance the feeling of ownership of English among learners which can further assist in a more progressive learning to take place.

We  hope you will enjoy this issue of NELTA Choutari April issue and leave your comments. I would like to request all the readers to leave more substantial comments than simply saying ‘Good job’, ‘Wonderful article!’, ‘Yes, I agree with you’, etc. Such comments will be only for the sake of comments. We want increase in readership and sharing among readers. As a teacher, you might have achieved much professional success through learning and training yourself, but it is our responsibility to contribute to the professional development of other teachers as well. Substantial comments can be a good resource for others, now and in the future.

(If you are unable to upload your comments, please send your comments to neltanetworking@gmail.com or kpoudelnp@yahoo.com )

Cheers!

Kamal Poudel

Coordinator for NELTA Choutari April Issue

General Secretary, NELTA

Contact: 9851060155

Dear Colleagues,

We have special issue highlighting the 16th NELTA Conference that took place in Kathmandu from February 18-20 and in Pokhara from  from February 22-23, 2011. We have the following table of contents. Please read and leave your comments.

Welcome to the February-2011 Issue of NELTA Choutari.

The articles in this issue provide practical ideas on how we can teach English creatively in the classroom. Although the idea of creativity is not prescriptive, we believe that these articles help to generate more innovative ways of teaching English.

It is needless to reiterate the importance of creativity in teaching English. It has been accepted that creativity drives teachers towards professional growth. It also helps them generate knowledge through experimentation and discovery. The most important point is that it enhances critical thinking ability of both teachers and students by constantly engaging them in doing something unusual and observing whether or not that works in teaching-learning process.

Barthold Georg Niebuhr has once said “it is better to create than to be learned, creating is the true essence of life.” This quotation indicates that if we want to see our ‘self’ as a professional teacher in the ELT community of practice, we should not only believe in what we learned from books and other sources but we should adapt those knowledge in our own context which help to bring some changes in everyday teaching. Taking everything as a granted may not lend a hand to become a teacher who has his/her own idiosyncratic specialties from which students learn alot. The whole essence of our professional life depends on how much we can create, aspire to create and share our creation with other colleagues.

Andrew Wright, a famous ELT book writer, a story teller and a  teacher trainer, has provided very useful classroom activities to teach grammar creatively. For details please click here. Mabindra Regmi presents the findings of his action research on creative writing with the students. The activities given in the article are useful for teachers. Please click here to read the details. Similarly, Suresh Shrestha has discussed how humours can be used in the classroom while teaching English.  The examples included in his article may be helpful to create joyful environment for learning English in the classroom. Please click here to read his article.  These three articles have emphasized that English can be taught in an usual ways as well which not only encourage students to use English in the classroom but also provide an abundant opportunity to create something through interaction.

Although two other articles are of different nature, they bring very crucial messages. Mukunda Giri’s article discusses changing paradigm of teaching and learning process. He argues that traditional role of a teacher as an instructor or a dictator or a lecturer has become obsolete. Now teachers have to facilitate students by creating such an atmosphere where students interact. You can read his article by clicking here.  Madhav Timilsina’s article not directly related to ELT. However, it discusses broader issues of language education and applied linguistics. He brings some important agendas on how minority languages like Pahari  are losing their existence from the community. To read this wonderful article in detail please click here.

Articles in this issue

1. Andrew Wright – Creativity in teaching English

2. Mabindra Regmi – Teaching creative writing by describing sensory perceptions

3. Suresh Shrestha – Creative humour: laughter to learning

4. Mukunda Kumar Giri – Teachers as a facilitator

5.  Madhav Prasad Timalsina – Causes and consequences of the loss of Native language among Paharis at Khopasi:Sociocultural and Linguistic perspectives

We expect more innovative ideas from t teachers of English. And sharing of those ideas in this forum will be a tremendous support to the teachers and the whole ELT family.

Thank you so much for reading past issues and accepting this issue of choutari.

Prem Phyak
Editor, February – 2011 Issue
NELTAChoutari

EDITORIAL

Namaste and Welcome to the Second Anniversary issue and third year of Nelta Choutari.

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10,000.

