Category Archives: ELT Resource

Translation as a technique; not a method in ELT: Bal Ram Adhikari

December 1, 2016Conference, Interview, Reflectionsa, a method, as, conference, in, Nepal, not, technique, translationadmin

14642420_10209639847507293_1879527600697378626_n — **Bal Ram Adhikari**

Society of Translators Nepal has recently organized the first ever translation conference in Nepal. The conference served as a forum for translators, researchers, linguists and translation enthusiasts to share their knowledge, experiences and construct new knowledge. The conference also explored the issue of the use of translation in ELT. Although translation method has been severely criticized in ELT pedagogy, the latest approaches and methods entertain judicious use of translation. In this context, Choutari editor Jeevan Karki has spoken to Bal Ram Adhikari (Vice- president of the Society, Translator and Faculty, Department of English, TU) to explore more about translation, the conference and translation in ELT.

Q: Welcome to ELT Choutari! What are you doing these days?

Thank you for this sharing opportunity! Apart from writing essays in Nepali, I’m busy in different translation projects. I’m giving the final touch to Nepali Anubad Sahitya-ko Itihas (History of Nepali Translation Literature), a research-based book to be published from Jagadamba Prakashan. A Grammar of Contemporary Nepali is ready for the press, which is going to be published from Nepal Academy. I’ve just finished the translation and editing of sixteen English short stories into Nepali. I’m also fine-tuning my previous research report Anubad Siddhanta (Translation Theories) for Nepal Academy.

Q: When you look back, how long is the history of translation in Nepal and what is the scope of translation in Nepal?

Let’s look at the first part of your question— History. Nepalese translation has a short history with a long tradition. Tradition is what we do and history is the documentation of what we have done so far.

As a tradition, the translation activity in Nepal is as old as the languages like Nepali, Newari and Maithili. Translation has remained an integral part of this multilingual landscape. Documentation of this age-old activity has begun now. Translation in Nepal is believed to be more than 850 years old. However, the early translation was confined to such writings as royal inscriptions, and records of donations and deeds. To talk of literary translation, it is believed to have begun with the translation of Shakti Ballav Arjyal’s translation of Mahabharat Virat Parva in 1771 from Sanskrit. In my research, I have divided the duration of eight and a half century into four periods, namely the early period, the developmental period, the modern period and the contemporary age.

As to English-Nepali translation, it’s almost a century-old phenomenon. Nepali-English translation, on the other hand, has only crossed five decades. Shyam Das Vaisnav’s collection of poems Upahar is the first Nepali literary writing to be translated into English. Laxmi Prasad Devkota translated it under the Present in 1963.

Now, let’s turn to the second part of your question— its scope. Translation is growing as a widening gyre in Nepal. Academically, all Nepalese universities have recognized it as a distinct discipline. Literature, linguistics and language education departments have a separate course on translation in their master’s programmes. In practice, translation has been lifeblood of all forms of news media. Now the success or failure of our multilingual information marketplace depends largely on our ability to translate into and from the dominant languages like English. Similarly, publishing houses in Nepal are heavily relying on the translation business. Look at the books translated from English and Hindi floating in the book bazaar. Professionally, some daring bilinguals are coming to the front, who proudly call themselves translators. It indicates that translation in Nepal is moving in the direction of professionalism. There is also an organization of translators ‘Society of Translators Nepal’. Similarly, Nepal Academy has established a separate department of translation.

Q: It sounds encouraging. Let’s relate this to the recent fervour created by the Society of Translators Nepal. Last month, the Society organized the first ever conference on translation in Nepal. What was the aim of it and how do you evaluate the conference?

The Society organized a two-day conference and a three-day exhibition of translated books. It was our effort to put our motto into action: Sharing, Caring and Daring in Translation. That is to say, the aim of the conference was to create a platform where translators, translation researchers, theorists, and translation enthusiasts could come and share their experiences, practical insights and theoretical information. This is what happened in the conference. They came. They shared their experiences and insights. They cared each others’ views. They dared to admit their own limitations and weaknesses as translators.

Success! This conference has created academic and professional discourse on translation in Nepal. We translators are in a position to claim our academic and professional visibility. We had 18 paper presenters and more than 100 participants, including professors and university students. One of the goals was to bridge the gap between translation academicians and translation practitioners. I think we have been successful to some extent achieving this goal.

Q: What is the role of translation (process) in the language development of an individual?

It’s an issue under the perpetual debate. Translation is a bilingual process- a mental process which connects one language with the other. Such a connection can take place at different levels of languages ranging from words through sentences to discourse and pragmatics. Now let’s turn to the second part i.e. language development, which implies the growth of an individual’s verbal and syntactic repertoire, and their contextual use. The question is– how does translation contribute to an individual’s language development?

The role of translation in language learning is always positive! Sure enough! But the condition is its cautious handling. It should be used as a technique of teaching and learning a second language rather than as a method. In the past translation as a method was overused. As a result its impact on language development was negative.

The impact of translation on a person’s language development can be explicit as well as implicit. We can see its explicit impact on learning vocabulary. It is direct. The use of a bilingual word list to expand word power in the second language is pervasive. So is case in learning grammar structures. However, in the case of language skills, its role is not as dominant as in learning vocabulary and grammar. Its impact is implicit. Moreover, we should not confine translation only to word-to-word and sentence-to-sentence rendering. It’s also the mental transfer of first language awareness to second language learning. Mental translation is always at work in the mind of a second language learner. From our own experiences, we second language learners can tell how valuable translation has been in our overall language learning process.

The translator is in direct encounter with two languages at the same time. The translator enters not only into the mechanism of language but also experiences its inner spirit. From my own experience as a translator, I can say that it is probably the best way of developing language sensitivity and sensibility.

A communication crisis is another important factor that pushes our language ahead. During the work, translators find themselves in a communication crisis. The crisis is that they always struggle for words, expressions and structures while communicating the source writer’s message to the audience of a different language. They become untiring researchers in search of proper expressions. They are in the choiceless situation- they have no choice but to find out expressions in the target language to communicate with their readers. They often come face-to-face with their own ignorance i.e. limited knowledge of language. The very realization of ignorance forces them to read more, write more and contemplate more. This ultimately develops their language knowledge, and reading and writing skills both. .

Q: What is the state of translation in second language pedagogy, ELT in particular?

Translation is a reality of the second language teaching. Translation is not something from outside that we are imposing on second language learners. In the context like ours where English is being learned as an additional language, we cannot skip translation. Our learning setting is bi-/multilingual; our students are aspiring bilinguals in English; English teachers are bilinguals; the goal of teaching English itself is to make our students bilingual in English. And translation, be it textual or mental, is a route along which our students and teachers shuttle back and forth between their mother tongue and English. I think, to negate translation and advocate monolingual practice (i.e. English-only) is to negate all these bilingual realities.

Contemporary second language theories and practitioners are awakened to such realities. Most of the second language teaching approaches and methods have recognized the intrinsic value of translation in language teaching and learning. However, by this I am not saying Grammar Translation Method has made its comeback to second language pedagogy. Here my focus is on translation as one of the several techniques of language teaching and learning.

Let’s name some of the teaching methods that candidly cherish translation as a teaching technique. Communicative Language Teaching is one of them. In the early 1970s, CLT gave space for the judicious use of the mother tongue in the second language classroom. Other contemporary methods, namely Task-based Language Teaching, Participatory Approach, and Content-based Instruction all have regarded translation as a technique that can be used in different stages of a lesson with the varying degrees of intensity for various purposes. It means the question is not whether to use translation or not but how to use translation for effective teaching.

At this point I am reminded of David Graddol’s book English Next. In the book Graddol has clearly stated that translation and interpretation are two dominant skills to be developed in users of Global English. Its implication is that translation is not only the means, it is also being one of the goals of English Language Education.

But I am disappointed to see how translation is perceived, treated and used in our context. English teachers, educators and trainers are still oblivious to the changing perspectives towards translation. In private schools translation is still a taboo as it was in the early and mid 20^th century. They are practicing their ignorance. They are swayed by the fallacy that the use of the mother tongue and translation hamper the learning of English. On the other hand, in the public schools, translation is either overused or wrongly used.

I hope that English teachers trained in the contemporary language teaching methods will find respectful space for translation in the days to come and will use it in a balanced way.

Q: The quantity of translated books (both in English and Nepali) is increasing in Nepal. How is their quality?

It’s good to see the increasing number of translated books in the market. It’s not only the books, with the books is increasing the transfer of ideas and literary crafts across the languages. With the transfer is increasing cross-cultural awareness. Also with the growth of translation is expanding our publishing industry and translation is on the way to becoming a profession. However the worry is that quantity is waxing and quality is waning. Obviously, when there is a race for quantity, quality is often left behind. Most of the translations are poor in quality i.e. clumsy and stilted language, misinterpretation of the source text and its distorted presentation. But we should not forget that some translations are exemplary. I hope such translations will inspire the new translators.

Q: Whose role is it to ensure the quality of translated literature and other materials? What is the role of Society of Translators Nepal to improve their quality?

It’s the translator who becomes the target of criticism when the text fails to come up to certain standards. Undoubtedly, quality is subject to translator’s art and skills, sincerity and sensibility. It means the translator’s role is the key to good translation. However, there are a myriad of other factors at play in translation. First, we should understand that translation is not everyone’s cup of tea. There is a widespread misconception that any good bilingual can be a good translator. Translation is a distinct area of creative writing which calls for rigorous practice, study and training. Moreover, policy and investment of the publishing houses are of paramount importance. Most of the publishers offer a meagre amount to the translator. Even worse, they make no provision for editing. Likewise, the readers’ role also cannot be overlooked. Quality conscious readers can contribute to the publishing of good translations.

Society of Translators Nepal is not the organization to make a direct intervention in quality enhancement. All it can do and has been doing is raise awareness of translation through informal interactions, talks and seminars, and conferences. We invite translators to our talk programme to share their experiences. We have been organizing a seminar to mark the International Translation Day on 30^th September. This year we organized the first national conference.

Q: What are the further plans of the Society?

Apart from the annual conference, the Society (http://translators.org.np/) is going to publish its first journal within a couple of months. We are midway through editing of A Bilingual Glossary of Terms. Similarly, we have planned to run some small-scale translation workshops.

Q: What do say to the budding translators and the translation enthusiasts?

First and foremost, we should understand that translation is a distinct field of study and practice. It has its own charms and challenges. No suggestion works unless we sit down and translate. When we start translating, our own experience will guide us. What I say is that those who do not love language should not come to this field. Fall in love with language; be the explorer of meanings; be ready to be an unsatiated leaner of language; be ready to fail and learn from your own failure. Be a voracious reader and be an everyday writer. Be the part of the shangha of translators. Share your experiences and listen to others. Translate something every day.

***

Peripheral Classrooms: Reflections of English Teachers in Nepal

December 1, 2016Case Studies, Reflections, Teacher's Experience/anecdotesclassroom, english, in, language, Nepal, pheripheral, reflection, teachersadmin

In community schools, teaching and learning of English has always been taken as a ‘difficult’ task. Teachers and students confess that it is a difficult subject to teach and learn respectively. As a teacher, do we reflect on our own classes? Do we ask ourselves how are our classes going? Reflection upon our own classrooms certainly assists us to improve our pedagogical practices.

In this connection, our Choutari editor, Ashok Raj Khati has asked to five English teachers to reflect on their own English classrooms from different regions of Nepal. In the context of English language teaching, they briefly express their ideas in relation to resources, participation of students, use of English and L1, their best practices in English classroom and challenges they face.The five secondary level English teachers are: Babu Ram Basnet (Solukhumbu) Chandra Singh Dhami (Ramechhap), Kamal Raj Basyal (Palpa), Durga Prasad Pandey (Dang) and Khagendra Nath ‘Biyogi’ (Bajhang).

Babu Ram Basnet Mahendrodaya Secondary School, Salyan, Solukhumbu

Teaching English is not always a fun but it is a very tough job in this part of country. We do not have enough resources, like the internet and other supportive materials, to facilitate English language teaching. Therefore, students do not get enough and authentic exposure in English. I have to read out listening text myself as we do not receive cassettes in time. There are 65 students in grade 10, which is a large classroom in our context. In the same way, the large classrooms are a barrier to many participatory activities. There are many activities to be done and performed by students such as drama, simulation, games and role plays. I am not able to do all these in such a large class which ultimately affect their learning achievement.

Students come from different socio- cultural and economic backgrounds, they usually speak in Nepali language among them. They are generally good in writing but hesitate to speak in English. They have fear to lose face among their friends if they commit any mistakes. So that, I am not satisfied with their fluency in English. To some extent, I am applying traditional method while teaching English. It is often challenging to correct their home assignments in a class of 45 minutes. I use group and peer correction technique several times. I conduct class test in regular interval to know how they are doing. The most challenging part of my teaching is developing speaking skill on the part of students.

Chandra Singh Dhami Manthali Higher Secondary School, Manthali, Ramechhap

My classroom in tenth and ninth grades are large, which contains the students with mixed ability. Likewise, students come from diverse socio-cultural and linguistic backgrounds. We have a ‘media’ hall equipped with different facilities such as internet, speakers, tape recorder, dictionary and projector. I often make them watch movies, biographies of poets, popular TV show and show activities related to English language learning. For instance, while teaching English sounds, I often download native speakers’ accent for them to practice. I regularly conduct unit and monthly test. It provides me timely feedback on the areas to improve. We have cassette players, charts and other daily use materials. Students sometimes prepare charts in different lessons.

Majority of students try to speak in English in the classroom. I often use group work and drilling. I make them write in group as a process writing. Students also speak in Nepali language particularly when they do not understand reading texts. I encourage them to speak in English even outside the classroom. Students also take part in speech and debate competitions. I use shorter expression. Even if, students have positive motivational orientation towards English, I am still not satisfied with the progress. Many students do not have same pace in learning English and it can’t be. However, the challenge for me is to cope the students with different levels of English language proficiency.

Kamal Raj Basyal Krishna secondary school, Peepaldada-Jheskang, Palpa

There are 56 students at grade 10 in my school which accommodates 29 girls, 26 students from Magar community and 5 from Dalits. Three language use can be observed there in the classroom – Magar, Nepali and English. They are from low income and mostly from middle class families. Their socio-cultural background is not much trouble for me while teaching English as they have positive motivational orientation toward learning English. Likewise, we have whiteboards, electricity, audio-tape/cassette players and necessary charts in English in the classroom. But, we do not have the internet facility in school.

I have found that my students are active in different learning activities in English class where I try my best to use English only and inspire them to use it. I believe it maximizes exposure in English. Next I have generated weekly discussion on certain topics related to the course. In regular interval, I conduct several contests like debate, spelling and quiz in English. Regarding teaching technique, I generally use group and pair work and role plays to facilitate English language learning. I also encourage them to go to library and read books. Therefore, teaching English has always been a fun for me. I am satisfied with their progress. I specially enjoy teaching grammar and vocabularies. However, I often find myself challenged while teaching listening and free writing. So I need to be well prepared to deal with listening and writing activities.

Durga Prasad Pandeya Padmodaya Public Model Secondary School, Ghorahi, Dang

I work in a government funded school having the classes from grade 1 to 12. It has around 87 classes and 5, 000 students. Generally, the student- teacher ratio is one to 50-78 students. Therefore, we teach in large classes. We have irregular internet access and the multimedia projector is only in the audio visual room and students have very less access to them. We also have a smart board but there is no skilled man power to operate it but white boards are available in each room. Teachers make charts and posters for the upper classes and use printed charts the lower/primary classes.

When I reflect on my English classes, my students work very happily in pair and groups particularly to practice speaking skills and some project based tasks. Many of them are found excited and interested to work in group or pair but a few are found reluctant to do all these activities and they prefer individual tasks. I instruct them both in English and Nepali languages. I particularly need to use Nepali as they understand me and are unable to respond in English. They are also not encouraged to converse in English. Another challenge of teaching English is being unable to create English speaking environment in school, which is the result of the low exposure of English in lower classes. It eventually affects their performance in upper classes.

Khagendra Nath ‘Biyogi’ Bhairab Higher Secondary School, Jhota, Bajhang

I as an English teacher in this rural area, find myself encouraged in the recent years. Although the classroom is large, we have some minimum resources to facilitate English language class such as tape recorders, computers and other necessary materials. They are taken to computer room to play various language games. Similarly, I make use of laptop and the internet in the classroom. Students prepare charts of CVs, wild life reserve, language functions and so on inside the classroom. There are many different charts in schools, student make use of them in English class in different ways. Many of them use Nepali language inside the classroom. However, I inspire them to speak English. Every day, I ask them a question (as a part of general knowledge), related to English and they enjoy it very much. (For instance, how many words can you make from the word ‘examination’?). I also conduct quiz, debate and speech competition. Regarding the participation of students, they normally work in group and pair. Students are always invited to the front of the classroom to work or present the task assigned. Few students also feel shy to do so.