That’s the number of views that Nelta Choutari crossed on December 16, 2010. That’s incredible, and we are excited about it, but we also feel more responsible towards the increased number and probably variety of readers. We define responsibility by relevance–and we can only address that challenge if you participate in and contribute to the discussions in this forum.

At the end of 2008, inspired by the ELT conversations in NELTA’s Yahoo Group mailing list, three of us (at the time) wanted to make that kind of intellectual resource generated by Nepalese ELT teachers/scholars available beyond email inbox of NELTA members and the archive of the mailing group. We thought that our professional conversations must become a resource for future generations as well as shared with the ELT community in the world outside (please see related article by Prem). We first started with a wiki site with the simple aim of letting fellow teachers share their teaching stories, while we shared our own thoughts and reflections. We were not sure what NELTA colleagues across the country might want to read about–we still struggle with that question today–and we were also worried that load shedding and lack of internet access would make our effort towards building a professional conversation forum meaningless. For some time, the visit counter on our wiki seemed to confirm our fears; but instead of giving up, we started a blog, moved the materials, and continued to share our own ideas every month, assuming that if nothing else the blog would be a means for us to read one another’s ideas. But soon, our expectations were greatly exceeded. By the beginning of the next year, the statistics started soaring. 

The statistics is exciting. The average of 5 views a day last year has gone up to 26 views a day this year (not counting admin views), and the rate of increase is quite encouraging:

In the background, however, we have always been more concerned about how to increase the contribution “by” our fellow teachers from NELTA branches across the country, or the grassroots level, than just how to increase the readership (please see related post contributed by NELTA President Ganga Ram Gautam, who was our guest at a recent meeting); while readership is important, the key mission of this professional networking initiative is to contribute towards the blurring of lines between reader and writer, teacher and scholar, practitioner and theorist, student and researcher, center and branch and so on. So, at this time, we are beginning to discuss how to encourage students (future teachers) to read and respond to professional conversations in forums like this. Most importantly, we are talking about how to let this discussion forum contribute towards building our own local scholarship, research, theories, and pedagogy. We want you to join the mission.

We would like to ask fellow teacher-scholars to please shun the scholar-teacher distinction and come forward and share your ideas in this and all kinds of professional discussion forums. Colleagues from across the country who have some access to this forum, please join hands with us: let us overcome the hesitation due to center versus branches distinction (see related past article). So the question is not just how to increase viewership of this blog. This blog is, in fact, a part of a larger mission: to make professional networking, discussion, and development a fundamental aspect of ELT practice as well as scholarship in Nepal. We often worry about the 5 or 7 of us posting our own ideas rather than posting the ideas, experiences, and challenges of teachers on the ground and discussing them instead; but to tell you the truth again, we are just beginning to get more of those contributions. Thank you very much, dear NELTA members from Palpa, Surkhet, Gorkha, and Birgunj, for your contribution for this special issue. We dedicate this issue to you!  Until now, the small team of editors have been posting our own ideas a lot of times, and, indeed, blogs are usually run by one or more individuals who are interested in an academic or professional subject; but this team has tried to appropriate the rather “individualistic” culture of blogging in order to create a “community” platform. We have gradually tried to develop this forum into a magazine-like form, with monthly issues, editorials, and columns related to specific interests (research, teaching, training, learning about ELT, developing ELT resource, professional updates, integration of new media into networking, etc).

We would like to dedicate the first issue of 2011 to NELTA colleagues in NELTA branches across the country, asking you to help us make this a venue for teachers at the grassroots level to post their ideas and respond to one another. With your active participation and contribution, dear teacher-scholars across the country, we can shape the course of scholarship and professional development, research and resource development, teaching and learning in ways that are specific, relevant, and engaging to us in Nepal and in particular local contexts. Let us gain the knowledge created anywhere in the world, but let us also network and work together to create our own knowledge and scholarship.

CONTENTS

1. BRANCH SPECIAL (several articles and updates from NELTA branches)

• NELTA Palpa Conference Vibrated the Teachers in the Area (an article by Gopal Bashyal, NELTA Palpa)
• NELTA = Novel ELT Activities (an event update and article by Gopal Bashyal, NELTA Palpa)
• NELTA Surkhet in 2010 (a branch update from Surkhet, by Mukunda Giri, NELTA Surkhet)
• “Teaching English with a Difference” (a report from Birgunj on a recent Training Program, by Suresh Shrestha*)

2. Towards Local Literacy: Globalization and Nepalese ELT (an article by Prem Phyak)

3. An Inside View of Choutari’s Professional Networking Activities (a guest observation by Ganga Ram Gautam)

4. Interview with an English Teacher (Ekku Maya Pun, a podcast by Hem Raj Kafle)

5. Networking, Nepalese ELT Teachers, and Professional Development (an article by Kamal Poudel)

6. Student Special: How to Assess Online Sources (an article by Bal Krishna Sharma)

7. English Access Microscholarship Program in Nepal (an article by Shyam Pandey)

8. Educated but illiterate (an article about education and information literacy by Sajan Karn)

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Please remember to write comments for as many entries as you can. Also, please subscribe to Choutari by email. Thank you and HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011.

(*This entry was posted late, as an exception, to encourage contributions from colleagues from outside the Valley; please send in your contributions before the 15th of the month so  they can be lined up for the next month. Thanks. Ed.)

Shyam Sharma

As we look forward to starting the third year of this blog-zine in January, we would like to ask fellow ELT practitioners and students, members and friends of the NELTA community around the world, and NELTA officials at home… to please share any suggestions/feedback you have for making Choutari more useful, relevant, and interesting. As NELTA President Ganga Gautam remarks in his entry, we can achieve a lot through professional networking and conversation like this. Your contribution to the discussion and suggestions for doing it better will help shape the networking initiative of this blog and support NELTA’s larger mission of promoting professional conversations through various modes of communication. Please share your ideas as comments under this editorial entry.

On that note, let me introduce the theme of this issue: professional development through  scholarly conversations, especially by using new communication technologies. Let us do some comparison to consider the relative effectiveness of web-based networking/discussion like this with more conventional modes of communication including face-to-face, email, or telephone conversation. Certainly, conversations done via media like blog and discussion forum are only available for those who have access to the technology and the web, but because these conversations are shared publicly on the web, they become a resource that any number of fellow ELT colleagues and students in the present and future (and from anywhere in the world) can access through the web. Professional conversations shared through conventional media are limited to the participants involved in the event, and they disappear at the moment of the conversation. Similarly, if we compare web-based professional discussions like this with professional discourse of scholarly publication, this mode allows any of us to quickly and easily contribute and respond: no waiting for several months, no formal review mechanism, no need to limit the volume for affordability of publication…. Of course, all the above are comparisons of apples, oranges, and cauliflower, but the fact is that blogging and online discussion allow far greater volume of ideas, much faster and easier access for more people (i.e. to those who have some level of access to the web), and multi-dimensional interaction between experts/writers and their readers (who may be teachers, students, researchers, policy makers, etc). Most important of all is that the conversation that we have in this mode builds professional resources that are useful for ourselves, and it lets others know who we are as a professional community and organization. Finally, blogs in particular do a great job of organizing and archiving conversations by post, allowing readers to subscribe, and providing levels of administrative access for collaboration.

I highlight these benefits of having ELT discussions on the web with the intention to ask you to contribute to them and give others the opportunity to learn from your ideas. I believe that almost everyone of us has some ideas worth sharing about most of the blog entries we read on Choutari. We just need to share them. If you’d like to share a post in the coming months, please write to neltachoutariATgmailDOTcom.

Here are the ELT khuraks for this issue:

1. NeltaChoutari and Professional Development–reflections and suggestions (Ganga Gautam)
2. The importance of professional conversation and collaboration, and how blogging makes them possible (an edutopia blog page; please consider downloading and reading the report titled “Professional Learning in the Learning Profession” when you are on the page)
3. The Goddess of English: a web article about a funny side to the global status of English (on Dennis Barron, The Web of Language site)
4. If your internet bandwidth is sufficient, here is a video titled “Hole in the Wall” in which an Indian teacher finds out something about about how children teach themselves (the key segment starts at 7 min. 15 sec.)