In the same way, I am selective on using methods and techniques in my ELT classes. Most importantly, I reflect back on my classroom activities to figure out what is working and what is not. Students are found improving the skills of English language these days. It might be the result of increased exposure of English through technology and social media. Another important activity that I do is to visit students’ parents (nearby school) once a week. I talk to them about their children’s progress. While talking with them, I figure out four types of students – outstanding, excellent, good/average and low achiever. The most challenging task for me is to teach and work with the low achievers. Some of them cannot read and write properly. Therefore, it is always challenging to find the strategies to support them.

Choutari team sincerely acknowledge teachers who shared their valuable reflections in this interactive article. They have particularly highlighted the diverse pedagogical practices and issues while teaching English in peripheral parts of Nepal. Now, we request you to feel free to share your thoughts and reflections after reading these reflections here.

Are we at the Verge of Collapse?

December 1, 2016Teacher's Experience/anecdotesadmin

377867_10150419906957721_553891651_n — **Sujit Wasti**

In this blog post, I attempt to examine the role of globalization in relation to the economy, language and natural environment.

Civilized man was nearly always able to become master of his environment temporarily. His chief troubles came from his delusions that his temporary mastership was permanent. He thought of himself as “master of the world, while fully failing to understand the laws of nature. Tom Dale and Vernon Gill Carter has mentioned in ‘Topsoil and Civilization’ – man whether civilized or savage, is a child of nature- he is not the master of nature. He must conform his actions to certain natural laws if he is to maintain his dominance over his environment. When he tries to circumvent the laws of nature, he usually destroys the natural environment that sustains him. And when his environment deteriorates rapidly, his civilization declines.

With this backdrop, I first attempt to examine the globalization with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) based economic growth in the light of its aberrations and practical consequences. Let me begin with an example. We are trying to purify the Bagmati River in Kathmandu which was once a natural source of water for people dwelling in this valley. Over the years, population swelled in multifold along with the drive for urbanization, with the capital and technology – the drivers of globalization. Then water shortages ensued. Now, we are trying to turn the natural course of Melamchi River in order to fulfill the need of drinking water in Kathmandu. I have three unanswered questions in this process – first, isn’t it something like robbing Paul to pay Peter? Second, do we know the long-term impact of changing natural course of a river? Third, Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) is the water distributing company in Kathmandu. Is it profitable for it to take care of the drinking need of other species in the valley because the river accessible to them is completely destroyed by human beings? If we extend the above example in international context we get the clear picture of what globalization is.

The present economic model is the more we consume, the more it helps to increase the GDP. Cyclical consumption model is threatened by its negative impacts in the society such as resource depletion, water and air pollution, and destruction of natural habitat. At the one hand, this economic model has completely overlooked the impacts on other species (other than human beings) and natural environment around us. On the other hand, this model ends up storing or developing weapons of mass destruction as the result of so-called economic success because we are obsessed with power. Furthermore, the growing inequality created by the competitive model of business has no human face (Economic Development for general people is not only for the owners-inequalities produced by current economic model). For instance, the unemployment generated by automation which contributes to continuous wastages of natural resources. Throughout the human history we have never been out of war and natural calamities aggravated by human beings. I wonder why this so-called intelligent specie is always the source of destruction and I think we are at the tipping point once again.

The second example I am citing here shows the flip side of specialization. Nepal Government is developing a few eastern districts as a bucket area for the cultivation of cardamom. The farmers are being lured to planting cardamom replacing their regular food products in those remote areas. They have cash from sales of high value crops, but they have to depend on transportation (one of the main sources of globalization) of foods from other areas for their regular diet. It shows the flip side of specialization as there are two problems associated with specialization of agriculture sectors. The first is the issue of food security as it destroys the local food chain and the second is the value gap created by the change of consumption pattern as they have no local food. Further, the consumption of products of multinationals is normally known as increasing living standards or modernization.

When we turn into language and culture, MCDonaldization and mass productions are replacing local cultures and languages leading to acute poverty because the most local businesses depend on local culture. The rhetoric behind skill gap is clearly intended to further destroy the local and traditional businesses. The English speaking local students are being turned into international labor completely ignoring their need and contributions to the development of local society. English as a foreign language should be taught in the schools and colleges but, is it necessary to replace the native languages from schools in the name of English medium only? This one-sided language domination is clearly a long –term burden to the western societies because sooner or later they would realize that these half-caste (new breeds having desire to live in two worlds i.e. Anglicized vs. localized) English speaking generation cannot get jobs in western societies in the name of globalization.

The theoretical impossibility of globalization lies in its illogic that we have to create a global market. That means every country has power or right over the resources of the whole planet in order to supply stuffs all over the world. For example, As Nepal is known as a suitable tourist spot she has to build infrastructures to accommodate tourists of the whole world by being competitive. However the question that remains unanswered is – how much is adequate?

The whole concept of state welfare function is built on false premises which started after the French Revolution with enlightenment or rational thinking as means of modernization. But it ignored the relationship between human being and the natural environment and led people to believe that man can be independent of the plants and food or the nature. Diamond Jared in his book ‘Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed’ mentioned that the climate change is not a new phenomenon and lists out the eight factors (deforestation and habitat destruction, soil problems, water management, overhunting, overfishing, effects of introduced species on native, overpopulation, and increased per-capita impact of people) that led to the collapse of past societies. He further added four other factors (anthropogenic climate change, buildup of toxins, energy shortages, and full human use of earth’s photosynthetic capacity) which may contribute to the collapse of present and future societies. All factors are the roots of destruction of natural environment.

We have had enough experiences that the apogee of highly industrialized state is to start decaying. We have observed the pre-eminent symptoms of collapsing civilization. None of the governments has choices to take unpopular decisions such as developing its own economic systems or to choose only those technologies which are sustainable considering its local economic, social and cultural environment. Climate change and inequalities are major concerns of almost all countries but we have not been able to address it in its entirety.

Mr. Wasti works for Rural Education and Environment Development Center (REED Nepal), Pulchock Lalitpur in the capacity of the finance manager.

ELT at Tertiary level: Perspectives from Far-West Nepal

December 1, 2016Native Perspective, Reflectionselt, L1, Nepal, on, participation, perspectives, resources, studentsadmin

14925264_721645791318453_3766757234139576756_n — **Lal Bahadur Bohara**

Background

I was grown in a hill district (Bajhang) of far western region. I completed my masters from Tribhuwan University. When I joined a TU affiliated campus in Bajhang, I had some different experiences in teaching English and working with students there. Students’ perspectives toward English language learning, their expectations and efforts made me rethink about my way of teaching and working with students. It made me further investigate the perceptions of ELT professionals and challenges they are facing in far-west region. In this blog post, I am presenting the voices of ELT professionals from this region. It is just a presentation of preliminary data for my paper in Kathmandu University.

Introduction

I taught English in rural areas of far western Nepal for a decade. I think teacher is an only source of motivation for students to learn English in our context. In my case, the way I deal my students sometime motivate them and some other time demotivate. The experience of teaching English in this region, made me further investigate in the area of ELT. This piece primarily discloses the perspectives of English teachers in relation to prescribed English courses in B.Ed. level, common strategies teachers employ in the classroom and challenges they face while teaching English. I had a talk (not structured one) with five English teachers teaching in B.Ed. level in far western region – they were from Bajhang, Bajura, Kanchanpur, Achham and Dadeldhura. They were teaching English in different campuses under the affiliation of Tribhuvan University.

Now, I present the preliminary findings of my study on four major themes. I shall be analyzing the findings and share in future issues.

Gap in contents

I found that academic courses are de-contextualized in relation to contents and culture. In other words, it is found that the contents at bachelor level are de-contextualized with particular reference to the respect to society, culture, age and prior knowledge of learners. Hence, there is a gap between the local reality and the contents in the syllabus. In this regard, a participant put his voice this way:

The prescribed courses are not harmonized with the level of prior knowledge of students in bachelor level. Further, the prescribed books do not incorporate the culture of far western region, even if they were written by Nepali scholars.

Most of the academic contents were from other culture which does not appropriate the socio-cultural background of students in the far western region.

Increasing use of technology

I found that English teachers make of use of the internet, Google and several ELT Webpages. The trend is increasing in urban areas. A teacher mentioned that:

I use Facebook and make use of several ELT groups and pages. The discussions over these venues assist me to facilitate teaching of English and keep me up to date in the area. Similarly, webpages such as Learn and Teach English of British Council and other ELT resource sites are quite helpful for me. Certain mobile applications have also been supportive to me.

It shows that increasing use of technology has added advantages to teach English at tertiary level and the trend is growing in this region.

Teacher centered strategies

Except in a few cases, all participants agree that teachers basically follow lecture method, the conventional method of teaching English. A participant states that:

Without using translation method, the students do not understand the contents. They seem to be happy with translation in Nepali and local dialect. In the classroom of compulsory English (language subject), the number of students is large and teacher primarily depend on lecturing and GT method. In compulsory English classes, some students are from poor language background.

The study shows that in urban areas teachers are, to some extent, more resourceful and innovative than in rural areas. They also agree that students join the English stream with inadequate basic standard in English. However, a participant reports that he sometimes uses project work, group work and problem solving techniques while teaching English.

Use of L1

Next revealing phenomenon is that teachers and students use maximum Nepali and local languages in English classroom in this region. Another participant articulates this practice this way:

Without using local and Nepali language, students can understand nothing. During the lesson, Nepali is a medium of instruction. I often try to use English but students just listen to me, they don’t respond or interact. Then I have to immediately switch to L1.

Participation of students

It also shows that learners’ participation in classroom is very low. Most classrooms are heterogeneous in terms of socio-economic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds of students. Therefore, the one prescribed curriculum from the top does not capture their interests and different motivational orientations. Here is what a participant expresses:

Majority of students neither complete their assignments nor actively participate in classroom activities like pair work, group work, and dramatization. Most importantly, they tend to be highly absent in classes.

Therefore, the study shows that multi- level classroom, students’ irregularity and hesitation to speak English are few reasons to mention for the low participation of students in teaching-learning activities. Likewise, many classrooms do not have sufficient teaching materials which better facilitate language learning. The study also reveals that teachers mostly depend on the textbook. They do not have any internet access.

Conclusions

Teaching English language in non-native context is a challenge for several reasons. Most academic contents were from ‘the other’ culture which may not be suitable for the students in the context of far western region of Nepal. Teachers basically follow the same route, an easy job – lecturing in the classroom. Maximum use of Nepali and local languages can be observed on the part of both teachers and students. Classrooms are heterogeneous in terms of socio-economic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds of students. Students generally expect class notes from teachers and there is low participation of students in teaching learning processes of ELT in the classrooms. In the same way, classrooms are under-resourced, except a few classrooms in urban areas like Dhangadhi and Mahendranagar. However, increasing use of technology by teachers could be an additional advantage to teach English at this level in various ways. Preliminary findings show that the situation of English language teaching is not so encouraging in this part of country.

Mr. Bohara teaches English at Jaya Prithivi Multiple Campus, Bajhang. He is currently pursuing his MPhil in ELE from Kathmandu University.

Teacher, Teacher Education and ELT: Changing with the Time

August 24, 2016Editorial, Teacher's Experience/anecdotesadmin

Dear Choutari readers,

In the midst of long silence because of technical and other issues, we are back with the special issue of ELT Choutari. This is the second issue of this year which focuses on several aspects of ELT. Before listing out the blog entries of this issue, let me reflect on my experience and observation on some aspects of ELT.

I am fortunate to observe hundreds of English lessons in the past two years in rural parts of Nepal. My experience of working with teachers in schools and training venues in diverse topography and culture in Nepal has shown that many teachers are still facing challenges in lesson delivery process. ‘Fresh’ university graduates who have ‘successfully’ completed pre-service teacher education program have been unable to deliver English lesson really effectively though having authorized license to teach.

Then where is the problem? In my opinion, the problem lies in the way we perceive a language, our profession (ELT) and the meaning of language teaching. The problem lies on how we make sense of a language to be taught as a course, the language to be used as a medium of instruction and the content to be taught (if it should be).

Every human being makes sense of the world differently. They obviously have their own ideas, concepts and perceptions towards overall meaning of language teaching. In this light, I have similar observations as Rebecca Reymann, a contributor of this issue has, in many parts of the country. We as teachers are investing our effort in memorization. I agree with her in a way ‘language is a beautiful tool for expression’. It has to be taught in a context differently in different grades but not through memorization. Every child is unique and he/she does not get success in language learning through the same route. The children have their own perspectives toward the language, language learning process and the world. In the same way, they have their own ability to grasp language.

So far we talk about ELT as a teaching profession, many of us might have different explanations for this choice. Samita Magar, another contributor, decided to pick ELT simply because she is influenced by her teacher when she was in school. She finds this profession more creative and respectable than others. It shows that the identity of English teacher is perceived differently by different people. In the past, to some extent teachers had an uniform identity. They were considered priests, the messenger of Gods and the personalities with high morale. In the east, this sort of identity is still in existence to some extent. However, the overall observation of English teachers’ identity has been changing with time. It is witnessed at present that there is no uniform opinions and beliefs why a person chooses ELT as a profession.

Likewise, as the time has changed in the way we teach children, the way teacher educators and trainers facilitate training sessions has been changing. The focus has been shifted to the achievements of the students along with the teacher learning. Ekraj Koirala, a teacher trainer, recently experienced a better way through school based teacher training modality in Nepal. Teachers have different expectations and challenges in their own contexts. In this regard, the same cascade model may not be appropriate in all cases.

At the same time, the approaches of teacher education in universities and academic institutions have been changed. Distance and open learning system have been introduced by several universities to prepare teachers. Similarly, private schools have different requirements for recruiting teachers and government has its own. Kiran Thapa, a scholar from Kathmandu University, discusses issue of certification and licensing of English teachers in Nepal. She highlights the significance of certification and licensing to maintain minimum standards and add quality in education.

Another changing dimension in public education is the shift towards English medium instruction from Nepali. Choutari editor Jeevan Karki has spoken with Juliet Fry, a teacher educator, who emphasized the continuity of multilingual approach in Nepal. She has strongly articulated her voice over the significance of Nepali, English and other local languages to generate economy, and to preserve the identity and culture of Nepal, which calls for a balanced approach and multilingual education.

Similarly, there has been a great shift in testing system. From this year, the government has introduced letter grading system to assess SLC graduates and different forms of letter grading system was already in practice in school education. With reference to testing of English language, Shyam Sharma in a blog piece, states that monolingual tests don’t predict overall academic performance by multilingual students.

To sum up, the perceptions and practices in teaching profession, teacher education and ELT pedagogy have been changing with time. Here is the list of posts in this issue:

On behalf of ELT Choutari Team, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all team members, contributors and reviewers of this issue. As the commitment to our valued readers, we are investing our effort to release ELT Choutari as quarterly publication. At this hour, two new members have joined our team to continue this professional legacy of local and global ELT discourse through this platform. Juliet Fry, a national director of professional learning of secondary teachers’ of English language in New Zealand will be supporting us in the capacity of the guest editor. Likewise, Karna Rana, a PhD candidate from University of Canterbury New Zealand will be contributing Choutari in the capacity of editor.

Special thanks to Jeevan Karki, Karna Rana and KP Ghimire for their support to bring out this issue. Hope you will enjoy the readings. We will be grateful for your ideas and comments on the blog posts.

Ashok-photo — **Ashok Raj Khati Editor of the Issue**

School Based Teacher Training: My Experience in the Khumbu Region

August 24, 2016Teacher Trainingcontext, local, on-spot-training, reflection-of-trainer, school-based-trainingadmin

Background

I have been working in the mountainous regions for four years in the capacity of teacher trainer for REED (Rural Education and Environment Development Centre) Nepal. It is a national level non-governmental organization, primarily working in the field of teacher training in rural areas of the country for one and a half decade. The organization has been implementing whole school modality where all teachers gather at a venue. This year, I got an opportunity to coordinate a school-based teacher training program in Kharikhola of Solukhumbu district. This model is a new intervention of our organization and a new approach in Nepali context. In this brief essay, I discuss the steps of implementation and my observations toward the training model.

At the initial phase, we had an intensive discussion among teacher trainers, representatives from Ministry of Education (MoE), and experts from other parts of the world. The discussion highlighted the needs to focus on students’ progress through training rather than teachers’ attractive presentation in a simulated environment. The training has been divided into three phases: pre-training, while-training and post-training stages.

Pre-training stage (Preparation)

This is a preparation phase. In the first place, we invited a meeting of the head teachers from 17 schools in Kharikhola area. It was a very good discussion over the basic principles, processes and preparation for the training. I found myself excited as the head teachers were positive toward this model. Then, teachers from 17 schools were invited in three venues, the leader schools in the area. Therefore, the venues were the schools, not the teacher training centers nor were they resource centers. Teachers from two to three academic subjects attended at the assigned venues; other teachers continued teaching in their schools. In this regard, trainers worked with a small number of teachers at a time; it was all six times we worked in these three different venues. A teacher had to work at the venue for three days.

While Training Phase (Operational)

This phase is more collaborative in nature and a real operational phase. Once the teachers attended at the venue, they had to be present in the Morning Prayer with students. Then, they worked with trainers to prepare lesson plans for presentation. The lesson plans were based on learning outcomes specified by the curriculum and followed in Continuous Assessment System (CAS). All the lesson plans were done in terms of identified and analyzed needs. While developing the lesson plan, there was a good discussion among teachers and trainers over learning outcomes, teaching strategies and activities. The trainees also developed necessary teaching materials and set time for each activity of the lesson plan with the help of trainers and fellow trainees. Then, the trainers and teachers in each subject group went to the real classroom. One of the teachers led the lesson in the classroom and rest of them including trainer observed the classroom teaching. In some cases, they assisted teacher and students in various activities. During observation, students’ involvement and learning were the key elements to be considered. No matter how efficient and excellent lesson delivery took place, the key part of observation was to diagnose the learning of students. Mostly, students’ eagerness in learning, their participation in different activities, creativity and engagement in all sorts of learning processes were the major elements of observation in relation with the objectives set in the lesson plan.

Post Training Phase (Reflection)

The third phase was the reflective one. We discussed over the delivered lesson. Firstly, the teacher, who led the lesson, shared his/her feeling on the lesson. Then, every trainee was invited to put their views over the lesson on the basis of observation checklists. If the lesson objectives were not fulfilled, the lesson needed to go for revision, re-plan and deliver next day. Again, the revision went in collaboration with facilitator and fellow participants in some cases. In other cases, participants needed to plan for new lesson.

Major Characteristics

I was involved in this training program in all phases. In my observation, I have found five major features:

Training in real situation: We organized most of the face-to-face training programs and practised teaching skills in artificial settings in previous years. This time the training was organized in a natural situation i.e. in the real classroom. Teachers and trainers got opportunity to work in schools with students.

Focus on students’ progress: How teachers presented lesson does matter little but what learning outcome was seen on students is a major focus of this school-based teacher training model.

Lesson plan: Trainees worked on lesson plans instead of session plans.

Collaborative: The model is highly collaborative in nature as trainees received a lot of opportunities to work and collaborate with fellow trainees and trainers in different phases of the training.

Focus on local context: It is obvious that facilitators and participants work in a specific context in this training model so that it could be more effective and teaching skills are transferable. Sometimes, training received in a different context may not be applicable in other contexts.

Conclusion

The school-based teacher training model we implemented is definitely time consuming than previous face-to-face model. It took twelve days to cover a six-day previous training model. However, the model provided an ample opportunity to teachers to improve their teaching. It is participatory and student-centred as it involved students within the framework. In addition, the training was more economic in terms of money we expended there than previous models. Therefore, school-based teacher training approach could be replicated in other contexts. However, further researches need to be carried out in its theoretical and practical aspects.

Mr. Koirala is an MA in English and an LLB from Tribhuvan University. He has been working in the capacity of a senior teacher trainer of English for REED Nepal. His area of interest also includes writing, theatre performance and art.

Why I Chose ELT as a Profession?

August 24, 2016Teacher's Experience/anecdotesELT-as-profession, from, inspiration, reflection, teacher, whyadmin

This brief blog piece speaks my personal experience as an English language teacher. The reflective journal mainly tries to disseminate why I have chosen teaching profession and how someone can be benefited by being a teacher. Besides, there are significant positions of a teacher in the society that encourages growing generation to choose teaching profession.

Introduction

When I was a high school student, most of the students were satisfied with the teaching of an English teacher. He ever suggested the students reading more than prescribed textbooks. His inspiration led them to be curious and enthusiastic learners. I was one of them wishing to be such a respected teacher. His positive attitude encouraged the students to prepare well and participate every curricular activity. His gentle personality could be easily observed on his smiles at the success of his students. His friendly and cooperative manner provided a space to share our feelings and problems that led us to achieve our success. I believe that his intellect and passion made me choose his profession in my life.

However, the statistics shows that majority of recent school graduates choose science and business studies to go to medical field, technical field and business field. In my case, I have seen my future in teaching profession. I believe that teaching profession is considered as prestigious as other professions. Ayers (1994) stated that teaching is more than transmitting skills; it is living act and involves preference and value, obligation and choice, trust and care, commitment and justification.

This reflects my social values, ethics, responsibilities and determination. I believe that these features pulled me in teaching profession. In my perspective, the good teachers listen to their students, care their daily activities, desires, wishes, interests and problems. The responsible teachers always perform their duties well. Their consistent care for students produces various professionals. In this regard, teaching profession can be considered as the base of all other professions.

I choose this profession mainly because of three reasons: 1) respected profession 2) highly creative 3) role model

Respected profession

The great philosopher, Aristotle has stated that “those, who educate children well, are to be honored than those who produce them”. The case of Helen Keller for instance. She is a famous writer because of her teacher. The credit goes to her teachers than to her parents. Teachers encourage, guide and teach students to learn the beautiful art of living a life. In the east, Guru is the God. There is a verse in Sanskrit ‘Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Maheshwor’. It says that teacher is an incarnation of God. A teacher affects eternity. He or she can never tell where his influence stops. So it is the reality in the sense that what a teacher writes on the board of students’ life stays lifelong in their memory. One of my school experience also reveals the same dignity of a teacher. When I was a third grade student, all the people in my village used to greet teachers, consult them for information and invite them on all kinds of occasions. They used to be lawyer in our village in need. The respect they used to get inspired me to think about being a teacher.

Highly Creative

Information and communication technologies have shifted the teaching and learning ways in this world. These technologies have provided wider range of learning opportunities for the learners. The learners have access to unlimited information in this digital age that assures creativity in their learning. On the other hand, the virtual environment has generated more opportunities as well as challenges for the teachers. Teachers need to be informed of daily information, and be prepared to tackle the challenges and to survive into the classroom. It is worth quoting Lewis that the task of modern teacher is not to cut down the jungles, but to irrigate deserts. Thus what I believe that teaching is creative profession. Great teachers mentor, stimulate, provoke, engage the students through several creations inside and outside the classroom.

Role Model

Teachers in the east has always been model for the growing generation. For instance, my English teacher in school was my inspirer, motivator or director who ever stood a figure for me. However, the students in this fast growing world may have different perceptions toward teacher. It is because of the changing roles of teachers as the facilitator, guide and manager. Towne (2012) stated that a good teacher is like a candle; it consumes itself to light the way for others. Similarly, Dey (2013) suggested that the teachers to become models for their learners, so that they can develop into disciplined, hardworking and successful person.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, teaching profession is full of respect, responsibilities, creativity and also challenges. Whatsoever, this profession is socially prestigious because of its leadership nature among other professions. They are found to have a high level of autonomy as a lifelong learner. This made me think about being a teacher when I was in school.

Samita Magar teaches English at Omega international higher secondary school in Lalitpur. She is pursuing her masters in ELT from School of education, Kathmandu University.

References

Dey, S.K. (2013). Teaching of English. India: Dorling Kindersley.

Towne, D. (2012). Home thoughts. Mustafa Kemal (Atatuk Trans.) Home thoughts. (originally published in 1991).

Language Teaching is not Memorization

August 24, 2016Teacher's Experience/anecdotesLanguage Teaching, Memorization, Nepaladmin

‘Hello, how are you?’ ‘I am fine, thank you, and how about you?’ The expected mechanical response that I usually get when greeting the children of rural Nepal. The memorized responses of students as taught by teachers. Adult says X, child responds with Y. Check plus.

As teachers, do we recognize the importance of the way that we are teaching language? Is this mechanical question and answer pattern the way that we will be able to communicate love? Is this the way of communication needed to let go of prejudice and bias that are deeply engrained by years and years of tradition? Are we solely teaching mechanical repetition? Or are we teaching the most beautiful tool for expression?

These questions need to be reexamined. Teachers, ask yourselves: what is the practicality of my teaching? When we ask students how they are doing, do we really want to know how they are? Or are we simply satisfied to hear the textbook response that they have memorized in classroom?

I am currently teaching English at an English medium school in the lower Solukhumbu district of Nepal. As an American who was trained as a teacher in the United States, studied in New Zealand, and has spent the last three years traveling, I have formed my own biases and perspective regarding education. However, I can say with great confidence that I believe that we are all striving toward the same overall goal; to better ourselves in some way. One way that we can achieve this goal is through the gift of language.

Language is the freedom to express how we feel. The freedom to share what we experience from moment to moment. The ability to communicate and understand others. This ability to communicate is what makes us such a unique species. But we need to use this communication in an effective and realistic manner. We need to let go of the old school style of textbook teaching and evolve with the times to give our children the ability to communicate in a real world setting. We cannot continue limiting them solely to their ability of properly filling in blanks and matching words with the correct definitions, while we look over their shoulder with a red pen.

We are human beings, not robots. We learn by doing. Why do we forget this when we walk into a classroom? ‘Okay kids, please open up to lesson two and finish activity three from yesterday.’ Is this exciting? No, in fact, it is absolutely dreadful. So why go on with this mundane style of teaching? One external reason is the parents. The parents are the real challenge, not the children.

The majority of these parents do not speak English, nor do many of them have any formal education at all. They want better for their children than what they had, so they have provided the gift of education- what an opportunity! Little do these parents know- they are the main obstacle standing in the way of the very opportunities that they are trying to provide. The parents are only worried about the tangibles. Does my child have homework? What grade did they get? Are they in the grade level that suites their age? The parents are stuck in the past, even if the teachers are looking toward the future. They question the teachers blindly, pushing their child helplessly into places that they should not be pushed. For example, I have a grade 6 student who should be studying in grade 1 (just one case of many). She is eager to learn English, but cannot understand the language of this strange Western woman standing at the front of her classroom. In the initial weeks, she would even be brought to tears out of complete frustration. When I ask why such a situation has become reality, the answer is- the parents.

How can a tree grow when a seed has not yet been planted? How can a 13-year-old write an essay, when she cannot even respond beyond ‘Hello, how are you?’ The parents are having the final say in their children’s English education, when they themselves do not even speak the language. The child leaves school, goes home, and justifies their English education to their non-English speaking parents by the homework that they have completed in front of them. Does this make any sense?

We cannot let this habitual cycle continue. The teachers are the people who spend the time with the students, the teachers are the people who speak the language, and the teachers are the people who know what is in the child’s best interest. As teachers, it is our responsibility to ensure that no child is left behind. This can be done only with confidence and perseverance. The current reality is that there is a distinct separation between the parents and the teachers, and the parents are winning. This is only creating a long trail of students suffocating somewhere in the trail of dust that their fellow students leave behind. This is unfair. We must merge this gap immediately. Parents need to be willing to trust the teachers and let them make decisions about what is best for the child. Parents and teachers need to collaborate. The child needs to be put first.

So as teachers, we are the internal challenge- our own worst enemies in some cases. We have created our own major roadblocks along the way. Because of the old school style of teaching, we now have serious obstacles in cultivating genuine learning.

What students truly need is practicality and life skills. One of the most critical life skills of the 21st century is indeed communication. As teachers, it is our job to give students this tool by changing our teaching to a kinesthetic style. Make learning fun, memorable, and cognitive. Stop taking ourselves so seriously with box ticking, textbooks, and red pens. What about games and creativity? What about getting outside of the classroom into a real life setting? Let’s give the kids the freedom to learn in a sustainable way that will allow them to express through the gift of English language, opening nothing but doors for in the future.

At the start of each class we can give children two minutes to practice their conversational skills, building upon what is discussed each day. What about rather than textbook blank filling, we have them write letters to the United States or Australia? What about making them a tour guide, where they get to pick an area of significance and give the class a tour in English? What about engaging their senses- writing it all down in English, and then sharing. What do you see? What do you feel? What do you smell? What do you taste? What do you hear? Let the children express their own personal experiences, which are all so incredibly unique. This is why we use language. This is practicality. If we spend a year teaching like this, not only will students be much more interested in learning, but will also be able to confidently communicate with people from all around the world.

As teachers, we must value the students and understand them as human beings so that we can teach them in a way that resonates. Value the child’s experiences and opinions. Let them share. Put the child first. What is their experience like at home? What is their family background- caste, religion, occupation? Do they have to go home to milk the buffalo and work in the field after school? Are their parents abroad? What sort of support are they getting outside of the classroom? The responsibilities of most of these children at home are extensive. This will absolutely play a role in the child’s interest, attention span, and attendance at school. We must tend to the child with great care and compassion before they can possibly blossom.

Once we know the child we need to assess their prior knowledge. What do they already know? What sort of foundation do we have to build on? It doesn’t make any sense to teach sentence structure when a child doesn’t know the letters of the alphabet. It is our responsibility to bridge the gap between understanding and misunderstanding. We do this by giving the child connectors, one step at a time, meticulously building on their foundation of previous knowledge- not leaving any piece behind.

Next, what does the child WANT to learn? What does the child care about? What are they interested in? How can I relate this material to their prior knowledge AND interests? Usually we do this by allowing them to talk about themselves. In English- tell me about your family, where you are from, what you do in your free time, what do you like to eat, what sports do you play, what do you want to be when you grow up? Once we show the students that we are interested in them, they then become interested in the material that we have to teach.

Teaching is an exchange. We must show the child that we genuinely care in order to gain their interest. Allow them to express by asking them questions, not repress by preaching at them with meaningless information. Language is communication- communication is a two way street. We cannot forget the importance of the child’s role in this process. Allow them to free themselves through expression right from the beginning. This gives them confidence to build on. Value their ideas. Listen. Value the communication with them, inside and outside of the classroom.

Language is the power to express. It is not memorization. Sure, we cannot let the parents limit our creativity. But before we even think about the parents, we need to reevaluate ourselves as teachers, and give significant value to the young people that we are teaching. We need to stop setting our own limitations to the endless creativity and empowerment found within education of the English language. In order for students to think outside of the box, we as teachers must first get out of the boxes that we have created for ourselves. It is time to free our children through changing with the times.

Rebecca Reymann is a 26-year-old traveler from Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. Her background is in Education and Tourism Management. She has spent the last three months teaching English in the lower Solukhumbu district of Nepal. Rebecca plans to continue pursuing work in the outdoors, education, and healing practices between America and Nepal.

Welcome to Seventh Anniversary Issue of Choutari: January 2016

January 1, 2016Editorial, Teacher's Experience/anecdotesAshok Raj Khati

On behalf of the ELT Choutari team, I would like to wish everyone a slightly belated Happy New Year 2016! And welcome to a special Anniversary issue once again!!

This is the eighth year of our blogging about ELT. We are grateful to you for reading and promoting the ELT khurak we provide here. And we are grateful to those who have contributed to this issue. Your contribution to professional conversations here is invaluable, as always.

The last year 2015 remained the year of despairs in Nepal especially due to destructive earthquake and five-month-long crisis resulted due to discontented voices of communities especially Madhesi, Tharu and Janjatis following the country’s new constitution. It has affected all walks of life, and education and ELT in Nepal have been impacted as well. But we also believe that as educators we can play a role: we can understand and communicate issues, we can rethink education at all levels, and we can even improve our day to day teaching. It is not just a coincidence, therefore, that the writings in this issue address difficult issues of power and struggle, opportunity and justice to the general masses.

Bearing the responsibility of representation of the Nepali people, the Constituent Assembly (CA) presented a constitution for the first time in Nepal’s history. The constitution has ensured Nepal as Federal Democratic Republican state with three-tier government (federal, provincial, and local), competitive multi-party democratic system, secularism, inclusion and policy of proportional representation, president as ceremonial head-of-the-state, people’s sovereignty and fundamental rights including economic, social and cultural rights. It is for professionals and educators in all fields to help realize the aspiration of the people by contributing through the means at their disposal. Education is arguably the most powerful means for social transformation. We will welcome fellow educators to share ideas with broad social vision through this venue.

We are yet to understand how the sociopolitical changes above will affect education, but as educators, it is our role to make sense of the change, to shape it, to give it meaning. It is for us to make the best contribution we can to the education of the future generations of Nepalis. We certainly cannot continue to do whatever we have been doing; we can and must invite others, ignite ideas, and involve ourselves in conversations about change, about where and what and how we can be most productive and professional in the new contexts.

At Choutari, we plan to produce new issues on special themes and issues. While we are likely to publish on longer time intervals than before (most likely quarterly instead of monthly), we will remain the open space run by independent volunteers, continuing a tradition and adding a necessary dimension to professional conversation.

Here we reflect on the past, present, and future of our work. We would like to invite you to consider joining us and contributing as directly as you can. If you can spare the time and have new ideas, please contact us; this could be your means of impacting the professional lives of English language teachers across the country (and also across the world). We have thrived on the power of volunteerism, volunteers with knowledge and experience, passion and energy, technological skills, and a desire for collaboration and networking. If you have any of these to contribute to the community, or have questions before you join, please do not hesitate to send them at eltchoutari at gmail.com.

Thanking you again for your continued readership and your support, and wishing you a great year ahead again.

In this anniversary issue, Prem Phyak, a PhD scholar in University of Hawaii, dedicates a blog post to the legacy of a famous applied linguist, Professor Alan Davies. In the context of sad demise (in September 2015) of Professor Alan Davies, the author shares some of his major contributions in relation to teaching, discourse, ELT policy and Applied Linguistics in Nepal. In the second post, Tikaram Poudel, assistant professor in Kathmandu University, examines the texts relevant to influence of English on Nepalese society and provides a fresh perspective for looking at the socio-educational issues of Nepal in relation to English language in education.