By the way, besides leaving your comments under this entry and other entries as appropriate, please remember to “subscribe” to the blog from the right navigation panel. That will let the blog send you a copy of new posts to your email! You can also subscribe to individual entries by entering your email under your comment, if you want to read discussions selectively. Please do subscribe and contribute to the conversation. Thank you.

Editorial

Post modernism and Nepalese ELE

Post modernism is in air. Whether it be philosophy or education, arts or architecture, trade or craft, dance or music, literature or linguistics, post modern wave must have either renovated it promptly and utterly or if not, it must have begun to break the typical crust of the field belatedly and tenderly.  Typified by diversity against universality, regionalism against centralization, relativism against absolutism, decentralization against totalization, eclecticism against certainism, deconstructionism against classicism and conventionalism and many other subversive nouns, post modernism has dismantled the conformist prototype and has given considerable space for inclusion, recognition and promotion of local socio-political, linguistic, cultural and educational values. In fact, all disciplines including ELT have been revamped in both theory and practice by the post modern blow. Of late, ELT in the periphery has been advocated to be divorced from the mainstream for the reason that mainstream ELT practice has crushed the local realities and has not fetched the expected. Voices have been lifted from various corners to embody in ELT many novel but subversive trends that challenge global practices, promoting local ones. ELT in the periphery is advocated to be characterized by traits such as non-methodological practices, eclectic approach, recognition and use of regional and nativised models of English, collapse of native speakerism, bottom up thinking, recognizing ELT as ideological practice, valuing of peripheral socio-political values, acknowledging local knowledge, cultures and contexts and language not as limitations but as asset and something inevitable. These emerging trends seem to have begun to reshape periphery ELT elsewhere.  What about ours?  Are we doing post modern ELT or we are still away from the touch of it? Critically, the answer will be –partly yes and partly no. The present Nepalese English Language Education does seem to be triggered off by the current wave of change to a considerable degree. Recent revision of the B. Ed. and M. Ed. courses reflect a number of post modern characters. Nevertheless, a lot more is still waiting to be accomplished. Nepalese ELE needs to be resituated in accordance with Nepalese cultures and contexts. For instance, locally budding variety, Nenglish needs standardized via its optimum inclusion in the ELE curricula. Local but successful practices need to be theorized. Indigenous socio-political, cultural and educational values have to be made the guiding lens for Nepalese ELE. Instead of adhering to the global practices, importing the mainstream course materials, native flavor needs to be added to create a sense of belonging in Nepalese English language learners. To put it other way, culture specific and context sensitive approach is the cry of the day. This all orients us to make Nepalese ELE more responsive to cater to the challenges aforementioned i.e. we need to practice post modern ELE in the post modern epoch.

Sajan Kumar Karn

Editor, NELTA Choutari

Note:  Your comments –sweet or harsh will feel like a million bucks for us.

— Hem Raj Kafle

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the October issue.

To start with, let us ponder for a while on the issue of teacher-student relationship:

Some nine years ago, an American volunteer to Kathmandu University’s the then Department of English commented with delight that she found the Nepalese students very different from those of America in terms of paying respect to their teachers. She had found it somehow strange to hear students address their teachers not by their first names but with such honorific terms as ‘sir’ and ‘madam.’ But a few weeks later she also reported the Department of the humiliation by a couple of noisy and stupid students. It did not take her long to admit that a teacher’s life is marked by this duality of pleasure and pain regardless of where she taught.  She bore with her the memories of both the pleasant meetings with respectful students, and of unpleasant encounters with the rowdies whom neither she nor we could ever correct.

All of us have experienced this duality, haven’t we?

Teachers who have spent a considerable part of their life in teaching have frequently come across many odd moments with their students. Issue like this appears trivial when the whole nation’s concentration is on challenges like building an overall educational system or ensuring peace and security. But we are concerned for a while about the feelings of our small circle to whom sharing of good and bad moments means helping one another grow. We take our identities and relationships seriously, in full influence of our culture in which good teaching and learning are considered to depend on a ‘holy’ relation between teachers and students.