In the third post, Shyam Sharma, assistant Professor in Stony Brook University, New York, appreciates and analyses the benefits of multilingualism in relation to Nepal’s multilingual context and education. In another post, Uttam Gaulee, a PhD scholar in University of Florida, recalls the days of his principalship in an English-medium school in Nepal, and provides the perspective on harsh socio-economic inequality and division created by public and private (English-medium) education.

Likewise, in another post, Doreen Richmond, a teacher educator in the USA, who did writing lessons in some classrooms and training sessions in rural parts of Nepal, shares her experience of teaching writing as a process to younger and older students. In another blog post, Hem Raj Kafle, assistant Professor in Kathmandu University writes on his PhD experiences, a thoughtful memoir of his six years engagement in Kathmandu University. In this blog post, Dr. Kafle provides deep thoughts on the process of pursuing PhD and the product of it.

Here is the list of posts in this issue:

Prem Phyak: Local Contributions of a Global Applied Linguist: A Tribute to Professor Alan Davies
Tikaram Poudel: English in Nepal: From Colonial Legacy to Professionalism
Shyam Sharma: The Beauty and Power of Multilingualism
Uttam Gaulee: Boarding the Illusory Train
Doreen Richmond: Writing about Writing
Hem Raj Kafle: Post-PhD Ramblings: What is There to Remember?

On behalf of ELT Choutari Team, I would like to express my sincere acknowledgement to former team members, contributors, and readers for continuing this professional legacy of local and global ELT discourse. Hope you will enjoy the readings. We will be grateful if you could share your thoughts and comments on the blog posts and also share them with your networks.

Ashok Raj Khati
Coordinator
Anniversary Issue

English in Nepal: From colonial legacy to professionalism

January 1, 2016Teacher's Experience/anecdotesadmin

Nepal has never been a colony of another country, so its people here have not been imposed English in any way, as the case was in neighboring India during the British rule. However, English has strong influence on Nepalese elites (Kerr, 1999) ever since the British had contact with Nepalese people in the second half of the 18^th century. This post examines the texts relevant to influence of English on Nepalese society within the theoretical framework of POWER theory described by Guha (1997). It intends to provide a fresh perspective for looking at the socio-educational issues of Nepal in relation to English language in education.

Power theory

Guha (1997, p. 20) argues that power is a relational notion. For power to work in a society, there needs to be a dominant group and a subordinate one. The dominant group can exercise its power either by coercion or by persuasion. The subordinate group either resists or collaborates with the dominant group. If the sub-ordinate group resists, it takes the power or gets isolated. If it collaborates, it gets integrated with the dominant group.

In the case of English, power exercises dominance through persuasion and it does so in a variety of ways, such as by developing a favorable consciousness, legitimizing as right and just, and creating dominance through consent.

English in Nepal

In Nepal, the influence of English can be seen as having three historical eras: Era of colonial influence from 1767 -1850, Era of English education expansion from 1851-1990, and Era of English professionalism from 1990 to present. We can observe the different kinds of power that the English language has exerted in Nepal by analyzing its roles in different historical conditions, focusing on what the rulers tried to achieve by adopting and using English in education and society.

The era of colonial influence

English first entered into Nepal through the contact (both conflict and alliances) with the British people who colonized India. Nepal’s rulers quickly understood that they could educate their own children to create a special privilege and perhaps use the language to ensure their continued rule into the distant future. When Prithvi Narayan Shah, the king of Gorkha, attacked the Valley of Kathmandu in 1767, King Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu asked the East India Company to support him to resist the aggression of Prithvi Narayan Saha. Responding to Jaya Prakash Malla, Captain Kinloch with a British troop (Levi, 1952) arrived in Kathmandu. That was the first contact of English-speaking people with Nepalese elites. When Nepalese army was defeated in Tibet in 1792, the Nepali king appealed the British in India to mediate with Chinese. Then, Kirkpatrick arrived in Kathmandu as special British envoy to Nepal (Bell 2014).Kirkpatrick’s arrival and his mediation started influencing Nepali politics. The East India Company signed a treaty with Nepali king Rana Bahadur Shah in 1801. This treaty allowed the British to have a permanent residence in Kathmandu. In 1802, Captain Knox took the office as a first British resident in Kathmandu (Bell 2014). The establishment of British residence in Kathmandu influenced the rulers of Kathmandu. The British residence also opened the way to western scholars, particularly British, to study the people of Nepal, which was not known to the west before.Some remarkable studies on this subject are Kirkpatrick(1811), Hodgson (1880) and Hamilton(1891).

After the Kot Massacre in 1846, Janga Bahadur Rana seized the power and became Prime-minister subjugating the power of king. Rana understood the power of British and maintained cordial relations with the southern power. He signed an agreement with the British in India. After the agreement, Nepali youths were recruited in British army to fight for the British Empire. He supplied soldiers to British Empire. These youths had formal education in English for eight years (Kerr 1999).In return he got many medals and a trip to London. (Levi, 1952). Back to Nepal, Rana established a school to educate the children of Ranas in English in 1853/54 (L.Stiller, 1993).He brought teachers both from England and Bengal. Hence, the first school of Nepal was an English medium school (Levi, 1952).The Ranas established school to impart western system of education in English because they felt access to English education would secure their elite position by providing their offspring with access to knowledge of English language and Western ways (Vir, 1988).They believed they could maintain the status quo and strengthen their own power base (Vir, 1988) in the future.

The era of English education expansion

When the Nepalese soldiers in British Army returned home, they were exposed to the life outside their national borders. This exposure made them aware of the power of western education, inspiring them to adopt it for their own families. Vir (1988) argues three factors contributed to this expansion. 1. After the twenty years service in the British Army, many of these soldiers tutored the youths of their villages. 2. The British Residents in Kathmandu Valley influenced the rulers and elite groups in Nepal. 3. The establishment of Durbar School in 1853/4 was a shift to modern system of education from traditional one. This school with its British and Indian teachers had impacts on the elite class of Nepal. Consequently, this class began to question the traditional values of society and began to accept western way of thoughts.

Gradually, this class constituted a power structure of Nepalese society and became the model for subsequent generations. After the Revolution of 1951, when Nepal had to modernize and formalize its education system, the planners of Nepalese governments based their recommendations on this model (Wood, 1977, p. 155).The Ranas preferred English education for their children because it enabled them to maintain their superiority. However, Chandra Shamsher modified the educational system as the British in India made basic education mandatory for the recruitment in British army 1912.In 1918, Tri-Chandra College was established to keep Nepali youth in the country and control exposure to superior Western ideas and technology (Vir, 1988). In this sense the establishment of Tri-Chandra College was to resist the western influence (Kerr, 1999).Tri-Chandra college was affiliated to Patna University, India

Consequently, Nepalese higher education was heavily influenced by Indian system of British India because the syllabus was directly borrowed from India and same assessment system was implemented.

As in course of time, higher education was expanded, more teachers educated in Indian universities were hired. This situation created a kind of feeling among the people that to be educated means to be fluent in English, the knowledge of vernacular languages was considered inferior to English and English was taken as a superior formal school education (Wood, 1977). This craze for English led to the popularity of English medium schools run by private sectors. This preference to English was because of the pro-British sentiment in post Rana-era (Shrestha 1993 as cited in Kerr 1998). However, Bista (1991) argues English was preferred because competence in English was seen as the passport to administrative positions in government. Pro-British sentiment was so strong that the removal of English from school curriculum (The All-round National Education Committee 1961-62) was criticized. By the early 1960s, English was able to influence the common middle class, beyond the elite as earlier (Wood, 1977).

All the factors mentioned by Crystal (1997) were at work for the hegemonic supremacy of English in Nepalese society. Crystal’s (1997) factors arehistorical tradition, political expediency, and the desire for commercial, cultural or technological contact when the public schools, which were modeled on the basis of schools in British India, did not meet the growing demand of English education. Kerr (1998) argues the model of a single system of vernacular schools did not meet the desired standard and quality of education of Nepali elite and as a result a separate system of private English medium schools developed. The massive proliferation of English through private English medium schools is the evidence of the strength of British influence in Nepal between1950 and 1970.

When Tribhuvan University was established in 1959, the notice of Nepal Gazette said, Nepali would replace English by 1974 as the medium of instruction in University (Malla, 1977).However, the importance of English in higher education is increasing and Nepali or any other languages of Nepal do not seem to dislodge English from Nepali academia.

The era of English professionalism

There are several factors that led to English professionalism. Malla (1977) mentions the following factors led to English professionalism in Nepal: the acquisition and transmission of scientific and technological knowledge, international communication, the acquisition of ideas and values necessary for accelerating the modernization process, reference language, library language and regional lingua franca. The Central Department of English (CDE) at Tribhuvan University played an important role for English professionalism. Policies of CDE, to a great extent, determines English professionalism in Nepal even today which are, in many respects, influenced by the experts e.g., the visit of Allan Davies in 1969 and Hugh D. Purcell in 1971. In most of the cases, these experts were made available by British Council and American Embassy. Hence, their service was in line with the ideology of these organizations. The course of English professionalism is also determined by the scholars who studied in the US or the UK under different scholarships. More recently, professional organizations like Nepal English Language Teachers Association (NELTA) and Linguistic Society of Nepal (LSN) have created similarly far-reaching influences on the English professionalism in Nepal.

Conclusion

In the history of English in Nepal, in the early stage, English was the source of power for the rulers. The Nepali elites collaborated with the British to gain power, and English was more symbolic than a real vehicle of power. In course of time, as the elite became powerful, it also adopted the western ideology through western education, hoping to maintain its power structure. In the next stage, the expansion of English education alongside technological advancement and globalization created a class, which could use English and western education in order to compete with the superiority of the elites. In fact, this new class eventually overthrew the earlier elites and continued to build on the power of English. So, the language and education of the west have been relatively politically neutral as far as direct outside influence are concerned. External forces have certainly played a role but the power of English—especially in more modern times—lies largely in the internal power structure that uses it for creating and advancing its advantages. As a whole, the role of English in Nepalese society is certainly in line with the universal hegemonic supremacy of English identified by Crystal (1997): historical tradition, political expediency, and the desire for commercial, cultural or technological contact. But the biggest role is played by those who can use English to support their political domination, to create a better education for themselves, and to take cream out of professional opportunities.

The author: Dr. Poudel is an assistant professor at school of education, Kathmandu University Nepal. (trpoudels@yahoo.com)

References

Bista, D. B. (1991). Fatalism amd development: Nepal’s struggle for modernization. Hydrabad: Orient Longman.

Crystal, D. (1997). English as a global langauge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Guha, R. (1997). Dominance without hegemony: History and power in colonial India. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Hamilton, F. B. (1891). An account of the kingdom of Nepal.

Hodgson, B. H. (1880). Miscellaneous essays relating to Indian subjects. London: Truebner & Co.

Kerr, R. (1999). Planning and Practice: Factors impacting on the development of initial education in Nepal, with special reference to English language teaching, 1950-1995. Doctoral dissertation, Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne.

Kirkpatrick, W. (1811). Account of the kingdom of Nepal. London: William Miller.

L.Stiller. (1993). Nepal: Growth of a Nation. Kathmandu: Human Resource Development (HRD) Research Center.

Levi, W. (1952, December 17). Government and politics in Nepal: I. Far Eastern Survey , 185-191.

Malla, K. P. (1977). English language teaching Tribhuvan University. Vasudha, 16 (1).

Vir, D. (1988). Education and polity in Nepal: An Asian experiment. New Delhi: Northern Book Center.

Wood, H. B. (1977). Agents of education and development in Nepal. In C. J. Calhoun, & F. A. Ianni (Eds.), The anthropological study of education. London: Walter de Gruyter.

Boarding the Illusory Train

January 1, 2016Teacher's Experience/anecdoteseducation for all, Nepal, private, public, solutionUttam Gaulee

When I had a brief stint as principal of a private school in Nepal circa 2008-2009, I had to deal with two frustrating parents representing two contrasting groups that created financial hardship for the school to run. One group represented the canny and the other naive. Mr. Chatur (pseudonym) represented the canny group, the smart well-to-do parents who didn’t pay fees and Ms. Saralmati (pseudonym) represented the naïve, poor parents.

Mr. Chatur was a businessman. He ran a retail-cum-wholesale store not too far from the school. He sold school supplies including uniform, shoes, belts, etc. to our students. Being one of the parents and due to proximity to school, he had an advantage to win business from the school community. We also recommended his store for parents to buy uniforms for consistency of color shades, etc. My problem with this otherwise fine gentleman was that he never paid the tuition for his sons. Clever as he was, he took advantage of an existing provision of a flawed school policy of tuition waiver for the top-performing students. Both of his sons topped the class every year and Mr. Chatur claimed the waiver for them. It would not be wise to do away with this merit benefit because all other schools also adopted it. My disappointment with this businessman grew when I heard that he hired a personal teacher to teach his two sons. Business minded as he was, in the wrong way, I would add, he figured out that hiring a personal teacher for a couple of hours a day was in fact more cost-effective for him than paying full tuition for his two children. This way, he was saving tuition money. Obviously, he was rich enough to pay the full tuition for his kids. Irony.

One day, I talked to him and asked him to consider donating something to the school after congratulating him for both of his sons’ excellent academic performance. I indicated to him that we needed some lab equipment for school. He said okay for many times, but he never donated anything. Finally, after months of my requests, he showed up with a cheap plastic wall-clock. His annoying business-sense was visible in the advertisement of his business printed within the dial of the clock that he wanted us to hang on the school’s most prominent wall. I was sad but I laughed at my own success as a fundraiser.

Ms. Saralmati represented the naive group. She was the guardian to her grandson Raju (pseudonym). Her son worked in a Gulf country and her daughter-in-law (Raju’s mother) had married a different man so Raju was technically an orphan under the elderly woman’s care. Ms. Saralmati had no money, and Raju was an average student. At one point, his tuition had not been paid for 18 months. The number of parents not paying their kids’ tuition was significant and was steadily increasing. They would just send their children to the English Medium School because this was in itself prestigious in the community. This prestige issue coupled with the demonstration effect of a conservative society was so deep that it defied rationality in terms of the parents’ ability to pay. Such parents were a great problem because due to their delinquency in paying fees, teachers often had to wait for months to receive their already meager salary, the only reward of their hard work. As school principal, my desire was to recommend raise for teachers’ salary.

At one point, teachers decided to prevent students with fees due from sitting for the final exam, a decision that I came to learn after I took the position of the Principal. Notices had been sent to parents in advance stipulating that any students with tuition due would not be allowed into the examination hall. When the examination day arrived, a number of parents led by Ms. Saralmati, along with their respective kids, lined up to my office door. When I reached school, Ms. Saralmati caught me at the feet and started begging and imploring that her grandson be let into the exam hall. “Please, Sir! Don’t end my grandson’s education today. My son is in the Gulf. He will send money one day and I will pay you! I have nothing to offer right now!” I was moved and torn apart from the story of her financial hardship, which was real. But if I let her child in, I would lose the trust of the teachers. I called these parents into my office to talk.

My conversation with the parents

I knew that the conflict was hitting both sides so I tried to direct it towards a productive end. I explained to Ms. Saralmati and those parents that I was bound by the rules of the school and the trust of the teachers and so was not able to allow their children to the examination hall that day. But I assured them that I could arrange to have a separate examination the following week so that their kids’ education is not jeopardized. As they felt better, I asked them one by one what happened and why they were not able to pay tuition for their kids. Each of them had a unique story of financial hardship but the interestingly resounding promise was that they would pay later somehow. Their record of long delays has a more serious story behind. They were financially unable to pay the tuition in the reasonable future.

“Why don’t you consider sending your kids to public school?” I asked the blunt question in as polite a way as I could be while pretending as if I was just curious. Everyone went silent. I knew it was a hard question. But since Ms. Saralmati had already been vocal, she disclosed the reason.

“Sir, we know that the public school is free but as everyone says, the free education has no value in it.”

“But it is not free in that way,” I tried to explain. “It is free for you because the expenses of the school are paid for by the government.”

“Oh really? So does it actually have value then? Would my naati get a job by going to iskul [public school]” Ms. Saralmati asked, while other parents listened heartily. All nonplussed.

“Yes, it does. I was educated in a iskul myself!” I explained.

“But there were no Boardings [English medium schools] when you went to iskul, were there?” asked a cynical parent.

“That’s right, but there are still good reasons to send your children to the public school. First of all, your kids will feel better and more confident in public schools because they will know that they don’t owe money to school. Secondly, as I explained to you, the government is spending a lot of money on public schools. Thirdly, they also teach English once a day!”

I showed them the calculation how we spent Rs. 11,255 per student from what we get from the parents while the government spent Rs. 13,359 [estimated]. They started looking at each other when I put my principal hat back on and reminded them not to forget to pay the tuition dues.

Looking Forward I offer this story to the intellectual community asking all of us to think what this says about our education and society. How does this relate to ELT and what should language teachers take away from it? Benefits of multilingualism and the mythology of English medium’s equivalency to quality education has been discussed before in Choutari.

This is one of the consequences of that mythology, a consequence that impacts parents severely, that destroys private schools (which tend to be seen more as villains than as victims), and demoralizes students across the country. Also, when I reflect on my own brief tenure of principalship, I now understand what made me so uncomfortable that I quit the job in less than six months. The system in place was and is still, aggravating socio-economic inequality and injustice. I will write in next blog what I think could potentially solve a principal’s plight of having to hate Mr. Chaturs and avoid poor grandmas. Until then, please let me know what you think.

The author: Uttam Gaulee is a doctoral candidate at the institute of higher education, University of Florida in the USA.

Writing about Writing

January 1, 2016Reflections, Teacher's Experience/anecdotes, Teaching Tips, Writingadmin

945898_1202990733047887_8117992688148518405_n — ***Doreen Richmond***

During my recent visit and involvement with teacher training programs throughout some rural parts of Nepal, I did a lesson on writing, both in schools and during training sessions. Writing about Writing illustrates the process I go through when I teach writing. In this article, I have tried to outline the steps I take while teaching writing for both younger developing writers and older more experienced emergent writers.

When I teach writing, I teach it as a process because that is the way that I view it. Writing involves planning, writing a draft, editing and revising and publishing. It takes practice to develop your skills as a writer; it just doesn’t happen overnight.

To begin with, when I work with students, I do several things that vary only with the age and skills that my students have. First, I activate prior knowledge by having students brainstorm the different ways that they use writing. Younger students generally talk about the notes they write their moms or the handwriting practice they do while older students talk about lists, taking notes, writing letters or now-a-days, texts, and writing stories. Activating prior knowledge is important because students need to become aware that we use writing in many ways and for many different purposes.

After brainstorming about how we use writing, I model my own writing so that my students see me as a writer. For example, if I am asking students to write about themselves then I share with them the process that I go through when I am writing about me. It is important that students watch the process of writing so that they know that this is a process that all writers go through. Again, this process is planning, draft writing, editing and revising, and then publishing.

Let’s say that it is the beginning of the school year, and I am asking my students to write about themselves. If I am working with younger students or developing writers, I will first model a picture plan by drawing a picture of myself, my family, my house and a few other interesting details. Then I would orally go through my picture and describe it while at the same time labeling key pictures, (myself, my husband, my dog, cat, house, ect.)

By orally describing my picture and labeling, I am showing my students the picture/word association and also giving them some ideas about how they can do their own picture plan. I would also include some discussion with my students about their own families, who is in it, where they live, what they like to do, ect. Before letting students go off and do their plans, again, giving some guidance for their plans. Then I would set them free to draw their picture plans about themselves, their families, where they live, the things they like, and any other details that they might like to add. Picture plans work well for kindergarteners, first graders, and other developing writers.

Older students generally have more language and can use a different type of plan. Generally, for older students I use a circle map, which is a type of thinking map; thinkingmaps.org. A circle map has a frame around it that guides the writer’s ideas. The frame is usually divided into four sections which can vary dependent on the topic you are writing about. A beginning piece about themselves might be framed with things like: Facts: name, age, family members, where I live; Things I like; My Favorites; and My Goals or things I’d like to get better at this year. Using a plan like this allows students to jot down their ideas before they begin writing. Students then list the answers for these questions or topics in the different areas of the circle. I try to remind them not to write out complete sentences in their circles because this is just a plan and that draft writing is when they put their ideas into complete sentences. Just as I did with younger students, I model my own plan and go over it with them and then show the students how I moved from my plan to my piece of writing. For this assignment, I give the direction that they are to write at least one paragraph about themselves using information from their plans.

As students finish their plans, my job as a teacher would be to go around and have them describe their picture plan to me so that I could help them label it. I would encourage students to label what they could beforehand and share their plan with their neighbor, but I would try to get around to all the students to help them label and add any extra details. Planning might take a whole class for some students but for others, it might be quick and they might be able to continue on to the next step- draft writing. My directions for younger students might vary dependent on the age and development of their skills as a writer but usually I would give a direction for students to write 1-3 sentences about their picture. My goals for younger students are to get them to write so I accept invented spelling and look to see that they are generating some sentences that give me information about their picture.

Conferencing with students, I might point out spacing issues, handwriting difficulties, but primarily I am focusing on their ideas. “Wow, I see you wrote that you like to play with your dog. What is your dog’s name? Can we add that to your sentence? Good job.” I like to think of a “Star and a Wish” when I am giving feedback. Writing takes practice and it is important to praise what a student is doing well rather than focusing on the things they need to correct. If I see many students having the same errors or difficulties, then I use that as a teaching point and do a mini lesson the following day about whatever the issue was, or I say, “Today I am going to be looking for good spacing between your words as you write” to draw their attention to something I noticed was an issue previously. If my students need more support to generate their ideas then I will use some patterned sentence starters to help them. For example, I might put on the board the following pattern: My name is ____. I live with _____. I like to_____. I might also have a mind map that I’ve done previously with students to list things they like to do; again, the idea being that they have a list of words already generated that they can use for their own labeling or to add additional information to their sentences.

When I model my paragraph, I point out that I didn’t use all my details to make my paragraph, but if I wanted to use all the information then I share with them how I could write a multi-paragraph piece of writing that included all the information from the plan. I show students both models of writing, (one paragraph and multi-paragraph) and then provide them with models of patterned sentences/paragraphs that they can use for either writing one paragraph or multi-paragraphs. These are written out on charts and hung on the wall, or they are written on sentence strips and put in a pocket chart for students to see. I also talk about topic sentences, (main idea sentences) that begin a paragraph and let the reader know what my writing is about. Then I talk about closing sentences that end my paragraph by summing things up or by adding an emotion to it. I add this in the form of a sentence starter and label it with either topic sentence or closing sentence. We also spend some time brainstorming aloud some other ideas for topic sentences and closing sentences and if needed, this is organized as a mind map for students to see and choose from.

Now, my students are ready to begin the process of writing at least one paragraph about themselves. First, they plan and I go around and comment on their details and ask a few open-ended questions where necessary to encourage them to add to their ideas. I also might make my own connections to their ideas to reinforce to them that I’m interested in them. For example, one student writes that purple is her favorite color, and I say, “Oh, purple is my favorite color too; how cool is that!” As the purpose of this writing activity is to help me get to know my students, it’s important to connect with them about common or shared interests when and where I can.

After students finish their plans, they can begin their draft writing and can use either the patterned sentences model for one paragraph or the multi-paragraph model to help them write, if needed. Again, I rove and comment here and there on something they’ve written, but I don’t use this time to correct, unless a student is asking me something specific. When their drafts are done, then I set up a writing conference with them, and that is the time to point out some things that might need fixing up or to emphasis some details that might be needed to strengthen their writing. I still use the idea of a star and a wish to guide my conferencing, and I don’t overcorrect. By pointing out something that they are doing well with their writing before adding a constructive point for them to think about, I help my students recognize their strengths in their own writing while also encouraging them to look more critically at how they can strengthen their writing. I also try to get students to read back over their writing first before coming to me or to share their writing with a neighbor or a friend first. I want to be able to help them self edit and do revisions on their own. I also look for common errors and use them as a teaching point for a mini lesson the following day.

If I have students who are more proficient with their writing skills, then I use my conferencing time to extend their writing. Some things I might do are to to ask them to select at least two sentences to revise by adding more details using adjectives, adverbs, or other figurative language such as metaphors or similes. I might also ask students to select a few sentences and add more details by adding the word, “because” to let their readers know why they like something or like to do something. Combining ideas and varying their sentence structures so that they start their sentences in different ways to improve the fluency of their writing might also be something to conference about. How I use my conferencing time with students is dependent on their skills and needs. As with writing, everyone is different; however, taking the time to conference with students isn’t. It is an important part of the process. It takes time, but it is important for students to get that one on one time with you to look more critically at their own writing.

When conferencing is done, students go back and revise their writing to produce a final draft, which is their published piece. Whenever possible, I encourage them to word process this or to hand write it neatly and if time, to add an illustration to it. We share our published pieces with the rest of the class, so students know that their work is valued and then it is posted in our Writer’s Corner for others to see. Celebrating their work helps students see that writing is important and something to be proud of. A saying I like is, “Writing is Power.” If you can write well, you can do anything.

Teaching writing is something I’ve done for many younger and older students. While the topics and content may vary, the process for teaching writing is generally the same. Planning, developing their ideas, drafting, and then revising and editing before publishing are steps that all writers take with their own writing. By modeling and providing structure and guidance, students of all ages learn how to develop their own skills as writers. They also learn to appreciate that writing is a process and an important one.

The Author: Doreen Richmond has taught at all grade levels in the USA. She was a Special Education teacher for many years and currently teaches Reading and Writing in the Transitional Learning Department at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, Washington. Recently, she has been involved in a teacher training program in Solukhumbu, coordinated by REED Nepal.

Post-PhD Ramblings: What Is There to Remember?

January 1, 2016Creative Writing, Oral History Project, Professional Development, Reflections, Teacher's Experience/anecdotesadmin

I was a bit concerned when my friend Shyam advised me to write about my PhD experiences for this month’s Choutari. Would it be worth a read? But, then, I remembered reading Philip Guo’s PhD Grind with my exhausted, empty mind post-defense. This little book, an account of a computer scientist’s six-year engagement in Stanford University PhD, had nearly inspired a memoir of my own six years in Kathmandu University.

I remember reading a line from the acknowledgements page of a graduate thesis written for an American university. The author, with a visible sigh of relief, writes something like this: I thank my wife [Name] for not eloping with someone while I remained either engrossed in the writing or absent for library or field work. This is perhaps an ‘extreme’ feeling for a culture like ours, where you do not need to fear polygamy or elopement to result from such a pious mission as the PhD. But how you miss the family joy, and remain apprehensive of having become a nuisance to your own dear ones!

I began one of my post-PhD talks with this quote I happened to read on Facebook, “Long time ago, people who sacrificed their sleep, family, food, laughter and other joys of life were called saints. Now they are called PhD students.” Someone asked me right away how I had grown through that supposed phase of sainthood. I said I had come out of a very ungenerous conviction that my own family was the biggest hurdle to my growth and that I sometimes felt like dumping everything away and starting the life of an ascetic. This is another extreme feeling one could ever speak to an eager audience.

Yet, I do not aim to present a very personal experience, which might rather take the form of a grumble than a celebration of success. This is the real danger of post-defense rambling. I would rather love to foreground the aspect of learning and personal growth. People think PhD must have made me wiser. I have no desire to deny this. I take this opportunity to share what I consider worth sharing from my six-year engagement.

PhD is an adventure marked with meeting many people – interested, disinterested, uninterested – and talking about your research. It is an anxious journey from the known to the unknown and back to the known. In such a process, I travelled to India five times. I presented papers at four international conferences. A couple of these travels were planned for meeting with Prof. Raman, my Supervisor from BITS-Pilani Goa. I travelled alone, with friends, with my better-half. Each travel involved some confusion, some excitement, some irritation, but gave enough impetus for further work.

I spoke to international audiences half a dozen times, a different work and perspective in each presentation while rhetorical theories, Nepalese history and newspaper editorials featured in each discussion. Inside Nepal, I would explore possibility of integrating rhetoric in English teaching and present in NELTA conferences, and grasp any aspect of editorial discourse and present in the conferences of Literary Association of Nepal. In the process, I collected dozens of books in Nepali. I would in fact pick up anything from Kathmandu streets if it spoke of media, movement, contemporary politics, and any stuff from the internet that had a key ‘editorial’, ‘rhetoric’ or ‘fantasy theme criticism.’

In the university, I taught English and communication skills integrating elements of classical rhetoric wherever possible. I made and taught syllabi for the courses in media studies and communication ensuring the inclusion of some useful aspects of rhetoric and discourse. I encouraged undergraduates to take up projects in rhetorical studies, and got about a dozen reports produced on representational themes.

I spent hours downloading YouTube video lectures on communication, rhetoric, discourse, and critical discourse analysis. I spent hours on Facebook gossiping with friends about my progress, crafting statuses and posting notes. I ran at least five blogs, writing, editing and publishing diverse contents. I wrote poems, essays, memoirs and newspaper articles. When I look back at the bulk of the dissertation, its accompanying raw materials, the blog entries and the collection of poems and essays in English and Nepali, I feel that the six years with PhD were my life’s most creative period.

PhD is a phase that comes to your life only when you choose to bring it because you must. Once it comes and you enter a process, it shakes your life to the core. What you have to learn and practice does not necessarily come from your earlier learning, nor from your regular work. Circumstances teach you how to put aside all the previous pomp and baggage. I name this a compulsion of “ruthless submission of adult arrogance to childish ignorance.”

PhD makes you develop a passion for listening and making others listen. My own main temptation was to talk if someone was there to put up with me. Dr. Adhikari, my supervisor from Nepal, would spend hours with me listening and talking things. Each time after I parted from him, I felt reinvigorated. A lot of new ideas would surge up and I would ramble a dozen pages forward no matter whether they made it to the dissertation or not. Then I would talk with my wife about my current epiphanies and progresses. I would explain to anyone my project if they showed a little curiosity to know how I was faring.

There is greater pressure in the share of a scholar in English. You have the burden of the virtue of not committing grammatical and stylistic errors. Most often, you are others’ guru and friend so far as teaching these vital aspects of dissertation is considered your own pious, universal responsibility. You are your own guru and enemy. You know how to tutor yourself, and at the same time keep on accumulating pressure in the name of ensuring quality.

I would take to my undergraduate and graduate classes any theory, method, tips on writing or speaking. That’s how the concept would matter to others and get registered and matured as valuable knowledge for myself. I must have scribbled the largest number of junks during the formative years. The junks were the most original things about my learning and experiences. They still look dearer than the 351-page ‘final’ dissertation.

PhD gave me many good things, especially the readings that were useful to life if not to the dissertation and degree. The materials wait to be revisited, helped to mature and brought to their actual discourse community. They continue to claim to have been the degree’s legitimate offspring.

I understand that the product of PhD (dissertation/thesis) is specific for a small discourse community. Not many people will and have to understand the work. Parts of it may come to a wider network of readers only if the writer opts to work beyond the degree either into a book or a journal article if only he or she is in or joins a university teaching position.

Once your work is brought to the public, every literate person appears to believe and may sometimes brag that they could have done as good or even better if they had thought about doing what you have done. But you are the only person who did it. The work is unique. And you are your own reader. Your supervisor has read it, plus a few people in the evaluation committee. Except for five or six persons, the product may have only a very small audience in the future. I am sure not more than half a dozen people have read my thesis. I only hope some people will read part of it if they happen to work on an identical topic. Else, as far as the saying of many goes, it will remain proudly at a corner accumulating dust – for ages.

What do you find out, or develop out of half-a-dozen years’ straining? Perhaps, you create knowledge, or a perspective. Or you have uttered a popular idea in a more interesting and philosophical way. Someone else can give equal scholarly hue and worth to similar task later. But for the moment yours has got qualified, it is the only work on earth that can claim novelty if it is novel.

Nevertheless, the dissertation is not out to change the world, neither the degree it brings, but you are. You are at least expected to initiate some kind of change.

The people from your scholarly network may read you and try to make a difference. You have not closed the lid for new perspectives. You cannot do so. You only transfer one perspective to your community and hint at new avenues of reflection. If one PhD ended all possibilities, we would have been mugging up stale thoughts and moth-eaten books and none would ever think of sweating for three to six years.

The hard-bound black book is only a signifier that a section of the work in continuum has taken a tangible shape. Every dissertation is in the making. It is just a beginning. A ‘finalized’ work has several other works ingrained in it. Only some curious and profoundly informed scholar can interpret the text and nourish its discursive embryo into one or more useful births later. The continuum exists. A scholar in discourse lives in this continuum.

The author: Dr. Kafle is an assistant professor and coordinator at humanities and management unit, school of engineering, Kathmandu University Nepal.

EMI in Nepal: A Passport to a Competitive World or a Commodity to Sell? A Case Study

August 9, 2015Teacher's Experience/anecdotesAshok Raj Khati

I have observed that many public schools are adopting English as medium of instruction (EMI) in Nepal for a decade. During my last visit to Solukhumbu in June, some school principals stated, with a great enthusiasm, that they are gradually replacing Nepali with English as the medium of instruction up to secondary level. Even though there is lack of research and case of studies to find whether such a shift is a boon or bane. It is already a disputed issue at both global and local educational discourses and policies. Based on my own experience, observation and theoretical knowledge, I, in this blog post, make attempts to analyze the EMI situation in Nepal with reference to some questions attached to it. I also suggest that a transitional model of language education is appropriate for multilingual country like Nepal.

Shifting into EMI

I have visited several EMI classrooms, particularly three under-resourced schools in my working areas for three times this year (2014/2015). What I found is, the primary motives of shifting into EMI are increasing students’ participation, enhancing quality of education and improving performance of the schools.