Certain type of gap naturally exists between teachers and students. If it is of hierarchy in the traditional sense, there is nothing to worry about.  But any gap caused by antagonism and mutual avoidance is problematic. We have often heard stories of teachers fallen victims of student attacks. Problems like misbehaviour in the classroom and outside, or misinterpretation of positive concerns, and planned attacks as revenge to reasonable punishments have been common these days. Teachers are usually the immediate recipients of hostility and stubbornness, and only rarely do institutions interfere for amicable settlement. Can teachers make their teaching effective if their time is wasted in tackling antagonism and deviation?

One optimistic view: the role of a teacher can never be argued out as long as the need of learning persists. And this need will persist.  The teachers’ challenge however is to keep up with time which demands more work, more exposure, more commitment and more sharing.  Occasional hindrances are too little to outweigh the growing demand for teacher contribution both in formal teaching and informal social uplift.  Besides, teachers do not have the sole responsibility for correcting the society’s evils though they certainly can be hand in hand in the process of reforms.

With these words, we extend to you the present issue. The issue focuses more or less on the themes of teacher-student relationship, teacher behaviour and teacher innovations.  Please go through the articles and write comments. As ever we invite your productive participation. We hope to grow further both in resources and readership.

Contents:

1.  “Schooled and Deskilled” by Anil Bhattarai

2. ” Teacher-student communication:Assertion and Assessment” by Nirmala M. Adhikary

3.   “Nepalese Private (Boarding) Schools, English, and Child Friendliness” by Kashiraj Pandey

4. “Nepanglish: A Standardizing Variety of English” by H. C. Kamali

5. “A Reading Lesson Plan” by Eak Prasad Duwadi

Welcome to the September 2010 issue of Nelta Choutari! In this issue, we have the following ELT “khurak” for you:

1. Teaching Teachers: A reflection on training new teachers (by Ganga Ram Gautam)
2. Teaching is my Passion: A teacher’s reflection on his career as a teacher (by Kashi Raj Pandey)
3. Professional Development: A teacher’s reflection on how fast time flies and how time may or may not add to one’s development as a teacher (an entry from Hem Raj Kafle’s blog)
4. Introduction to a book on Teacher Development through Narrative Inquiry (by Karen Johnson and Paula Golombek, downloadable at http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam031/2002024649.pdf
5. A Teacher Learns How Students Learn Best: a Ted video, Sugata Mitra tells of an amazing experience with students’ self-directed learning

Please share your thoughts on these entries. Discussions on this blog have been truly worth being proud of, so let us continue and improve. Thank you for reading and contributing.

Dear readers,

We extend our warm greetings, and invite you to this new issue of Neltachoutari. We hope that the conversation will go on and even take newer heights.

We also invite our valued readers to send articles for the upcoming issues.

This issue contains:

1. SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS: MOTIVATE CHILDREN by KAMAL POUDEL

2. “TEACHER, HOW DO I IMPROVE MY VOCABULARY?” by LAXMAN GNAWALI

3. JUMPING THE LANGUAGES BARRIER: THE FIFTH SKILL by PHILIPPA BAKER

4. COLONIAL PARANOIA AND CULTURAL NARCISSISM AS A WRITING TROPE by KHAGENDRA ACHARYA

5. ACTIVE, PASSIVE AND PROFESSIONAL VOICES by SHYAM SHARMA

6. REMINISCING THE B. ED. FIASCO by HEM RAJ KAFLE

7. ENGLISH AND VOICE RECOGNITION ELEVATOR (A YOUTUBE VIDEO)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FFRoYhTJQQ&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0&border=1]

Learner and Teacher Autonomy

Prem Phyak

I welcome all colleagues to the July 2010 Issue of NeltaChoutari. The theme of this issue is learner and teacher autonomy. The articles published in this issue have focused on the correlation between learner and teacher autonomy.

Learner autonomy is concerned with developing learners’ ability to explore ideas through various means, discuss, analyse, and evaluate them, and develop their own view points towards a particular issue. It is a process in which students are actively involved in a constant negotiation of meaning through interaction with friends in the classroom to identify common views among diverse voices. Moreover, in learner autonomy, learners take active role rather than being a passive recipient of what teachers say in the classroom. To be specific, an autonomous leaner is critical, exploratory and independent. But it is true that without being ourselves autonomous teachers (described below), we cannot make our students autonomous learners.