Many public school authorities are basically shifting their medium of instruction to English from Nepali in order to attract the large number of students who are now attracted to private English medium schools.

One of the school principals, Mr. Prabhu Ram Basnet, from Solukhumbu articulates his views this way:

English is a global language, and it functions as an international lingua franca. EMI helps students connect countryside with a global world and offers them boundless opportunities. In addition, it is the language of global business and technology. If I had not implemented EMI in my school, many children would have joined private schools. Still, we are not able to increase the number of students at primary level. The government has already cut off the teachers’ quotas for primary section due to less number of students. EMI is producing better results to increase enrollment in my school.

Public schools are also adopting EMI so that they can acquire more quotas for new teachers from the government. More strikingly, teachers take for granted that teaching in English helps students find job and participate in global community. They also believe that students’ progress in the English language contributes to more access to information and knowledge.

Likewise, parents also consider EMI as a gateway to join a global academic and economic community. They think that English creates better academic and economic opportunities.

A guardian from the same area puts his views this way:

English is obligatory in this competitive world. I want my children to learn English so that they could receive better academic offers at national and international arenas. Ultimately, it leads to a quality to life. Therefore, EMI in school is a right approach now.

From the cases above, we can understand that both the teachers and guardians mean EMI leads to quality education. Whereas, there have been a lot of critiques regarding whether English when adopted as medium of instruction in the school contributes to quality education.

In the schools with EMI, teachers have to depend on the textbooks prescribed by the government alone. Sadly, there is not any support and teaching resources that can help the teachers to effectively conduct their classes in English medium. Very few teachers find EMI classroom pleasant and exciting in several content related subjects. Such teachers are either are from English language teaching background or novice ones. They love speaking English in the classroom most of the time. They also invest more efforts to learn new words and phrases in English. On the other hand, most teachers who have been teaching in Nepali medium of instruction for decades in the past find EMI very challenging. They feel their schools adopting EMI has posed a burden in their profession. This tendency might hinder teaching learning activities. In this regard, a teacher from Southern part of Solukhumbu, asserts as below:

I am not confident enough to teach in English. I’ve been teaching in Nepali since last two decades. Now I am supposed to teach in English. Teaching in English is very challenging for me. I cannot update myself at the old age. Neither are we provided any intensive training that can support and facilitate the EMI.

Another observation, use of translation method that has once abandoned by English teachers with school level English textbooks written using communicative methods has a comeback with the schools adopting EMI. School teachers are largely translating English texts into Nepali language during classroom teaching. While in others, teachers only use English. Here the paradox is, students can easily comprehend the contents delivered by the teachers using translation methods but they cannot when the contents delivered by the teachers in English. During the interaction with teachers, they have revealed that they have not made any assessment to find whether the students comprehend their teaching in English. If the students fail to understand, the teachers are yet to come up with a proper strategies to help the students in case of failure. All the teachers do not possess required proficiency level in English. And they do not bother about learning English either. They argue that they give emphasis on content, not language while teaching subjects like mathematics, science and social studies.

Yet another revealing part of my observation, students are less involved in pair and group works. Neither are they found engaged in any types of project work as it is a must for learner centered approach. Generally, teachers introduce the lesson, talk to the students, explain the teaching items, translate them and provide little notes on the board. However, students’ progress in building English vocabulary is a noticeable phenomenon through EMI. They generally seem to enjoy the lessons in all subjects with EMI in the beginning even if they can hardly read and write about social studies and science lessons. Their enjoyment is finally detected during the assessment. It is evident from the cases of students who do not understand test items in English. When inquired, a student states as follows:

Sir (teacher) translates questions in Nepali, so it is very easy for us to answer in the classroom. But I found difficult to understand some questions during the examination when teachers did not translate them in Nepali.

But some schools have been implementing CAS (Continuous Assessment System) to assess overall progress of students. A teacher from Solukhumbu put her views in positive light as follow:

We have challenges in terms of proficiency level of English to implement EMI. Further, students from Rai and Tamang linguistic backgrounds find it hard to learn all subjects in English in the beginning. However, we assess students incorporating the parameters from CAS, such as students’ attendance, participation in classroom activities, behavioural changes, project work and so on. We discouraged paper pencil based test at early grades for two years. So I did not find a lot of problems to assess students.

The impact of EMI on learning

The brief background of EMI setting might not capture all other contexts, but it certainly sets a scenario of EMI implementation and its impact on broader educational practices in Nepal. Parents and children have been influenced by the global academic and career offers, advancement of technology and access of information. They firmly believe that English opens the door to build a global networks, ties and relations. EMI has brought significant progress of students in English language being exposed to it and expressing the ideas in reading and writing in several academic subjects. However, comprehension part of the students is not clear. For instance, I did not find students performing drama in English. Neither were they involved in other creative activities in my working area. The learning achievement of these three schools has been increased by 6% in this academic year. However, the increased learning achievement might need further justification and statistics to see whether other factors or EMI alone contributes to this increase.

Teachers report that many students from early grades fail in mathematics, science and social studies because of sudden shifting into EMI. Their views reflect that students understand the content better in their first language. The other side of the impact is the growth of other national languages in which children are believed to learn and comprehend better than any other second or foreign languages. In many cases of EMI in Nepal, students are punished if they use their mother tongue inside classroom or school. They are forced to generate knowledge and internalize the meaning of content taught in English. It raises the question of cognitive development of learners. Hence, is EMI a medium of instruction for other academic subjects, or is it the sole objective at all? In a nutshell, the question of whether EMI is producing satisfactory learning outcomes still remains unanswered and needs further explorations.

Looking EMI into Back and Forth

When reflecting back to the history of medium of instruction policy, Jung Bahadur Rana, a powerful Rana Prime minister, established the Durbar (Palace) School after his return from Europe as he was greatly influenced by the use of English in the west. However, it was only open to members of the Rana family (Eagle, 1999). Thus, the first government-run school in Nepal practiced EMI. Likewise, the first post-secondary educational institution in Nepal, Trichandra College, opened in 1918 also practiced EMI. The government of Nepal showed interest in cultural unification only after 1950. The slogan of ek bhasha, ek bhesh, ek dharma, ek desh (one language, one costume, one religion, one nation) summarized the goals of the Panchayat government, which attempted to spread Nepali, Hinduism, and other symbols of nation throughout the country to create a unified national identity (Rai et al., 2011). Throughout the Panchayat era, the goals of education were to promote development through unification of the nation under one language and culture. Education in Nepali medium of instruction became accessible to common people instead of a privilege for elites with the goal of bringing the whole population into a unified national identity. (Weinberg, 2013). Thus, Nepali was the mandatory medium of instruction and all other languages including English were discouraged. After the restoration of democracy, many private English medium schools started EMI from grade one and public schools followed the same pattern.

There are questions regarding EMI implementation and the age of the students. At which age is EMI is to be incorporated? What is the justification in a way it is appropriate at grade one? What is the progress of students with EMI of different ages at different levels in relation to learning outcomes? These questions certainly need further inquiry. In addition, public schools do not have any definite guidelines to implement EMI. Policy only allows choosing English or Nepali.

The medium of instruction for school education shall be Nepali, English or both, whereas primary education can be provided in the mother tongue (first language). Language (as a subject) shall be taught in the same language (CDC, 2008).

The policy does not have comprehensive arrangement and facilitation plans to support the schools that implement EMI.

Next element of the analysis is teachers’ English language proficiency level required for EMI. My observation shows that teachers are forced to teach through EMI in many cases. Many public schools have been implementing EMI policy without qualified teachers. It is entirely unclear what the requirements are with reference to English language competence. Many EMI teachers do not see themselves as English language teachers. They consider their job as a facilitator of students towards better learning content deliberations through better comprehension.

On the other hand, schools do not have any plan to teach students through EMI. Teaching through second or foreign language is entirely different issue from teaching academic subjects through the first language. As EMI concerned with language teaching pedagogy, there are questions that require further discussion. Are teachers, dealing with EMI, aware of foreign language teaching pedagogy in a multilingual context? Are they familiar with the process of communication through second or foreign language in the classroom? Is effective communication in English happening in those classrooms? In most instances, formulaic use of English is being observed. Students memorize the phrases and words, even sentences, most of the time. If the subjects to be taught do not have meaningful relationship with the outside world, learning cannot take place. How we can ensure effective communication taking place in the classroom in English among teachers and students in various academic subjects is a crucial issue in EMI settings.

The use of students’ home or community language is seen in all EMI schools I have observed. In many classrooms excessive use of Nepali has been observed. If the teachers are not proficient enough in English, they certainly use students’ home language. In this regard, what is the effect of using and not using L1 in the learning of the students? A clear guideline is indispensable. With reference to the teacher training, there has not been any uniform teacher training modality developed yet to assist EMI in Nepal. NCED (National Centre for Education Development), the apex body for human resource development at school education has not institutionally materialized the teacher training model for the EMI purpose. Neither there is any space for EMI in current TPD (teachers’ professional development) model of teacher training. It shows that EMI is not in priority of policy in the Ministry of Education. Furthermore, there are doubts on training manuals at theoretical ground designed and implemented for EMI purpose by several organizations in Nepal. For example, some training sessions are merely translation while others are full of pair and group works. Ministry of Education and its associate agencies need to think over a uniform teacher training model for the EMI purpose which can be a basis for training at different levels.

Similarly, many head teachers are found confused with which subjects to be taught through EMI. For instance, many private English medium schools teach social studies in Nepali medium while this subject is taught in English in public schools. The basis for decisions is not clear yet. The decisions are not based on the effectiveness of learning process and outcome from the medium of instruction implemented in schools.

Conclusion

EMI is unquestionably a growing phenomenon in public education in Nepal. It is assumed to be a passport to a global world. Despite the fact, 50 % students still fail in SLC and end up being a migrant laborer. It has been beneficial to improve the students’ English as it provides maximum exposure to them through speech, reading and writing in several subjects. EMI is thought to open the door of possibilities for lofty academic and economic offers at local and international level; nonetheless there are suspicions over how many students from public schools have this opportunity. Furthermore, EMI in Nepal is being very powerfully promoted, and the phenomenon is more idealistic in nature. However, it has been contested issue in Nepali academia for both political and pedagogical reasons. There are strong academic evidences that support multilingual education at both local and global educational policies. The most importantly, researchers have critiques on the weak pedagogical aspect of EMI in multilingual situation, particularly on the process of communication inside the classroom. EMI has been implemented without any logical guidelines in public schools. It is being implemented with little or no preparation and planning at all. The phenomenon is not effective in terms of its impact on students’ learning of several academic subjects.

The policy regarding EMI is not comprehensive, nor is it academically and practically desirable. It is more covert in nature leaving the things up to the market. The English language related policies and practices have been implemented without considering the educational costs and benefits in Nepal. The sole logic behind the current shift is globalization and market forces. Thus, EMI has also been a key selling point in the market in the guise of the ideology of quality education, which at present remains a myth. It has been projected as a commodity in the market. But very few students have access to the global and local market resources available in English.

Incorporating a foreign language at the early foundation of education is not academically sound policy. Nepal needs to formulate multilingual model of the language policy and planning. Whereas, EMI planning needs to be guided by the transitional model- from local language to official language to international language from early grades to university level.

References

CDC (2008), Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi Bhaktapur.

Eagle, S. (1999). The language situation in Nepal. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 20 (4-5), 272-327.

Rai, V. S., Rai, M., Phyak, P., & Rai, N. (2011). Multilingual education in Nepal: Hearsay and reality. Kathmandu, Nepal: UNESCO.

Weinberg, M. (2013). Revisiting history in language policy: The case of medium of instruction in Nepal. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, 28(1), 61-80.

—

The author is a training specialist in English at REED Nepal and an adjunct faculty in Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Project NIITE: Developing Better Teachers for Implementing EMI

August 9, 2015Teacher Training, Teacher's Experience/anecdotesadmin

English as a medium of instruction (EMI) has been a burning issue in community schools in Nepal these days. Nepali language has been the medium of instruction for the academic subjects like mathematics, science, social studies and so on. Although English is said to be taught in the same language, it is also not found to be fully implemented. In this backdrop, some community schools in Nepal have initiated the practice of EMI for teaching-learning. To support and enhance EMI, NCED has recently launched a project called National Initiative to Improve Teaching in English , known as Project NIITE. The project has made many teachers, academicians and administrators aware of implementing EMI in classrooms. Yet, some regard that content knowledge that students learn is more important than the medium of its delivery.

After the completion of secondary or higher secondary school education, students have to face colleges and universities in English medium. Those students, who want to go abroad for further study need to sit for English language tests like IELTS, TOEFL, SAT and GRE. This is when they realize the importance of English language and feel inferior before their competitors. Students with higher academic scores also cannot meet the entry requirement in language tests and get deprived of international academic opportunities. It is not the knowledge that stops them from such opportunities but the language.

On the other hand, students from English medium private schools find these tests easier in comparison to the students from community schools. The textbooks of community schools do not go any changes and revisions for long, whereas they are modified each year with up- to- date information in private schools.

The policy of the government has given freedom to schools to use either Nepali or English as a medium of instruction. Basically, private boarding schools practice EMI and government public schools use Nepali language. They use Nepali language to teach subjects like English, mathematics, science and social studies. They have limited resources and the teachers ignore their everyday tasks before, while and after they are in their classrooms. The students, though they learn English language from primary level cannot communicate in English and they do not easily comprehend the texts they use. The students and most of the teachers in primary level do not have good command over English language. But many public schools have started introducing English language as a medium of instruction. This has made EMI training to public school teachers a must.

The recently launched project i.e. Project NIITE by NCED with support from British Council has a main objective to enable primary level teachers from all over the nation to use English as a medium of instruction. The EMI training also follows the same modality of TPD training of NCED except for its focus on developing English language proficiency to deliver classes in English language.

The developing craze for English language among students and parents brought most of the students from community schools to private boarding schools. The number of students in public schools has been decreasing gradually in Nepal. According to the latest data, 417 public schools were merged because of having less students than supposed to be. It has also shown the importance of English language and its craze in a developing country like Nepal. It is because of this, most of the community schools not only decided to shift the medium of instruction but also managed school uniform that look similar to English medium private schools. However, implementing EMI has not become comfortable for teachers and the students at once. Therefore, the government decided to run EMI training for primary level teachers as EMI begins from primary.

In Primary level, students cannot understand and use English properly. The teachers know English but they have not used it as a medium of instruction. As they have been using Nepali language, which has lowered their confidence in using English language. The teachers are hesitant to communicate among themselves and in the classrooms. Now, EMI training supports primary school teachers to use English in a simple and clear way. It teaches them how to maximize students’ participation and minimize teachers talking time in class. EMI gives them skills to maximize students talking time and minimize teachers talking time. It helps them better understand that the role of a teacher in classroom is to demonstrate, give clear instructions and engage all students through pair work, small group work or whole class activities. In my experience as a teacher trainer in Nawalparasi and Gulmi districts of Nepal, the EMI training was much favored by the primary level teachers and they looked very much excited after six-days training was over. From the third day onwards, they communicated among themselves in English and used English language to talk with the trainers. The trainee teachers learnt how to use English rhymes and language games in classroom. They learnt to make useful classroom materials and became eager to go to school and implement what they had learnt in the raining. In the last two days of the first phase of the EMI training, they were also involved in a short micro teaching. This micro teaching and the feedback from fellow teachers and the trainers made them confident in six days.

EMI training under Project NIITE lasts at least for three years and a master trainer from NCED and one from British Council work together to train teachers effectively. This project has its own training manual having 12 main units and many sub units under them. EMI covers all the subjects except Nepali. This training mainly focuses on how to give clear, short and simple instruction to the students in English. It focuses on learner-centered classroom where students take active participation in classroom activities. The training focuses on the use of English language as a means of communication between teacher and students, and students and students. EMI focuses on the use of four skills in every class. After the completion of EMI training, the trained teachers can use English as a medium of instruction, plan their own lessons, prepare teaching materials, train other teachers and become more creative.

A good lesson plan with specific objectives, teaching materials, time management of a teacher in classroom, use of classroom language by teacher and students, and the use of language skills are the highlights of EMI training. In the same way, involvement of students in learning activities such as a pair work, small group and whole class work, feedback and error correction, better monitoring, building good rapport between students -students and students -teacher and reflection are also the contents of EMI training. The main focus of the training is the use of classroom language, language for instruction, and evaluation. EMI also focuses on child friendly, anti- racist and gender equality in classroom.

The schools which are willing to shift their medium of instruction must provide EMI training to their teachers so that it equips them with skills to teach subjects like English, mathematics, social studies and science through EMI. This is a pilot project in Nepal aiming to provide training to seven thousand basic level teachers in the country within three years.

Some people think that it makes no difference whether schools use English or Nepali as a medium of instruction but what matters most is the transfer of content knowledge. This is is right but EMI is a demand of school teachers in community schools to stop the huge transfer of students to private English medium schools. EMI is not against using mother language in classroom. It does not promote ‘only-English’ policy in classrooms. However, a teacher can use mother language to help students comprehend the texts and contexts.

Finally, under the project NIITE, EMI training is aiming to make teaching-learning effective basically in primary level in Nepal. The increasing curiosity among teachers regarding EMI training, and their motivation and active participation during the first phase of training has made us optimistic of its upcoming success. It seems to me that, EMI will surely help community schools to minimize the gap noticed in education between private schools and community schools.

—

The author is Master Trainer (Project NIITE) British Council, Nepal.

From ‘schooled pedagogy’ to ‘pedagogy of disaster’: The role of EFL teachers in the super-difficult circumstance of post-disaster Nepal

July 5, 2015Critical Thinking, EducationInEmergency, ELT Resource#NepalEarthquake2015, featuredPrem Phyak

Introduction

The memory of taking classes in a temporary shelter made up of bamboo and tin after the 1988 earthquake is still vivid in my memory. The two-story building of my school on the slope of the mountain village in eastern Nepal was very badly shaken by the earthquake. We could not take classes in the old building. The villagers, teachers, and students worked very hard for many days to build a temporary shelter and run classes. I still remember that in the shelter we used to read aloud “Hello Sita, Hello Ram. Knock, Knock. Knock, Knock” to let our teachers know that we are engaged in doing our tasks. Many times, we could not take classes due to rain and storm. I don’t quite remember how our teachers helped us recover from dreadful experience from the disaster, but the Friday cultural programs and the outdoor activities including field trips were part of fun activities. I wish I had a camera or a cell phone to take the pictures of classes in the shelter during that time. Nobody in the village had these devices then. The situation now has changed a lot. The villagers have cellphones to take pictures and upload them on Facebook to share with wider audience about the updates from the village. We have seen the “social media power” during and post-disaster stage of the April 25 earthquake.

The 7.8 magnitude (April 25, 2015), followed by hundreds of aftershocks including the 7.4 magnitude (May 12, 2015)– took more than 9,000 people’s lives and destroyed more than 510,762 homes. Various news reports show that more than 25,000 classrooms of 8,000 schools have to be rebuilt. BCC estimates that more than 90% of schools are destroyed in the hardest-hit districts such as Sindhupalchok, Dolakha, Gorkha, Rasuwa, and Ramechhap. The government estimates the costs of $7 billion, a third of the country’s gross domestic product, to rebuild the damaged physical infrastructures. However, what is missing from the discussion is how to help about two million children who are directly affected by the disaster. While the school dropout has been a thorny issue even before the earthquake, this disaster might further contribute to the increase the dropout rate. UNICEF estimates that more than 1.2 million Nepali children (5-16 years old) are out of school and warns that thousands of children may not join school if appropriate measures are not developed in the post-earthquake stage. Since many children from rural villages have to be relocated in other safe places, they may not find a conducive environment and support to go to school and fully participate in educational activities.

In this blog post, I present the preliminary findings of an ongoing survey research on the role of EFL teachers in the “super-difficult circumstance” of the post-disaster Nepal. I am using the term “super-difficult circumstance” to embrace the multitude of issues connected with the recent earthquake. I argue that this disaster is not just an earthquake but the convergence of other cascading disasters such as landslides, flooding, and food shortage that directly impacts on children’s educational activities. Moreover, the super-difficult circumstance not only includes lack of physical infrastructures (e.g., school buildings, furniture), but also, and most importantly, complex socio-cultural, economic and political ecology that affect smooth operation of educational activities in the post-disaster situation of Nepal.

The language of disaster: What should EFL teachers know?

Disaster, which affects our daily lives, society, and economy, has never been the focus of English language teaching. Due to the disciplinary boundary, disaster has often been taught as a content of science, geography/social studies, and environmental/population studies. However, the global occurrences of disasters (e.g., hurricane, typhoon, earthquake, flooding, drought, and glacial lake outburst) is increasingly affecting our lives. The world has already experienced numerous disasters in which millions of people died. The Tōhoku Earthquake/Tsunami (2011, Japan), East Africa Drought (2011, East Africa), Haiti Earthquake (2010, Haiti), Pakistan Earthquake (2005, Pakistan), Hurricane Katrina (2005, USA), and Indian Ocean Earthquake (2004, Indonesia), among others, have already taught us so many lessons about disaster management and humanitarian assistance. Should EFL teachers be aware of such disasters and their impacts? How can they contribute to responding to such disasters through teaching?

Of course, EFL teachers should be aware of various types of disasters and help their students become more resilient to cope with traumatic experiences from disasters. The first thing that EFL teachers can do is to incorporate and help students understand various disaster-related concepts in their lessons. The integration of the disaster-related topics definitely enriches vocabulary and the content level awareness of students.

“Disaster” is not easy to define. It literally refers to a sudden event or calamity that causes physical destruction and human suffering. Although there is a debate on the meaning of the term “disaster”, the near consensus definition is: a situation or event, which overwhelms local capacity, necessitating a request to national or international level for external assistance [The Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED)]. Other terms such as “catastrophe” and “calamity” are also used to describe disaster. Two important points we should be aware of are: a) disaster can be used as a cover term which includes all kinds of incidents or events that cause human sufferings; b) as Enrico Quarantelli, a famous scholar of the sociology of disaster, argues, disasters are not always “natural” but a “social phenomenon”. Quarantelli and his colleagues argue that disasters are deeply rooted in the social structure; the location of the people, their sociopolitical and economic status, and the type of governance. Although EFL teachers may not contribute to the technical aspect of disaster, they can be instrumental in addressing social issues surrounding disaster.

The recent “Nepal earthquake” has revealed a number of sociocultural issues that EFL teachers can discuss in the classroom to help their students develop “critical language awareness.” In the previous issue of Choutari, Charlotte Benham analyzes various lessons that EFL teachers can learn from the recent disaster. She argues that EFL teachers can learn how some people are unequally affected by the recent disaster and engage their students in a critical analysis of social inequalities as seen in the relief and recovery operations. A number of scholars from other disciplines (such as anthropology, political science, sociology, education, and economics) have highlighted the need for a social justice approach in the “relief”, “rehabilitation”, “recovery”, and “rebuilding” stage of disaster. In the same issue of Choutari, Rojita Adhikari, Neha Shah, Anuradha Sharma, Chetan K Timilsina and Jeevan Karki present on-the-ground experiences and lessons learned from the disaster. EFL teachers can learn many important lessons from their stories. They all highlight the role of teachers as a “change agent” and a “resilient actor” in the post-disaster Nepal.

On a positive note, the recent earthquake has given us rich corpus of language that EFL teachers can use in the classroom. Local, national, and international newspapers have paid a due attention to the Nepal earthquake and documented it in different forms (text, audio, image, and video). Teachers can easily access these materials and use in the classroom. Some key vocabulary words that are used in newspapers include: magnitude, rubble, reeling, avalanche, aftershocks, tremor, epicenter, victims, donors, mitigation, rebuilding, temporary shelter, relocation, resistance, settlements, perish, assurance, high-rise building, trigger, death toll, rescue, emergency, charity, trauma, jolt, shocking, resume, tent, makeshift, ravage, woe, grapple, volunteer, soaring, wipe out, desperate, devastating, injured, limp back , decease, massive, strike, drone, chopper etc. Teachers can use these words in their lessons in multiple ways. Other words/phrases that promote students’ critical thinking include: poverty, corruption, caste-system, untouchability, social exclusion, unequal distribution, poor, rich, urban, rural, overhead costs, rotten rice, discrimination, leftover, (lack of)access to power, NGO-graphy etc. These words/phrases can be used as a base for critical language awareness in EFL classes. However, this requires teachers to transgress “the schooled pedagogy”–the scripted pedagogy adopted in school curricula–and be aware of sociocultural issues connected with the disaster. This “pedagogy of disaster” is collectively built on the life experiences of students, teachers, and communities.

The preliminary findings of the survey

I am receiving encouraging responses from the EFL teachers; out of 100, 25 EFL teachers have already responded to the survey. As an ongoing research the final results of this survey will be shared in the future issues of Choutari. In what follows, I present the preliminary findings.

Trauma and the super-difficult circumstance: All the respondent-teachers have gone through traumatic experiences in the post-earthquake stage. Although there was no any human casualty in their own and immediate relatives’ family, these teachers had “a very traumatic experience” as they were trembled by “the series of main shocks and aftershocks”. One teacher recounts that “all my family members were worried, nervous, confused and restless” while another teacher says he is so much terrified and could not find any “strategy to be free.” Four respondent-teachers have lost their houses and twelve teachers’ school buildings are destroyed. They have to prepare temporary shelters to run classes. Three teachers reveal that they are “financially affected” as they are jobless due to their workplace closure for one and a half months. All the respondent-teachers spent their nights in a tent for 15-25 days. The 65.5 per cent of teachers say that the earthquake has destroyed their schools/colleges/universities that cannot be used for educational activities. Twenty-eight percent of them mention that they are deeply affected by the “loss of their students”. Three teachers report that some students “have not come back” as they lost their houses. One university teacher mentions that they are running their classes in a private college in Kathmandu as the building of their university cannot be used for educational activities. Some major issues reported by the EFL teachers are as follows:

Less individual attention, no focus on teaching, and traumatic feelings all the time.

All students are not present in class. They have gone to Terai in their relatives home fearing the frequent aftershocks. Students are not in complete mood of learning, in a way they have lost enthusiasm in learning after the quake.

No readiness for learning. Still aftershocks are trembling them so they feel insecure at school as buildings have cracks somewhere.

Students fear of another quake.

Students are not comfortable in the class. School buildings have cracks so they are frightened.

Even the sound of the vehicles make them feel earthquake tremor. They do not dare to sit even in the tent.

Not all but some of them are still afraid of earthquake. For example, they are reluctant to go to their previous classroom on the third floor of the building.

Yes, they are afraid. They try to stay out of the enclosed area. They have completely forgotten their assignments and deadlines.

Student cannot concentrate on their subject matter while teaching (they always relate the example or substance of teaching with earthquake).

Many of my students have cracked buildings in their village and their parents and relatives are in very difficult situation. So, students are frustrated and they are not able to concentrate on their study. It’s been very difficult for them to follow the normal time table. They are still restless and worried. In addition to this, there are cracks in the college building and students feel insecure to attend class in rooms which are located in the upper level.

They feel a bit better now as they would like to continue their study after the quake but they still have a fear that earthquake might come again. The Facebook rumor of big earthquake coming has affected their psychology.

The role of EFL teachers in the recovery

The respondent-teachers have contributed to providing relief materials to the earthquake survivors in many ways. They have raised funds, collected food, provided drinking water, participated in rescue operations, distributed medicine, and made shelters for the survivors. These teachers have played very critical role to help their students recover from the deep traumatic experiences from the disaster. Some of the major activities these teachers have done in their classes are as follows:

Counseling: Most of the respondent-teachers have provided counselling services to their students after the reopening of their schools. One teacher says “we have talked to our students and suggested that they should not be worried”. Another teachers reveals that “we have tried to look and act normal.” These teachers have shared with their students the information about the disaster and how they can remain alert. Some of the teachers have also helped to build temporary learning centers where their students feel safer to learn before they go to school. These teachers have also helped their students buy books, stationery, bags, and uniforms.

Sharing experiences: The majority of the respondent-teachers encouraged students to share their personal experiences in class. One teacher recounts “I started the class with sharing about the experience. Also asked the students to share how they helped the more unfortunate members of the community.” These teachers also engaged students in making plans to respond to the future disaster. For example, one of the teachers says:

We all shared our stories together in the beginning, and I talked about the Psychological First Aid (PFA) on the first day of the class. We also talked about how we helped other people in trouble and how we should be helping them in the future. I told them that disasters like earthquake are natural and they come without any alert and we need to face them.

Another teacher shares:

I have started the class narrating my story of survival in the earthquake. The theme or topic of that day’s class was “I survived & I have a story to tell”. I first told them my story and asked them to share their stories of survival. Though the students felt hesitant to share their story, I facilitated them and gave them freedom to use any language and to use any format of storytelling, which they find convenient. As a result, the class became so interesting later. The next days, I have started teaching them with flexible time without sticking to the time schedule of a session. I am not teaching them seriously like I did before the earthquake. The flexible lesson and methods as per their convenience are used in the class so that they will not feel any burden in their mind while teaching. These days, I have stopped giving serious assignments, e.g. in written form but just reading assignment. I chose more interactive sessions which I believe can help them recover from the shock.

Fun activities: Some respondent-teachers are also doing various fun activities with the students. One teacher, for example, has shared her “muktak and gajal” with the class to help students forget the deep shock and sense of fear. Another teacher does not like the idea of sharing personal stories. He believes that it is necessary to “divert their mind to other topics [by] involving them in various creative, fun and entertaining activities such as painting, music, dance and funny quizzes including games.” Some of the respondent-teachers have also used songs, jokes, and newspaper readings as part of classroom activities.

Integrating disaster-related topics in EFL lessons

The respondent-teachers did not include the disaster-related topics in their lessons in the past. But they have started incorporating them after the recent earthquakes. While responding to the question of whether or not he includes the disaster-related topics in his lessons, one of the respondent-teachers asserts that:

Not much in the past but now I do include the disaster-related topics in my lesson. Yesterday, I was teaching them Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and we discussed at quite length how we can engage the students in discussion to rebuild Nepal. My students came up with some wonderful activities that can be used in high school English class.

Likewise, another teacher says that “I frequently show them movies and videos for taking precautions about the quake.” Some of the respondent-teachers have already started engaging students in developing plans for staying safe in the future disasters. For example, one respondent has already “asked the students to draw pictures of the scene they have seen in and around their homes; to tell me stories they have; to tell me how they felt during and after the quake; to draw pictures on how they can stay safe etc.” These teachers are also engaging students in critical thinking activities and make them aware of how the disaster has affected some people unequally. For example, one of the respondent-teachers ask his students to discuss how the people in Tundikhel [temporary shelters] are living; how they manage food every day; and what they do during rainy days. At the same time, these teachers are also aware of the fact that the repetition of the disaster-related stories might keep students thinking about the devastation. For example, a teacher argues that “I do not want to continue …talking about disaster [as it] will further affect the students. One of students told me that she did not like to hear more about the earthquake as she has already been fed up of listening about it through family, media and friends.”

Conclusions

The preliminary findings of the survey show two critical points. First, it shows that EFL teachers in the Nepal’s post-disaster situation are, going beyond the “schooled pedagogy”, focusing on the “pedagogy of disaster’ which includes multiple activities inside and outside of the classroom. By participating in rescue, relief, and recovery activities, the EFL teachers have redefined their role as a “change agent” and demonstrated profound agency to the rebuilding of the country. Second, the EFL teachers have shown their critical awareness about the issues associated with the disaster. As one of the teachers argues, the earthquake survivors should not be treated as “beggars” rather they should be considered as a source of knowledge. The storytelling activities alongside counseling and the integration of disaster-related topics in EFL lessons are important classroom strategies for teachers to help students cope with the traumatic experience from the disaster. Following Arjun Appadurai (1996), a famous sociocultural anthropologist and a major theorist in globalization studies, I reiterate that it is important for EFL teachers to engage students to “document” the stories and experiences from Nepal’s earthquake and share them with the global ELT community. This process will not only help EFL teachers develop teaching materials and an archive of knowledge, but also raises students’ critical awareness about society, culture and education.

References

Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity al large: cultural dimensions of globalization (Vol. 1). U of Minnesota Press.

Quarantelli, E. L. (Ed.). (2005). What is a disaster?: a dozen perspectives on the question. Routledge.

[Acknowledgement: I would like to thank all the teachers who responded to the survey.]

I survived and have a story to tell

July 5, 2015EducationInEmergency, Teacher's Experience/anecdotes#earthquakeinnepal, #NepalEarthquake2015, pedagogyofdisasterPrem Phyak

11355_890310407676270_9087755239145792858_n — Praveen Kumar Yadav

The college I work for had resumed after one and a half months following the devastating April 25 earthquake. I teach World Literature for Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) 2nd semester at King’s College, Kathmandu.

The classes after the destructive earthquake are quite difficult for both teachers and students as the disastrous incidents are still fresh in their minds. The fun-related activities such as games, drawing and dance can be taught to younger students for the first or few days after the schools resume. Such activities give comfort for both teachers and students. Although I had learned many ways to teach the quake-affected students while I was still writing education related stories on behalf of the district based correspondents for Republica, I myself was puzzled about my lesson plan for the first class.

During the review process of syllabus and the course of study for World Literature, an idea struck my mind. I decided to teach a story related to the recent earthquake to my students. It was not only relevant as per the course I teach, but it was appropriate in the present context of Nepal too. In this blog, I share my experience teaching the first day when the new semester began following the earthquake. I also incorporate other teachers’ experiences about their first classes before I draw my conclusion.

First class after earthquake

Aftershocks are still on; many students have turned up to the college on the first day. Indeed it was a reunion for everyone. I felt that my students were a warrior who came back home after fighting a battle. Their faces looked curious; they were curious to talk to each other. Before they got a chance to talk with their colleagues, I had an ice-breaker activity.