Two articles What is Learner Autonomy and How Can It Be Fostered? (Thanasoulas, 2000) and Learner Autonomy: Bird-in-the-hand or Bird-in-the-bush? (Sheu, 2001) have been included as lead articles. The first article defines learner autonomy, discusses theories underpinning it and provides some practical activities for fostering learner autonomy.

Learner autonomy is defined as a learning process in which learners learn independently. It is learners’ ability to cope with process of learning utilising their own learning styles. In this regard, Thanasoulas (2000) argues that an autonomous learner is an active agent in the learning process. Likewise, Little (1991:4) defines it as “a capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision making, and independent action.” Heather Ashley Hager discusses the Win-Win Approach as an approach to resolve dispute and develop critical thinking skill which are important aspects of learner autonomy. She also discusses how our effort to foster critical thinking and dispute resolution skills in the classroom makes a great impact in politics and social development.

In learner autonomy, learning is considered as a constructive process in which learners actively participate in exploring meanings which fit in their world views. Learners are not passive recipients of knowledge but an important source of constructing new knowledge. In this sense, in the autonomous learning process, the bottom-up process in which learners are put at the centre is adopted rather than the top-down in which teachers seek to transmit what they have in their head to the students.

Thanasoulas further says that “Learner autonomy consists in becoming aware of, and identifying, one’s strategies, needs, and goals as a learner, and having the opportunity to reconsider and refashion approaches and procedures for optimal learning.” This clearly tells us that learners must be aware of their own learning styles or strategies. This implies that without identifying the needs and goals of learners, teachers cannot facilitate them towards being an autonomous.

With an extensive review of the literature on learner autonomy, Thanasoulas argues that the objective of language teaching should be to produce an autonomous learner. Without promoting autonomy, we can, of course, question or doubt on sustainability and effectiveness of any language teaching program. He also discusses activities (e.g. self-reports, diaries and so on) that promote learners autonomy. The activities mentioned in the article can be used in our own teaching. For details please go through the article.

However, learners’ beliefs and attitudes towards learning, teachers and themselves are very important factors to shape learner autonomy. For example, in my contexts learners expect notes through dictation, as mentioned by Madhu Neupane in her article in this issue of NeltaChoutari, from teachers and they consider teachers’ ideas as a final source of knowledge. Even the master’s level students do not go through the books prescribed in the course. They ask teachers to give notes. They never ask questions in the classroom. This is the continuity of how children are taught in schools in Nepal. When I was in school, I was never asked to read the passages and discuss with friends to answer questions based on the text. Teachers used to give us answers. Moreover, I was never asked to write a paragraph or essay myself. Teachers used to dictate us all essays on discipline, value of time, river in Nepal etc., for example and we should parrot them line-by-line. This is similar to what Ashok Raj Khati shares in his article in this issue. The same learning style gets continuity upto higher level.

In another article, Sheu (2001) opines that the degree of learner autonomy is not only an individual process but it is determined by the whole teaching system. I agree with him. For example, my students are not motivated to learn themselves independently. There are two reasons behind this. First, the whole evaluation system of university is so limited that students’ performance is evaluated on the basis of a 4-hour written examination in which they have to answer the structured questions asked from the syllabus. They cannot put their views and critiques. They have to write what the teachers say but not their own judgement and opinions. Second, teachers have to finish the whole course within a limited time frame. So they focus mainly on finishing the course by delivering lectures and giving notes rather than involving students in independent works. Moreover, as the students are evaluated on the basis only what they score in the examinations, they do not see any relevance of reading more books, articles and judging them from their own perspectives. Sheu, referring to Smith (2001), argues that learner autonomy is correlated with teacher autonomy. If teachers do not believe in the exploratory learning, involve students in classroom interaction, try bringing changes within the teaching system where they work, and have their own idiosyncratic way of teaching for better learning of students, there is no point in discussing the value of learner autonomy. At the same time, teachers can be an agent of change by giving students active role in the learning process. This implies that teacher autonomy is important for learner autonomy.

Learner autonomy is not only individual but also social. And it is not only a product but also a process. We cannot produce a 100% autonomous leaner. Autonomy always remains in degree and process. In order to enhance autonomy, learners need to be engaged in interaction in which they get chance to negotiate their views. At some point, I find that the concept of learner autonomy is sometimes contradictory with the concept of learning through interaction and collaboration. This tension is intense if we take learner autonomy as an individual. To sum, the theory behind learner autonomy has to integrate social-cultural factors too. A discussion on process vs. product of learner autonomy has to be backed up by some empirical studies. The ways teachers present themselves in the classroom also determine the degree of learner autonomy.

I hope the articles in this issue will help colleagues to explore further issues of leaner and teacher autonomy in their own contexts. I expect that colleagues will come with new ideas on learner and teacher autonomy.

Thank you to all contributors of this issue of NeltaChoutari.

Happy readings!

Prem Phyak

Editor

NeltaChoutari, July 2010 Issue

References

Little, D. (1991). Learner autonomy 1: Definitions, issues and problems. Dublin: Authentik.

Sheu, S. P-H. (2001). Learner Autonomy: Bird-in-the-hand or Bird-in-the-bush? Available at http://coyote.miyazaki-mu.ac.jp/learnerdev/LLE/8.1/sheuE.html

Thanasoulas, D. (2000).’What is Learner Autonomy and How Can It Be Fostered?’ The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VI, No. 11. Available at http://iteslj.org/Articles/Thanasoulas-Autonomy.html

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. What is Learner Autonomy and How Can It Be Fostered? Dimitrios Thanasoulas

2. Learner Autonomy: Bird-in-the-hand or Bird-in-the-bush? Samuel P-H Sheu

3. Win-Win Approach Heather Ashley Hager

4. English: Bane or Boon? Madhu Neupane

5. Teaching English: Lifeless Life? Ashok Raj Khati

Working on Diversity in English Pedagogy

Bal Krishna Sharma

Welcome to the June 2010 issue of NeltaChoutari Webzine!

We have always tried to work around a particular theme in each issue and collected contributions that go along with that theme. Contrarily, we receive the contribution from the authors who address diverse issues in English teaching in Nepal and some write ups go beyond English teaching to general issues of education and pedagogy. This time as well, we received articles that discuss varied and important issues in education. I believe this diversity is a more valuable asset to address the tastes of our audience who have different academic and professional interests.

The first post by Laxman Gnawali on teacher development emerges from his own experience of observing his teacher after a professional development course and his own academic degree in the UK for his MA. His convincing arguments with his narrative based on his real life experiences prove helpful to reinforce the NeltaChoutari’s mission to localize and situate language teaching profession that connects teacher training and professional development program with the teacher’s lived experiences in the local contexts. Bishnu Mani Thapaliya in the next article has raised a very important issue of challenges that English language teaching profession is facing in public schools that are located in more rural areas where teachers and students do not have necessary instructions, let alone the tools of technology. His arguments make our editorial team as well as the English teaching community to rethink our ways that technology can bridge this gap. Thapaliya also raises another critical issue that English is serving differently for different socio-economic class people: those who can send their kids to private, well-equipped schools versus those who send their kids to public schools where they mostly learn English from a translation method. Thapaliya also raises another critical issue of how and to what extent our rural teachers can participate and benefit from the type of professional discourse we have initiated online. Another post by Lekhnath Sharma Pathak outlines the importance of Student Quality Circle- a student centered, action-oriented approach to address student issues in schools- in schools in Nepal. Pathak convingly argues that these types of circles promote cooperation and problem solving nature among our students in schools where they have traditionally been more oriented toward competition. His writing is able to look at our teaching from a macro perspepctive where we aim our instruction not only to develop basic four skills of language for communication; we in addition have to aim for more social skills like cooperation, team work and excellence in our students. Another post by Eak Prasad Duwadi draws on his teaching experience in different contexts.  I have also provided an MP3 audio on Information Technology in Nepal broadcast by the BBC Radio Nepali Service. The last item provides a link for a teacher resource for managing discipline probmels in a classroom but I refrain from generalizing it as a universal teaching tip; it, however, certainly is one of several ways to handle discipline in classrooms.

Enjoy the readings and leave your feedback.

Table of Contents

1. Teacher Training in ELT: Where does it Go Wrong? by Laxman Gnawali

2. Factors and Problems in Teaching English in Nepal by B. M. Thapaliya

3. Student Quality Circle by Lekhnath S. Pathak

4. Bubbles are Bound to Burst by Eak Prasad Duwadi

5. Information Technology in Nepal (BBC Nepali Service Report)

6. Maintaining Discipline in Classrooms (a Youtube Video)

Welcome!

You are reading the special Surkhet issue of Nelta Choutari April 2010. This issue focuses on the Surkhet segment of Nelta International Conference. We request you to encourage the great work done by our Surkhet colleagues in collaboration with Nelta executives and those who made it to Surkhet for this great event. Please kindly leave a comment–let the conversation continue.

This issue contains:

1. Overview of Nelta Conference in Surkhet (Raju Chitrakar)

2. Lead entry: Networking Matters (a reflection on the success in Surkhet, compiled by Kamal Poudel from materials provided by Mukunda Giri, Uttam Gaulee, Yadu Gyawali, Raju Chitrakar)

3. Teaching Anecdote by Hem Raj Kafle

The traffic on this blog is incredibly encouraging. Let us make the conversation encouraging as well, so please leave a comment on the posts.

Happy new year 2010!!! Here is the first Anniversary issue (January 2010) of NeltaChoutari professional networking. This issue contains the following items:

1. NeltaChoutari’s past journey and future directions

2. An interview with NELTA President- Mr. Ganga Ram Gautam

3. Teachers’ anecdotes and stories

4. ‘Need for ELT Survey in Nepal‘ (originally published in The Rising Nepal by Sajan Karn)

5. Some Humor: Global English in Use

Introduction: NeltaChoutari May 2009

Globalization—or the flow of economic, educational, cultural, and other “materials” across national borders—has radically changed people’s lives and societies around the world. Those materials are sold/bought, used/misused to affect communities around the world in all kinds of ways. In the case of education, globalization involves the flow of products of knowledge through channels of power; in local, national, and global markets, knowledge flows in the form of learning materials, teaching methods, attitudes about what counts as legitimate knowledge, subjects in schools/universities, and so on. For teachers like us must take seriously this commodification and flow of knowledge when the globalized market of knowledge makes the knowledge of some societies flow into others and not so much vice versa.

In the case of ELT, English language—which is not just a neutral means of communication among societies but also the vehicle of cultural and political power—flows from centers of global cultural power into most other societies around the world whose languages and knowledge are not yet as economically and culturally valuable. That is why a vast majority of people in the developing world, along with a lot of well-meaning English teachers, believe that there is such a thing like English education (as if knowledge speaks in one particular language). It is very true, as things are in the world of raw facts, that English is a more valuable ingredient for the manufacture of more valuable cultural products. Also, it is because English language is commodified that many people think there are no alternatives to buying it and then selling it at a higher price to others. But teachers should never be people who simply accept and teach the raw facts and maintain the status quo. By rethinking how we can challenge the one-way center-to-margins flow of intellectual, cultural, and social power in the world, teachers can contribute to the making of a better world.

No one would have to worry if the commodification of English did not intensify the divide between people who can and cannot afford to buy it. Nor would even just that be a big problem if the supermarket of English didn’t also destroy the small bazaar of local products of knowledge. One argument or underlying assumption many English teachers fall victim to is that if we can teach English to everyone, then everyone will be better able to sell their knowledge for their own progress as well as survival. Well, the problem with that simple-minded dream is simply that it doesn’t acknowledge that your supermarket is neither buying from the local farmers of knowledge nor selling them anything at affordable prices, the idea of the market has to be regarded more critically. That is where national governments, local entities, and professional organizations intervene for justice for all. One of the many solutions to that reality which many of us don’t even believe we can solve (or that it is our job) is to not only work in the supermarket and enjoy its paycheck but also to help local farmers modernize the local agriculture of knowledge-making with the aim of making the supermaket make the local produce its best commodity. The supermarket is blind: teachers need not be slaves to that blind master. There is no point in opposing this global company of English. It is only reasonable to buy most of the stock of its regional stores in our own localities.

To help us prompt another interesting series of conversation on this interesting subject “ELT in the context of globalization,” we have this month the following columns:

NELTA CHOUTARI– ISSUE 2