“We are survivors, aren’t we,” I asked.
They shouted, “Yes.”
“Thank God. Everyone survived. So, everyone has a story of survival,” I added.
I told them to tell their stories. I could see they were hesitant to share their stories. Then one of them asked me to tell my story first and so did the rest of students. I told them my story as follows:

I had two different experiences in the last two deadly earthquakes: one in my living room and another at workplace, one escaping from the ground floor of three-storied building and another from the second floor of seven-storied building. Though both magnitude and duration of the second earthquake (7.4) was less compared to the first one (7.8), I felt more scared in the second one.

April 25.

All of a sudden, all electronic gadgets in my room were automatically turned off Saturday noon. I had been working on my laptop at the time. At that inauspicious time when the clock showed 11:56, my bed started to shake and the TV set almost jumped at me.

I rushed to the door and stood between the pillars from where I could see and hear other people in my neighborhood yelling and running helter-skelter. I shouted at them not to run but stay inside safely till things were settled.

Nobody listened to me, and I was scared. The earthquake continued for more than a minute, and nobody was inside. I had never experienced continuous tremors and it made me lose hope. I was at wit’s end.

I came out in the open after it stopped. Hundreds of people had already gathered outside. I saw parts of some buildings and boundary walls nearby collapse. I tried to contact my family, friends and colleagues, but in vain. I browsed the net, which was luckily available. I tweeted about the earthquake and also posted a status on Facebook.

Immediately after the first quake, no Nepali media covered the news, except Radio Nepal. But I could read Facebook posts and tweets about earthquake from different parts of the country. Though there were reports about damage and loss of properties and lives in Kathmandu alone, at first, nationwide reports soon followed.

Through social media, I could learn that Saturday’s devastating earthquake measured 7.9 on the Richter scale with its epicenter in Gorkha district. Thereafter, international media was not only quick but also active in reporting the incident. Nepali media became active only after news spread through international media.

May 12
First, I thought it was an aftershock and decided to stay inside. But the intensity got noticeably higher. Then I managed to escape from the tall building that had started to swing and later developed cracks as well. Thank God, both the powerful earthquakes occurred during daytime.

Had they occurred during the night, or on workdays, human casualty, especially school and college students and structural damages would have been immense.

So far the death toll from May 12 quake with epicenter in Sunakhani of Dolakha has crossed 100. Likewise, the toll from the first quake with epicenter at Barpak in Gorkha is around 9,000 and twice many are injured, according to Nepal Police. Of 14 affected districts, Sindhupalchowk is the hardest hit. Over 3,000 people have been killed there.

All Nepalis, both in and out of the country, have stood by the victims in these difficult times. They have lent their helping hands with what they can. Although Nepalis had earlier been divided along political, gender, ethnicity and geographical lines, they are united now. Such a bonding was not possible in any other way.

Then the students started sharing with each other their stories. I could observe some of the important points they were making while listening to their stories. Some of the students were good at narrating the story, while others became hesitant as they could not fully narrate stories in English. Even I allowed few hesitant students to tell their stories in the Nepali language. The presentation of the stories by individual students varied. Some presented in details and interesting away, but others told very short story skipping the details. This is because of individual differences and diversity of students. I found that even the students who failed to stand up and speak out earlier told the story. There was an overwhelming response from students.

At the end of the class, I briefly introduced different genres of literature – fiction prose, poetry, drama and non-fiction. The story they shared is an examples of non-fiction, I told the class.

To conclude, I have also interviewed some of my colleagues about their first classes after the disasters. I found out that some of them began their classes with something related to the earthquake. For instance, an environment science faculty member held a discussion on how disaster brought environment problems in Nepal. As economics faculty provided shared his thoughts on how the earthquake affected the country’s economy.
The next day, I assessed the students’ interests, but many of them were no longer interested to talk about the earthquake. They argued that they were bothered by listening to their parents or neighbors and the other people, who always talked about the earthquake.

As aftershocks are still on, some precautionary measures are a must to save our lives from the future disasters. I facilitated a discussion on how to take precautions, and went back to a normal situation of taking classes. The college also organized some events like treasure hunt, which I believe helped students recover from the quake trauma.

‘The photography project’: Pictures in EFL teaching

July 5, 2015Creativity, Critical Pedagogy, Critical Thinking, Teacher's Experience/anecdotesPrem Phyak

The Choutari team has initiated a new ‘photography project’. The aim of the project is to promote the use of photography/pictures in EFL teaching. In this project, the Choutari team members share with the larger ELT community a variety of photos they take in different times and places. We do not create our own stories out of these pictures, rather we leave it open for multiple uses (e.g., essay writing, story writing/telling, critical pedagogy, group work, participatory research)as per the need of EFL teachers . In acknowledging the importance of photos/pictures in EFL teaching, this project is influenced by the “Critical Photography Theory” (Wells, 2015) and the “Critical Art Pedagogy” (Cary, 2011). We encourage our fellow colleagues all over the world to use these pictures (of course, acknowledgement is appreciated) for the classroom purposes and participate in the discussion on various issues concerning the use of photography in EFL teaching.

To begin, we share the photos taken by Prem Phyak, our past editor, in different locations and times in Nepal.

Is Grammar a Liberating Force or an Obstacle for Communication?

April 1, 2015Critical Thinking, Teacher's Experience/anecdotesadmin

Instructor of English Educational Training Center, Surkhet — **Ramesh Prasad Ghimire** Instructor of English,
Educational Training Center, Surkhet

Initiation

In recent years some government schools of Nepal are slowly moving towards English medium instruction (EMI). Some schools have started teaching all the subjects except Nepali in English. This is happening mainly at primary level (grade 1 to 5). National Center for Educational Development (NCED) has made a decision to provide training for the school teachers who are interested in using English as a medium of instruction. NCED has made MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with British Council (BC) for conduction training for the school teachers.

The project has been given a name National Initiative to Improve Teaching in English (NIITE). It is a three years project. The project focuses on training the primary level teachers (grade 1 to 5) but the main focus of the training according to Jovan Illic, the head of Programmes at British Council, is on the teachers who are teaching in grade three, four and five.

The target area of the project is all the seventy five districts of Nepal. However, the three districts of Nepal Surkhet, Nawalparasi, and Jhapa have been selected as the piloting district for conducting training for this year. These districts have been selected as piloting districts because the demand of the teachers was high from these districts. In the first year, it is aimed at training 7000 primary level teachers.

My experience

As an English trainer, I was always worried about our primary level teachers’ English. Last year I conducted EMI training in ETC Surkhet for 50 primary level teachers. Most of the teachers’ English proficiency was very poor and my focus was on improving their English rather than equipping them with some skills and teaching techniques. I was so worried about their English. I was thinking how they could conduct English medium classes without having some proficiency in English. I even carried out an action research focusing on developing their English proficiency. I was not free from my worry throughout the year. This year too I have to train 150 primary level teachers in Educational Training Center (ETC), Surkhet. The tormenting question that strikes me all the time is “How can a teacher teach in English without being able to use some English for general communication?”. And I hope majority of the teachers who are using English as a medium of instruction at the basic level might be worried about their own language ability.

Fortunately, I attained EMI training this year. It was master training of trainers (MTOT) jointly organized by NCED and BC in Nepalgunj from 14 to 18 March. One of the key message that I got from the training is grammar is not a thing to be worried about in communication. Grammar is, in fact, not a liberating force but an obstacle in effective communication. If you know nouns and verbs you can communicate. For example, if you are thirsty and want to drink water, you can say “Give water.” instead of “Can I have a glass of water, please?” I already had got this idea in University but it was, I think, in my subconscious level of mind.

Some of you may be worried about grammar especially with written English. But one thing that we should not forget here is that in EMI classes, grammar is less important than fluency and communication of meaning. If you are able to communicate your intended message to your reader or listener then your language is okay even if it is grammatically incorrect. Grammar develops itself in course of time if language is used for communication. This is the key of current communicative approaches to language teaching as well. If you look at how children learn their first language, you will find that they use single word or simply two words for communication and their message is perfectly intelligible for the adults. Their grammatical system develops much later in life. But it is important to have a good store of vocabulary. The lexical approach to language teaching also focuses on the prime role of vocabulary in learning a language and communication. Some other lessons that I learned from this training are:

First fluency then accuracy
Make your instruction as short as possible
Use very few words and much demonstration
Do not speak much in the classroom, encourage students to speak much in which they use whatever language they can
Teaching is very easy; just go into the classroom and give students something to do so that they forget that they are in the classroom.
Use a lot of visual aids and actions for communication of meaning

My instance

I am not happy with this government policy, however. I do not think that teaching in English guarantees quality in education. In the name of using English in the classroom, the students should not be deprived from the basic understanding of the subject matter. Before making any new policy we need to look at our local ground realities and contexts. I personally think that we still need some years to make a jump to EMI in this county. I have observed some of the EMI classes in Surkhet and have some discussion with the teachers as well as students. I suggest dear teachers to use some Nepali or other mother tongues of the students to some extent in EMI classes. But one thing that impressed me was that the students said that they loved English classes much and they were more active smart and confident than the students who were in Nepali medium classes.

My plan

Now I am convinced that my trainee teachers who are participating in EMI training in ETC, Surkhet can handle EMI classes even if their language proficiency is not so advanced. My first action in this training will be to make my participants feel that English is not difficult and grammar is not so important in communication in this context. I am planning to make them feel this not by telling but by demonstrating.

Literary Texts: Authentic Resources for English Language Learning

April 1, 2015Teaching Tipsadmin

**Resham Bahadur Bist** Lecturer, Mid- Western University Surkhet, Nepal

In this post I discuss about the teaching and learning of English language and literature in higher education in Nepal, how it has been changed, and significance of English literature in English language teaching in my understanding.

Background

In the past, some ELT practitioners thought that there is no relation between English literature and English language teaching. They discovered no roles of literary texts for the comprehension of English language. They taught their students about language ignoring the literary texts in the language-teaching classrooms. On the other hand, facilitators of teaching literature thought that English education is only limited in how to teach English in classroom. They never looked for the syntactical and semantic significance of language used in the literary texts like poetry, essay, play, and story. There was a hot debate between them regarding the issues of language and literature in the canteen of colleges. They had had their own interpretation and understanding about the English literature and English education. Their main concern was to highlight their own subjects. There was a situation of rivalry between them.

I think the dichotomy between English education and English literature has created by the west that creates two hostile camps between its practitioners in our country. The tendency of western intellectual world regarding the issue of literature and linguistic made us to involve in the quarrel. The separate texts composed by the western intellectuals regarding the linguistic and literature that are prescribed in our syllabus are taught in our classroom as a different discipline. This kind of practices had been functioning in our universities regarding teaching literature and language. The department of language and linguistics never smelled the literary texts in their syllabus. Our curriculum designers were also influenced by the western tendency. So, they designed the curriculum of English language and literature separately. They never tried for meaning and harmonious combination in the curriculum for teaching language and literature hand in hand. Then, the practitioners of teaching language and literature moved ahead parallel like the two sides of a river learning the English language itself from the two extremes.

The ELT practitioners thought that the language of literature is not exactly appropriate for language teaching because it is idealized and figurative. They only focused on significance of linguistic norms which creates the proficiency in the language and important for language teaching. Their concern was in the linguistic norms and values. Moreover, they never thought the value of literature for teaching language. Its significance to provide the real situation how people can communicate the idea was ignored. It was not realized that literary texts are also made with the certain structure of linguistic phenomena that is supportive for teaching language. This idea was introduced by scholars in designing syllabus of language teaching classroom. Linguistics became like a hard rock with its own certain structure and values. The curriculum of our subject made us rigid in our area.

Present scenario

The tendency of teaching the English language in Nepal has been changed now. Literature is no more untouchable in a language classroom. The curriculum of language teaching has selected some of the literary texts in English language classroom. Some of the texts of linguistics and literature have mismatched with each other; the curriculum of both subjects has been merged somewhere a little bit. The time has changed; new generation has known this reality better than the past. The curriculum of ELT has used literature and literary texts in its syllabuses. The usefulness of the style of language used in literary texts has been focused on the English language teaching classrooms. Likewise, the classroom of literature teaching has also acknowledged the value of linguistics and language teaching to teach the literary texts. The teachers and students are familiar with language and literature in their classrooms either it be literature or language teaching classroom.

Now, the curriculums of English language and literature have created friendly environment between ELT practitioners and English literature facilitators. People think that linguistics and literature are not two separate subjects, and there is inseparable relationship between them in term of learning language. The distance, which was created by them, has been reduced. The practitioners of language and literature are not rivals at all now. There is the situation of drinking water at each other’s cup between teachers of English literature and ELT practitioners unlike in the past. Literature has also entered into the language classrooms. The literary texts have also been placed in the syllabus of linguistics classroom, and the study of language is also included in the syllabus of literature. The current practices of universities of Nepal have changed the old scenario of English teaching programs. What is the relationship between language and literature? What is the role of literary texts to learn the English language in EFL classroom? Regarding these questions, I try to write up of my experiences about the effective relationship between literature and linguistics to learn the language.

My English teaching experience to students of different colleges also reveals that literary texts are fruitful for teaching English language. Works of literature are studied worldwide, mostly for pleasure. However, for last couple of decades, it has been realized that literary texts are playing significant role in language teaching and are considered great source of authentic materials. Literary texts have become the most important source of materials in English language teaching classroom. Now the literary texts are also incorporated in their syllabus of language teaching program as they offer valuable authentic sources. In this regard, Collie and Slater (2009, pp. 3-4) mention that literature is used in language class because it is valuable authentic material; it enhances cultural and language enrichment, and it fosters personal involvement. So, it can be said that literature is an important source in language teaching because it offers varieties of texts along with culture aligned to it, that are useful in language teaching.

Different genres of literature can be useful in language teaching classroom. A poet composes a poem with the use of cohesion and coherence, which can be used in the texture of the linguistic analysis. The devices of language such as simile, metaphor, metonymy, pun, etc. are used in the poem, which can be useful tools to study of language teaching classroom. The demonstration and recitation of extract of beautiful verse of poem can create interest and develop comprehension about the language of poetry among the learners. It can help them develop their pronunciation. Therefore, the poem can be a good source for learning language. Short stories are also very useful to the English language learners as they are interesting, motivating, and amazing. In this regard, Wright (2000) mentions that making and responding to stories is only way of being creative. Stories offer new language, making it meaningful and memorable, which is a distinctive manifestation of cultural values and perceptions. It requires reflection on values and culture. He further argues that making and telling stories require the students to organize information into cohesive and coherent whole in order to communicate to other people. He also mentions that listening to the stories can develop listening skills whereas studying and learning stories contextualize language diversity in dialect and register of language, and narrative and description of speech.

Therefore, short stories are useful to learn four basic skills of language; listening, speaking, reading, and writing. They are also equally helpful to learn grammar, vocabulary, and language functions. They promote the imaginative skills and creativity as well through fun and creative activities of classroom. Teaching stories in the language-learning classroom engages and motivates learners creatively. The elements of short stories can be guidelines for creative writing. The learners can write their own stories using those elements.

Similarly, the play can be useful to promote the language skills of learners. Play is composed with use of contextual dialogue in a certain setting of it. The learner knows the contextual meaning of language after reading the play. Therefore, it is beneficial to learn the pragmatic and semantic meaning of the sentences used in the play because the dialogues are used in the conversation among the characters in the certain settings. The play is a representational art of literature, and it has a theatrical performance. The students can involve in the theatrical performance of the play. They can perform the actions and events of the play by using the dialogues. They can promote their speaking skill through the theatrical performance of play and achieve self-confidence in speaking English in front of the audience. They can develop their presentation skills and develop an understanding of cultural practices of other people through the play. They can be aware about the body language and contextual use of language. They develop their language skills watching and listening plays in the classroom.

Likewise, the essays are also beneficial for the language learners. Essays are written in different forms like persuasive, narrative, descriptive, etc. The language learner learns different forms of language and structure of sentence pattern through the essays. They get pleasure reading such essays and develop their reading habit that promotes their reading language skill.

Long fictional texts like novels also can be useful to promote the reading habit of learner with pleasure of reading. The rhetorical style of such long text can be beneficial to know the way of expression, style of writing and structure of sentences.

Conclusion

The role of literature in the ELT classroom has been reassessed. Now, English teachers and ELT practitioners view that literary texts provide rich linguistic input and effective stimuli for students to express themselves and a potential source of learner motivation. Those literary texts also provide an opportunity for multi-sensorial classroom experiences and can appeal to learners with different learning style. The students can develop their creativity in writing poetry, dialogues and descriptive writing after reading the masterpieces of literary texts. Likewise, literary texts engage the learners arouse interest to observe how to use figurative language, such as metaphor, metonymy, simile, pun, alliteration, assonance, hyperbole, etc. The literary texts make the learners to be aware of the pattern of sounds in language such as rhyme, rhythm, and repetition. Therefore, English language teachers and facilitators can use the literary texts for developing learners’ English language proficiency as authentic sources.

References

Collie, J., & Slater, S. (2009). Literature in the language Classroom. Combridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wright, P. (2011). Stories and their importance in language teaching. In Humanizing Language Teaching, Year 2; Issue 5.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: