Category Archives: Nelta Networking

“Teaching English with a Difference” (a report from Birgunj)

Nelta branch and members

Choutari Ed.: Here’s a wonderful branch update, which we received late but would like to add to the Branch Special segment this month. Please share comments.

TRAINING PROGRAM ON ELT (a report from Birgunj)

Suresh Shrestha, Birgunj

Introduction

Training programs are today’s most effective dais to share experiences and interpret them critically, to develop local perspectives on ELT, and to share ideas and shape and reshape our ongoing activities, thereby enriching ourselves professionally. It is a part of a chain, a link that gives connection to the next one. The next related program may come up as a reformed and more effective one, reinforced by the former one. And again it lays a platform for the newer one to be launch better. What could be considered to come out clear in this regard is that the whole universe is in motion; nothing is stationary at all. Everything is on the move, so ought to be our knowledge and experience. Such thoughts if united with the common spirit pave a straight way to the reality of the demands of several programs on a regular basis. Moreover, if it is an ELT program, no doubt, it may charm us to the global benefit through broader realizations. In the similar connection, the Training Program on ELT that was held in the premises of Thakur Ram Multiple Campus in the second week of December by the Department of English Education, TRM Campus, Birgunj and NELTA, Birgunj was naturally a significant continuance of the chain of ELT activities, giving rise to the hope of ELTism in the Terai, especially, in Birgunj. Let’s be optimistic that there will be many more such events for the foundation of a firmly established trend tending to be nationwide.

Highlights

The three-day Training Program on ELT, thematically, Teaching English with a Difference, organized by the Department of English Education, TRM Campus, Birgunj and NELTA, Birgunj under the chairmanship of Mr Kedar Prasad Sah, the Chair of NELTA, Birgunj and the Head of the Department of English Education, TRM Campus, Birgunj was facilitated by Dr Barbara Law (an English Language Fellow), Professor of Applied Linguistics, University of Michigan, USA. The program comprised of nine sessions was focused on different contemporarily relevant and highly demanded topics such as-

  • Teacher training for the faculties on academic reading and writing, and research skills
  • Training on effective teaching of new B.Ed. and M.Ed. courses
  • Teaching writing
  • Making the best of your textbooks
  • Developing reading habits in students
  • Authentic materials adaptations for classroom use
  • Exploring resources and opportunities for self professional development

About Sixty-nine participants, college students, school and college teachers and others inclined to English language and literature, attended the program with great zeal and zest. What surfaced as the ultimate charm of the program was the highly inspiring due remark by Prof  Jai Raj Awasthi on the program, a message for all the ELT enthusiasts to be on the regular move for good Englishism all across the country.

Bird’s Eye View

8th, 9th and 10th December

After the inauguration of the program chaired by Mr Kedar Prasad Sah, the  Chair of NELTA, Birgunj and the Head of the Department of English Education with formal rituals as scheduled, the first-day training sessions one and two were focused on the topic Using Reading as a Spring Board for Writing. The first session began with the reading of a story. Dr Law read it out for all the participants as they all moved their sights along line after line. It was not only a taste of native pronunciation and accent but also a good chance and challenge for the better listening comprehension. The participants got enough time to read the story at their own speeds. Then, they were asked several related questions to answer. What she highlighted was all the reading urgency – more and more reading for clearer and better comprehension, the most-required practice-cum-quality the students have to have for the courses of BEd and MEd. The participants did the job trying their best and could answer the questions properly. Thereafter, she got them to compose something related. Actually, it was a letter by a character to another. It was a practice for them to place themselves in place of the character and imagine how the real character felt in the story. In session two, the participants were made to go through a paragraph on My Name and explore what similar and new things they could get in regard to their own names. She talked about her own name openly and made others comfortable to talk about theirs. It was much more participant-oriented. And, her instruction was to usher what way and how freely one could move ahead, imaginatively, creatively. Almost all the participants were found to have realized the significance of good reading for better writing– an inescapable step. Apparently, it conveyed a true message that if someone would rather be an excellent diver into the pool of solid writing, they must be used to springing artistically up the springboard of untiring reading, which seems to be uncared-for even to many more teachers, much more students. Anyway, most of the participants sounded to have realized how significant reading is.

The second day began with Teaching Poetry.  Dr Law typed several lines of a poem on the computer getting them projected on the wall. She recited them just for the trainees to capture how to. She explained the reality behind the lines, and added that people could interpret a poem in their own ways, but logically. After that, the participants were given two poems and guided how to recite them poetically. She interpreted it with the clear social and cultural background. In the second session, Critical Thinking was served by means of a story. It guided the participants to sort out the facts, to pick out the key point, to highlight the possibilities, and to come up with a single idea and explain why so. There arose several thoughts in the form of answers. It was an effective way of letting our own perception flow out as a critical thought.

The third session on Research Skills was so fruitful for the would-be researchers to interact on how to carry out a genuine research to understand the gravity of reading for an easy access to the duty assigned.

The third day was especially the day of exploration. The participants were guided along the lines of poems with the close analytical look at its constituents, the types of words! They were practicably encouraged and made to feel and explore out the potential poetry of poetry (, not only prose), hidden, suppressed, subdued- awaiting a way out. And, of course, most of them did dig out the quality trapped within themselves. It was a very marvelous beginning of the exploitation of the latent talent, the innate treasure people take birth with and they do not know themselves; they are just made to realize!

A few last words

In conclusion, conclusively, the three-day ELT Training facilitated by Dr Barbara Law, a well-experienced well-versed English Language Fellow, was of great value and remarkable inspiration to all the participants, irrespective of their ages and designations. What was truly for self-realization was our germinating the true unfeigned feelings of keeping on learning something more, something newer, devoting ourselves to unceasing reading, the most accessible source, observing and thinking from some different angle, i.e. critically, and creating something logically. Dr Law’s writing her name in Nepali as well as in Arabic on the second day and desire to have a Nepali name form the participants was not merely a matter of fun – many more might have taken like that – but also a psychological motivation and reinforcement for all the witnesses to realize learning as a life-long process and to carry out teaching in some different way with curiosity and making the learners curious. That was the most powerful secret of grand success and beauty of teaching – learning relation. Her candid expressions with no NO and moving around encouraging and enquiring the trainees was also a very good lesson of learner-centered teaching to the teachers present there. At last, in the program, no doubt, was something unique left for the participants to grasp, and it succeeded in relaying a subtle message of innovations in the teaching-learning fields with high flexibility along with feasibility.

Another beginning of linguistic enlightenment!

Writing skill development on the ground of reading skill, teaching poetry, Critical Thinking, Research Skills and so on

Everything, everything is on the move

English Access Microscholarship Program in Nepal

Miscellaneous, Nelta branch and members

Shyam Pandey

‘English Access Microscholarship Program in Nepal’ is a new program under the direct supervision of NELTA and U.S. Embassy to develop English language proficiency and cultural understanding for the needy children in Nepal. The purpose of the English Access Microscholarship Program is to make the study of English more accessible to adolescents from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who are between 14 and 16 year old. In addition, while developing the participants’ language skills, they will learn American culture and democratic values increase their ability to participate successfully in the socio-economic development of their countries, and gain ability to compete for and participate in future US exchange and study program. A greater sensitivity to cultural differences, coupled with the language skills they acquire, will enable the participants to take advantage of opportunities that had previously been unavailable to them. In the initial phase of the project, the Access will be implemented in Kathmandu, Bhairahawa and Gorkha.

Objectives

1. General Objectives

This program addresses three main areas

a. English Language Acquisition

Students will develop the four traditional skills with a special emphasis placed on listening comprehension and oral production which are normally ignored in their regular English classes in schools due to the paper pencil test system. In this program students will learn how to speak proper English and develop appropriate reading and writing skills by being exposed to a variety of texts and writing tasks. In addition to this, the students will also be exposed to the English language culture which will further enhance their language skills.

b. Culture

One key element of the program is to familiarize students with some important features of U.S. culture. Students are encouraged to develop respect for and interest in other cultures, customs and beliefs.

c. Personal Development

Various elements of the program seek to foster students’ personal development, with a special focus on community service. The aim is to work towards a balanced intellectual and emotional development so that students will be better prepared to assume an active role in their communities.

Semester Course Components

The semester program will be structured on a weekly basis:

a. Face-to-face classes (1.5 hours twice a week after school)

Total: 3 hours

b. Culture in Context / Enhancement Activities / Multimedia classes (Saturdays)                    Total: 2 hours  * Each year students would attend classes five hours per week for 36             weeks.

Total Weekly: 5 hours

Minimum Entry Requirements

The program is designed for public high school students, between 14 to 16 years of age, who have a minimal knowledge of English. This program is exclusively directed at economically disadvantaged youth.  An equal gender balance (half girls, half boys) will be achieved at all sites. There will be exactly 120 numbers of students in the different four sites. The following is a list of minimum requirements:

Educational Establishment Public high school
Age 14 – 16 years old
Entry Requirement Minimal knowledge of English (High / middle beginner)
Socio-Economic status Disadvantaged
Academic Performance Final GPA for  previous year at least 50 (on 100 scale)

The Access Teachers

The six access teachers in Kathmandu, two access teachers in Gorkha and four access teachers in Bhairahawa get two day intensive training in their respective venue from the NELTA teacher trainers according to the curriculum of access program in the beginning of each semester. The teachers work for access are highly experienced and well trained. They have minimum of Bachelors degree in English.

Class Locations

  1. Nepal Japan Children’s Library – Lainchaur, Kathmandu
  2. Madrasa Islamiya School – Ratna Park, Kathmandu
  3. Public Secondary School – Gorkha Bazaar, Gorkha
  4. American Corner of Bhairahawa – Chamber of Commerce Building, Bhairahawa

(back to editorial/contents)

NELTA = Novel ELT Activities

Miscellaneous, Nelta branch and members

Gopal Prasad Bashyal, Chair, NELTA Palpa Branch

There is a large crowd of teachers when NELTA organizes trainings or workshops. It happens so because those events offer novel ELT activities. Likewise, the events are golden opportunities for them to be exposed and build confidence and self-esteem. Since there is horizontal relationship among the teachers, no one feels superior and inferior. Their quality is measured on the basis of their performance. Similarly the events are open platform to learn and to teach, and also a useful network any individuals or institutions can be benefited for their professional enhancement.

As Kheman Singh Rana, the SMC Chair of Divya Jyoti HSS, Kaseni, Palpa remarks after observing a three day workshop for Primary teachers, teaching is a virgin profession and teachers get rewards if they learn to enrich their performance. And NELTA is the best forum that leads teachers towards autonomous, responsible, creative, innovative life long learners so that ultimately they contribute to enhance ELT in the region. The learning takes place through a combination of convergent and divergent thinking, and the teachers perform well because the events provide guidance in selected areas of ELT.

NELTA International Conference brings hundreds of novel techniques and activities every year. The key note speakers, plenary and concurrent session presenters offer the activities that any teachers can practice in their classrooms. There are some novice, some experienced and some experts who have world wide reputation working together and sharing ideas. There is perfect combination of theory and practice, techniques working at zero resources areas to the latest use of ICT.

NELTA publications are research based and based on standard format so that Journal of NELTA is one of the renowned Journals. Even the Branches publish Journals and trying to follow the Central standard. Neltachoutari is really a useful resource for teachers, trainers, and researchers on ELT. The first date of every month is offered about a half dozen articles. Technology has made it possible to manage NELTA activities by the people who are physically at different corners of the world. Nelta_mail@yahoogroups.com has been equally useful for both information and sharing ideas.

NELTA has been extended throughout the country and abroad. The Branches mange trainings, seminars and also Conferences where local teachers entertain current classroom practice. For example teaching different skills and aspects of English, teaching chants and rhymes, language games, teaching in zero resources, English sounds, testing and writing test items, addressing textual problems etc. Mostly NELTA offers talks, workshops, trainings, interactions and focuses on participatory approach.

NELTA sometimes goes beyond pedagogy and introduces professional skills like reflective teaching, critical and creative thinking, positive attitude, motivation, mentoring, creative writing, classroom diversity and dynamics, English and Englishes etc. In fact, NELTA vibrates the life of ELT practitioners to attain professional competency by its various activities.      Ì         gopalbashyal@gmail.com

 

(back to contents, branch special)

NELTA News from Palpa

Nelta branch and members

NELTA Palpa Conference Vibrated Teachers in the Area

by Gopal Prasad Bashyal, Chair, NELTA Palpa Branch

NELTA Palpa organised a two day Conference (19-20 Nov. 2010) and also conducted Annual General Meeting that formed a new Executive Committee under the Chairmanship of Gopal Prasad Bashyal. The Conference was attended by teachers from Palpa, Gulmi, Syangja, Rupandei, and Dang. The Conference was attended by 103 teachers who found it really a useful and practicable. The theme of the Conference was “Towards Learner Autonomy”.

NELTA Acting President Laxman Gnawali presented workshops on i) Becoming a Professional Teacher, and ii) “Developing a Reading Habit in Children” and focused on access to reading materials for extensive reading. The textbook is not enough and to develop reading habit newspapers, other journals or magazines or books are helpful for the students. He inspired teachers collect reading materials for their students.

NELTA Secretary Kamal Poudel made a pair presentation with Sharala Bhattarai. The couple also presented two workshops: i) Language games: vocabulary games, guessing games, 20 questions, and classroom quiz, Simon says etc which were enjoyed by the participants a lot. ii) Songs and chants: The couple presented different songs and chants downloaded from websites. The songs were printed and sung following the cassettes. The action and melodious singing made all allured of their voice.

Padam Chauhan, a handsome Central Member, made teachers review on SLC exam papers and they got lessons regarding developing quality test papers. It was quite practical and they realised their own mistakes while developing test items.

Shyam Pandey presented on “Interactive Reading in the EFL Learners”. He focused on the ways of making reading interactive. For example he made the teachers read pictures and describe.

Durga Pandey, the Central Member, presented on teaching materials and proved that the surrounding environment and context setting are useful resources for communication. The teachers realised that we need not grumble at shortage of teaching materials but we can use everything available in the classroom. For example, students and teacher’s clothes can be the teaching materials for teaching colour words or adjectives etc.

Kamal Lamsal from Syangja presented English and American English based on his Bell study and illustrated the differences at spelling, pronunciation, grammar, meaning and social level between English and American variety of English.

NELTA Palpa Chair Gopal Prasad Bashyal presented “Autonomous Learner Model” and focused on the supremacy of the learners in teaching learning process. The more the learners are depended upon the teacher the less they become creative and they become low level learners. There is a saying. You can take a horse to a river bank but the horse must drink water to satisfy its thirst. It signifies the importance of learner role in teaching learning process. The focus now shifted to the learners and constructivist ideology of building knowledge. The jug-mug model of teaching is now rejected and replaced by child centeredness so that their potentiality is used in learning. The task of the teacher is to make the challenges right so that the learners can overcome the possible problems in the future. Let’s minimise the learner dependency and let their capacity foster.

To conclude, the Conference became a practical exercise for the teachers who could definitely replicate them in their classrooms.  They evaluated the Conference as a grand successful event to vibrate them.  The sessions involved the teachers very much and there was a good use of multi-media presentation.

(back to contents, branch special)

NELTA Surkhet – 2010 Updates

Nelta branch and members

by Mukunda Giri, Vice Chair, NELTA Surkhet

Here is a report of the activities that NELTA Surkhet branch did in 2010.  At the end of the entry, you will also find the list of our executive board members.

As last year NELTA Surkhet hosted 15th International Conference in our home town, this year passed without much activities for it remained quite busy in settlement of financial cases and many other aspects.  However NELTA Surkhet could organize few activities as follow:

Dr. Luitel facilitated a session on Writing Thesis or Doing Research on 24th August, 2010 at Mahesh hotel in Birendranagar Surkhet. Twenty five members of NELTA Surkhet were benefited by the program.

Likewise this branch also welcomed the director of Fulbrite scholarship from American Embassy on 28th November, 2010 at the branch office. The acting chair Mr. Mukunda Kumar Giri reported her how NELTA Surkhet is dedicated to enhance the ELT situation in the region including its further expectation and planning.

Mukunda Kumar Giri and Bimal Nepali, the vice chair and the advisor of NELTA surkhet respectively, facilitated one day training at Araniko Boarding school on 21st December. Mr Giri presented on teaching English in Primary school and Mr Nepali conducted for teaching English pronunciation.  There were 30 participants from five private schools along with a government school.

Mr. Yedu Gyawoli, the member of NELTA Surkhet,  was received in an orientation program in Achham where he clarified what NELTA is and how it is working for the enhancement of ELT in Nepal.

Mr. Khagendra Thapa disseminated his learning from Hydrabad training at different government schools.

Mr. Raju chitrakar is going to facilitate a session on 1st January at NELTA surkhet for all its members.

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Executive Board:

  1. Chair: Mr. Uttam Gaulee
  2. Vice Chair: Mr. Mukunda Kumar Giri
  3. Secretary: Mr. Lal Bahadur Rana
  4. Secretary: Mr. Ram Bahadur Shahi
  5. Treasurer: Mrs. Bhawona Basnet

Members:

    i.   Agni KC 

    ii. Yedu Gyawoli

    iii.  Bisnu Sharma

    iv. Khadga Thapa

    v.  Bidya Kharel

    vi.  Deepen Bhusal

     

    (back to contents, branch special)

NeltaChoutari and Professional Development

Nelta Networking

by Ganga Gautam

Dear friends,

It’s been two years since we have the NeltaChoutari with us, a wonderful professional blog that brings us ample Khurak of diverse tastes not only from Nepal but from different parts of the world. Initially this blog began as a kind of discussion blog as Shyamji puts it on the very first issue of neltachoutari (January 2009):

“Over the course of the last few months, Bal, Prem, and I have been talking about a random but very significant set of issues via email (copying among the three of us). I am beginning to wonder if we should redirect that time and energy into something more productive, more shared, and more beneficial for a larger community. As Prem and I talked on Skype this afternoon, we should archive and share these discussions through blogging (I created this blog after our talk), through a wiki (I set up knowledgemaking.pbwiki since that email also), a discussion list (way to go), or anything better than email–email is not designed for collaboration, for Pete’s sake!”

Now, I feel that it is much more than a discussion blog. I consider this a very powerful tool of professional development. Currently I am in Boston University and I am browsing the various professional development network on the web. Comparing NeltaChoutari with other internationally known blog, I can say that NeltaChoutari has offered us no less than any professional sharing blog has offered. Yesterday, Shyamji called me and asked me if I was in a position to share my observations about the blog as its regular reader and occasional contributor. I happily agreed.

I quickly glanced the archives of NeltaChoutari  and looked at what we have shared and discussed. I found the list amazing ! The key themes that we have talked are:

a)      Critical Pedagogy

b)      Methodology of ELT

c)       Native and Non-native Issues in ELT

d)      Global and local varieties of English

e)      Bilingualism and Multi-lingualism

f)       Trends and Issues in ELT

g)      Role of and positioning of English in Nepal

h)      Language Barriers

i)        World Englishes

j)        Reforms in ELT in Nepal

k)      Classroom Humor

l)        Alternative Curriculum

m)    Teacher Training

n)      Teacher Professional Development

o)      Practice Teaching

p)      Professional Networking

q)      Classroom Dynamics

r)       Interviews with the ELT Celebrities

s)       Teachers’ Anecdote

t)       Conference Sharing

The list can go on and on. I just wanted to mention that we have shared a wide variety of topics that are the buzz terms in the ELT undercurrents. This shows that the forum has been able to offer the most updated ELT materials from home and abroad. If someone compiles the discussion (probably NELTA can think of doing it), it would produce an excellent ELT Anthology with a Glocal ELT flavour.

When I read the interview by Prof. Jai Raj Awasthi and the articles by Prof. Govinda Raj Bhattarai, Mr. Vishnu Singh Rai and Dr. Bal Mukunda  Bhandari in the last issue and several other articles from many other colleagues from Tribhuvan University and Kathmandu University, I felt that ELT in Nepal is growing as a dynamic discipline and we have been able to set the ELT parameters in Nepal along with the global advancement. I feel very proud to be a part of the recent curriculum revision project in Tribhuvan University and there were many colleagues involved in it. Prof. Awasthi has already highlighted on the new courses in his interview last month. On this occasion, I would like to quote Dr. Numa Markee, Professor of University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign  while asking him for his observations on the recently revised teacher education course of B.Ed. and M.Ed.  that he reviewed before they were finalized. He said, “Overall, I think that the quality of the curriculum you have devised is certainly comparable to that of British, American and Australian universities with which I am familiar”. This shows that we have been following the current ELT world and we also have a lot to offer to the global ELT community. Professional forum such as NeltaChoutari are the excellent platform to learn and help others learn.

Shyamji told me that we have over 9,000 views with an estimate of 500 unique readers on NeltaChoutari as of December 1. This is not a small number. When I shared this blog as a part of my presentation in one of my classes in Boston University, I received very good response from them. They said that they will ask their students to use this blog to get the resources for their research work. However, the readership is not enough. We need think of ways of getting people engaged in the professional communication and sharing. This is the most difficult and challenging part particularly in Nepal where English teachers have to be extremely busy with several assignments and obligations. Nevertheless, we need to find some time for our professional growth. At this point, I would like to make few suggestions to make NeltaChoutari a more productive forum.

a)      NeltaChoutari  not only offers the thematic discussion but it also connects us to the vast amount of ELT resources that are available online. Teacher education campuses can encourage the students to make use of those resources. Students will find them highly useful for the course work and practice teaching. There are wonderful lesson plans on the web which our student teachers can use them readily in their classes.  Similarly, the articles from these resources will complement the topics they discuss in their classes. NELTA can organize a short orientation program for the teacher educators both at the center and at the branches and give a demonstration of how best these resources can be made available for our students.  The teacher educators can also be encouraged to share their experiences through this blog and learn from their colleagues around the globe.

b)      One of the key challenges for our thesis writing Masters students  is the literature review. I remember my students having this challenge and I used to recommend them to visit to NeltaChoutari and find the relevant ELT resources for their review. There are archives of such resources which can be accessed via this network. If people really need some articles that are not freely available, there are NELTA colleagues around the world who have kindly offered their help to make them available if request is placed. So, I can see that it will be a great opportunity for our students to explore NeltaChoutari during their research. Once they are into it, I am sure they will be addicted to it.

c)       In order to engage the primary and secondary level English teachers in the discussion, we could organize a session in the NELTA conference as we did last year and share with them what this forum can offer for them. Also, NELTA Central Committee can organize a short session to orient the branch representatives on the use of this forum.

In a nutshell, what I am trying to say is that professional networking and sharing is the best way to develop ourselves and the more we share the richer we become professionally. Please do read NeltaChoutari and engage yourself in the professional discussion and I can assure you it will pay you back !!!!!

Thank you Shyamji, Balji, Premji, Kamalji and Sajanji and recently Hemji for making NeltaChoutari a special ELT forum for all of us !!!!!!!!!!

Happy reading !!!!!!!!!!!!

Ganga Ram Gautam

Hubert Humphrey Fellow – 2010/2011

Boston University, USA

President, NELTA

December  2010

Invitation beyond the Ritual

Nelta Networking

— Hem Raj Kafle

Nepali English teachers are a smug community: smug because the society has so far accorded us reverence, smug because the world is still crazy after English, and because we feel English is a difficult thing. The community is also strange because it looks like a community despite being founded upon such problematic binaries: education-humanities, guru-chela, old-new, mature-immature, central-peripheral, public-private, native-foreign, modern-traditional and the like. Fortunately, despite these potential causes of friction and subsequent discourses, we are not unbearably in controversies. We have rather been unbearably silent — if ‘dumb’ is an improper word for this platform. We have not developed a culture of raising productive quarrels.

Many of us overlook the problems underlying our smugness. Chances are that someone from a different field possessing our type of competence in English can say: “What’s there to teach in English that no one but English teachers can do?” It is not a foolish question. There are people who believe English is everyone’s cup of tea, limited to cramming a few rules of grammar, and being able to read and write in English fairly well. We would like to say: ‘No, English transcends these fundamentals.” We would also like to say: “The English teacher has challenges and therefore responsibilities.” But, how many of us have sufficiently spoken of these challenges and responsibilities? How many of us have invited the members of our community to speak? Most of us have not (or do not want to). First, we have not sufficiently realized the eclecticism of our field beyond formal classrooms. Second, overburdened by manifold personal choices and obligations, we avoid the urgency to update our profession. Third, we are too ‘established’ to see any need to compete in a changing world, to outgrow the halo our predecessors have created around us. Fourth, we are not moved by threats of redundancy because redundancy in our part of the world is not a practical condition so long as non-professional connections outscore professional competence.

But, we do not live a time when we could judge the worth of others in terms of how correct their English was. We live a time when the world instead judges us for our want of diversity, for the absence of readiness to participate beyond the ritual, the traditional, the comfortable, the riskless.

It pinches most of us to be reminded of our passivity, to be criticized for only growing our population, not professionalism. It also hurts us to be asked to think and act more democratically beyond the aforesaid binaries, to be at par with the needs of twenty first century scholarship which demands sharing beyond age, gender, locale, level of competence and any hierarchy hindering our mutual growth. Our intention in this issue of Nelta Choutari is to pinch the English teaching community out of slumber, so that we wake up to speak no matter how clear or vague we are. Please wake up to poke the Choutari team, at least, because we have begun to be a bit cheeky. The Choutari is the public sphere of Nepali English teachers, to reiterate the motto. Let us work to transcend the commonplace and help one another grow professionally.

We are celebrating the New Year 2067 with this tickle. Come join us in this mood. Come challenge our smug culture of sharing very little or nothing. In Choutari’s January 2010 issue we had stated our fresh agendas for networking with and helping a wider population.  We restate them as our commitments for the year 2067 and ahead.

This issue contains:

  1. USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING: ISSUES AND PROBLEMS by Khagendra Acharya
  2. TOWARD DISCIPLINED MULTIDISCIPLINARITY: ENGLISH AS IT STANDS FOR ME by Nirmala Mani Adhikary
  3. ENGLISH AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH: SOME REFLECTIONS by Deepak Subedi
  4. TEACHER ANECDOTE  by Ekku Maya Pun

Summary of Nelta Conference in Surkhet

Nelta Networking

NELTA Event of Surkhet

– Raju Chitrakar

NELTA Surkhet hosted second phase of  15th NELTA International Conference. Despite few weaknesses, the ceremony was taken to be a grand success. It gave good message not only to the participants, but also to the host and its centre.

The conference took place from 24 to 25 February 2010. NELTA Surkhet labored hard with a sense of fortune to host the conference and a chance to show the branch’s ability. The branch certainly got the chance to be fortunate. But how much it became able to show its ability is in the judgment of the participants.

On the following day after the NELTA International Conference in Kanthmandu, 21 Feb., Professor Dr. Jayraj Awasthi, NELTA Chair Gangaram Gautam, Dr. Numa Markee, the key note speaker of the conference and Kate Miller, a UK English language fellow,  flew to Surkhet. They took pre-conference class on course designing to the teachers of degree level of different campuses. Many national and international participants arrived the venue the same day.

The inaugural ceremony was conducted on the morning of 24 February. Welcoming all the delegates and participants Mr. Balaram Khadka, the campus chief of Surkhet Campus Education, thanked the central committee of NELTA for its decision to conduct the conference at Birendranagar. Prof. Dr. Tirth Khania, the Member of National Planning Commission, was the chief guest. He expressed the possibility of government working with NELTA in the matter of developing ELT situation in Nepal. He even promised to play a positive role for this. Prof. Dr. Jayraj Awasthi flashed back the time when he came to Birendranagar by standing on the hood of a truck to open NELTA branch in Surkhet in the year 1996. He also expressed his satisfaction with the development of the branch and wished its betterment. Ms. Amanda Jacobson, Cultural Affairs Representative of US Embassy, highlighted the contribution of American Centre in developing ELT in Nepal. Mr. Ewan Davies, Deputy Director of British Council, highlighted the school links British Council has been making to develop performance of English teachers of Nepal. Dr. Numa Markee, the key note speaker, praised the contribution of NELTA in developing ELT situation in Nepal. Mr. Bhusan Manandhar, President of Mid- western University Establishment Committee, expressed the need of foreign help in the development of human resource in the context of their effort in developing Birendranagar as an educational zone. Mr. Uttam Gaulee, President of NELTA Surkhet branch, revealed the effort of Surkhet branch to coordinate in the region and thanked all for their respective roles in holding the mega event at Birendranagar. There were around twenty foreign and twenty Nepalese delegates and over 400 participants of over 200 schools of Mid- and-far-western regions. The theme of the conference was “English in diversity.”

The participants were delighted to see before them and hear the insightful presentations of Numa Markee, the key note speaker, of Kate Miller, and of their guru Prof. Dr. Jayraj Awasthi in the plenaries. And they also felt enlightened by getting innovative methods of ELT from the presentations in the concurrent sessions of the foreign delegates like Prof. Dr. Stefan Colibaba, Susna Kennedy, Kate Miller, Susan Deith, Dr. Boguslaw Marek, Gretchen Coppedge, Dr. Numa Markee, Kateerine Lea, Deniel Stead, Marilyn Eversloe, Beth Trudell, Khalid Mehomood Ch and of many other foreign and Nepalese presenters. There was a cultural show from Folk Songs Academy Surkhet after the closing ceremony, which made most of the audience including NELTA President Mr. Gautam dance.

Ms. Kate Miller gave a three-day post-conference ToT to forty participants. All the participants were very happy to know the importance of learning English sounds in the journey of learning English. She found enormous hunger for learning in the participants. Miller had given a teacher training at Birendranagar two years ago, too. She found many of the participants of that time taking part at this time as well. However, she was surprised to find no any change i.e. professional development in them.

Mr. Uttam Bista, an English from Kanchanpur district, said, “I have taught English several years, but only now I knew how to teach it.” Feeling the necessity of teacher development through academic organization like NELTA, Mr. Dhruba Shahi of Achham district said that he will also open NELTA branch in Mangalsen of Achham. Many participants were seen to be taking the addresses, mostly of the foreigners. What more aims than these NELTA event like this could have! Many participants were heard saying “grand success of the conference.”

However, despite our best efforts for good arrangement of the conference, we noticed so many weaknesses during the event. For example, we could not manage time, volunteers and reporters/rapporteurs; we could have managed some guest houses for some participants as the hotels were too expensive; there were some defects in multimedia and food managements; we all looked wild as we all had to do everything; the journal was not well-prepared and came few minutes late. And there were certainly many more.

We would have been happy if we had been reminded of the weaknesses. NELTA President Mr. Gautam only said, “There were some weaknesses but the conference was far better than the one we first conducted in Kathmandu.” Senior vice-chair Mr. Laxman Gnawali said, “The Surkhet event proved that we can conduct NELTA international conference even outside the capital.” General secretary Mr. Hemant Dahal expressed his satisfaction for his coordination in making the quick decision to conduct the conference at Birendranagar. Ms. Kate Miller said, “NELTA should do something for the teachers of remote areas of Nepal. Government should support for this. They should make a five year plan.” All the foreigners thanked for the management and hostility. They praised the geographical features of the valley as well.

However the conference, we are thankful to the NELTA Central Committee for its quick decision without any hesitation. As our Chair Mr. Uttam Gaulee knew that I was going to attend the central meeting after the event, he said, “Please convey my thanks to the centre for their all supports to Surkhet branch.” All the foreign delegates including Dr. Numa Markee and Neplese delegates including Prof. Dr. Tirth Khania, Prof. Dr. Jayraj Awasthi are also thankful as without their presence the event could never have been so worthy. All the trainees must be thanked as the event could not have been successful without their presence.  Donors like District Development Committee Surkhet, Surkhet Campus Education, different public and private schools are also thankful as their help made the works easier for us. And credit goes also to Surkhet Intellectual Forum (SIF) for its help in coordination. We are sure that if Surkhet or another branch gets another chance of holding such a mega event in the future, it will not leave any stone unturned.

Raju Chitrakar

Advisor

NELTA Surkhet

Networking Matters: Message from Surkhet (15th NELTA Conference)

Nelta Networking

Networking matters.

Kamal Poudel, Secretary, NELTA

‘I came, I saw, I conquered’. Many modern people may not be aware of the first speaker of this simple sentence which bears a strong sense winning a battle but in an easy way. The battle might have been fearful, but the speaker never felt like that. There were strong teams around him to face the challenges together; they fought the battle bearing the meaning of team spirit to achieve the success. The success and team works are now intricately interwoven, which has been the main driving force for the successful operation of NELTA across the country. Along with this, NELTA has been quite successful in spreading the idea that NELTA believes in the concept of multiple centers. We would like to reiterate that NELTA has been breaking down the compartmentalizing barriers that were raised in the Nepalese society for long. Breaking the barriers, the teachers involved in NELTA have now realized that they are in the dire need of networking among themselves. The meeting of NELTA delegates during the conference itself is the indicator of the need of networking. Their overwhelming presence and the relationship they establish among themselves should be seriously taken by the people who are leading NELTA, no matter what level. Also, its imperative value needs to be addressed as significantly as possible. The NELTA delegates from the different corners have already proved this that they want to be the part of wider network as far as possible. We agree that NELTA delegates were not satisfied with the gathering in the centre only, or they must have thought that now it’s a high time that they broke the concept of  one center and establish the concept of multiple centers.  Here, the concept of NELTA’s multiple centers bears the idea of helping strengthening the teachers’ professionalism and thus finally enhance the teaching-learning situation in the country from the different parts. These facts finally led the NELTA Surkhet branch colleagues and the other like-minded NELTA colleagues to host the second phase of the 15th International Conference of NELTA from 24 to 25 February 2010.

The Surkhet conference brought the same spirit of dedication from the different parts of the world (India, China, Australia, Poland, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Romania, UK and USA) to the enhancement of ELT in Nepal. The conference drew the attention of local people widely and clearly conveyed the message that the existence and improvement of English in the local level is essential, as it is a tool to see interact with the rest of the world.

Certainly, all languages in a multilingual society and setting have the same prestige and importance. All language speakers have the equal right to preserve and speak their own language as per their desire in their daily life situation; however these people have the right to be informed about the grave value of and to have access to the language that they think is important in the given situation and the relevant age. The people of the present day are required to understand the fact that English is now nobody’s language so it is everybody’s language. Being everybody’s language, it has been able to bring the people of the world together and thus share their diverse ideas on the same platform. To note, we are able to expose ourselves to the outer world through the common means. We are aware of the fact that thoughts/ideas are the core/end of our life while language is the ‘dress of thought’. But, if we are not equipped with the common means, we may not be able to share our ideas efficiently; the sharing of ideas can make this world a better place to live. It is worth noting the words of the welcome speech delivered by Mr B R Khadka, the campus chief of Surkhet Education Campus. He expressed that we have seen that English language has become indispensable to the modern life as it is a global language, which needs to be acquired by all who would like to be interconnected with the world. In this reference, we also need to be quite aware of the significance of the enhancement of the English Language in our country. At this point, I would like to stress on the word ‘interconnection’ which bears the essence of networking. The people now locally and globally have realized that interconnection is the key thing in order to enhance oneself, so the concept of networking among the ELT members needs to be addressed by the NELTA delegates for the overall development education. English is not now for the sake of English. At the same time, English is a language which co-exists with other languages, so the English language should be considered as a factor which helps the diversity grow in a harmonious way. To create harmony in the diversity is the task of ELT stakeholders of the present day world.

Whether we have been able to create positive attitude towards English among the users is an important question. We have seen that English is an indispensable to the modern life. In the name of its importance, we may have been erasing the meanings of life of many young citizens across the country. Because we have been stressing on the value of English language, and at the same time we have not able to teach this language to the students in an effective way, as a result thousands of Nepalese students have failed in the test of English. No doubt, NELTA is not the only stakeholder of English teaching, along with the government agencies there are many. But in some ways, we are also responsible for the failure of English in many schools. We have been playing the role of watchdog as well. But, has this been enough? Or is it that we have not been strong enough to wake up the government agencies to accelerate the teaching of English and make it better? It’s a high time that we started evaluating and reviewing what we have done so far. These questions could be sensed in the inaugural speech delivered by Prof Khaniya. It’s never too late, if we start acting from the time we have realized. Again, for this as well, we the teachers are required to get together and move ahead in a harmony to address the existing problems to bring positive changes in the society. We all realize that it’s our responsibility if we are professionally committed. The professional development matters, which is one of the key statements NELTA has always been raising. So, dear ENLTA colleagues come forward and get connected and widen the networking, share your ideas and finally help each other; and we develop professionally!!! Also, learning is the prerequisite of professional development. Learn with your colleagues and learn from your pupils are the facts of modern education, which we all are aware of. Get interconnected to learn, I would say.

‘What did you learn my lord?’ was answered as ‘Words, words, words!’ These often quoted question and answer are always relevant to the teachers. In addition to what, how do you learn is also an important question. To take an analogy, there was a priest who was to preach in a new place for his new audience. As he got to the temple, there was a huge gathering of people to listen to him. He wrote a word/title on the board and asked his people, ‘Do you know what story I am going to tell you today?’ The people were puzzled and answered together ‘No.’ The priest said, ‘If you do not know anything about the story, why should I tell you?’ Saying this, he left the place. It was on second day, he asked the same question. The people wanted to listen to him. So, this time they decided to say the answer ‘yes.’ They said yes. To their great surprise, the priest said, ‘If you know the story, why should I tell you?’ This time too he went away. Everyone was puzzled again. The same thing happened on the third day as well. He came and asked the same question. This time, the people answered differently. Some half of them said ‘yes’, and some half of them said ‘no’. The priest was satisfied with the answer and said, ‘Good! Now those who know the story tell to those who do not know the story.’ Then, he carried on his work. Now the question is, how should you be rated, if you are the same type of teacher? I believe the teacher like him is a modern teacher. S/he believes in the principle of group work. Further, s/he believes that there are more than thirty people in class, and then there are thirty diverse sources of knowledge. A single person may not be the good source of all different types of knowledge. This is the age of diversity, and diversity is the abundant source of knowledge, indeed authentic knowledge. Enter the world of diversity to achieve the authenticity of knowledge. Connect yourself with more people. Start learning now. Prof Awasthi rightly asked the question in his plenary speech ‘Do Teachers Teach or Learn?’ The classroom itself is the source of knowledge for the teachers and students themselves. Learning from each other is a fun. We teachers, as Prof Awasthi stressed, too need to expand ourselves further widely and get connected more for the self-empowerment.

In this context further, if  there is diversity, can we assure that there is only one English? No, never is it possible. Mr Uttam Gaulee, the chair of Surkhet NELTA branch said that English is used more by non-native speakers than the native ones. This also indicates that English is living with various languages. The moment we talk about the existence of a being or a language in diversity, we automatically assume that there is sure to be the birth of another type, which again contributes to the development of diversity. This has been proved by the development of Nepali language itself. We do not speak the same language that Bhanubhakta Acharya or his contemporary spoke. Along with the self development of Nepali language, it has borrowed a lot of features from other languages spoken in Nepal. Certainly, its features have also been borrowed by other languages. Thus, there are different varieties of Nepali language. So is the case with English. We are, indeed, developing our own English, and one day there will be a palpable variety of English spoken in Nepal in the long run. Concentrating on the concept World Englishes, Dr. Numa Markee, the keynote speaker of the conference deliberated that English is growing very fast round the globe and therefore it has a number of variations. He also stated that English teachers can play crucial roles in the language policies of Nepal as the new constitution of Nepal which is to be drafted soon. He also added that bringing about pedagogical innovation is the most challenging task to be done in course of introducing curriculum innovation. So, I would like to stress on NELTA delegates should now take the deciding role what kind of language policy we need. The fact is we need English and we need diversity.

Finally, knowing the value of diversity is essential for the modern teachers. In order to feel the value, the criss-cross matters. Your movement from one point to another point will prove to what extent you would like to see the diverse world: be it seeing different cultures across the country or wathching birds in Chitwan National Park. Or make another plan to meet another centre after Kathmandu and Surkhet. In the conference (in Kathmandu and Surkhet), NELTA participants came, NELTA participants saw and NELTA participants conquered. Move from your place to see the diversity, and thus strengthen the networking of multiple centers, share the ideas of those centres through various means, and finally become a conqueror. One of the ways of sharing is to visit the NELTA Choutari. Post your comments and ideas. We would like to welcome the diverse ideas from different centres. Remember you are one of the centers. Please tell us what is there in your centre.

What is this blog about?

Nelta Networking

Welcome!

NeltaChoutari is a web magazine that started as a wiki collaborative project in January 2009. It was established to supplement the ELT conversations that have been going on for many years within the mailing list of NELTA (Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association). In July 2009, we started posting the webzine’s monthly issues on this blog so our conversation can be heard by the rest of the ELT community outside NELTA.

First initiated by Ghanashyam Sharma (Shyam), Bal Krishna Sharma and Prem Bahadur Phyak, this networking initiative now has six core moderators (Sajan Kumar Karn, Kamal Poudel, and Hem Raj Kafle  joined later). NELTA President Ganga Ram Gautam, has been advising us since the beginning of 2010. More than 200 NELTA teachers and friends have posted entries and left comments. You can see the viewer count at the bottom of the navigation panel on the right of any entry page–which is already incredibly high. In early 2010, NELTA appreciated the initiative of the bloggers on this team by providing liason and support through its Executive Member Mr. Kamal Poudel, who coordinates this web-zine as a part of a larger initiative that is called “Nelta Networking” (please read this post by Kamal Poudel). So, the monthly ELT magazine that you see on this blog (we also call it the Choutari “blog-zine”) is a part of NELTA’s as well as Networking team’s mission for promoting professional development through networking and ELT conversation among Nepalese teachers and with NELTA friends around the world. We believe that we can develop very useful and probably most relevant intellectual/professional resources for the Nepalese teachers, scholars, researchers, and students (especially in the long run) by making our own professional conversations, news and updates, research materials, theoretical discussions, and ideas from practical experiences, and so on available through a discussion forum like this.

Please take some time to browse and see what we have been discussing since January 2009 (you can “select month” or “select category” with the options in the right navigation panel). After reading what you find relevant/ interesting, please contribute your comments about how this networking can be made more relevant for you and other Nelta members. Your participation in the discussions here is not just welcome, it is the very goal of the networking project–if you leave a comment, under any other post, your idea will add one small step on the ladder of NELTA’s and Nelta Choutari’s networking mission.

If you would like to share more than a quick comment (a longer reflection about an event/issue, a personal ELT related story, success story of a branch or project, monthly branch update, etc) please email your thoughts to neltanetworking-(at)-gmail-(dot)-com and we will post it as a new blog entry and fellow ELT teachers/scholars can read and discuss/comment on your post.

Moderators

Kamal Poudel

Ghanashyam Sharma

Bal Krishna Sharma

Prem Bahadur Phyak

Sajan Kumar Karn

Hem Raj Kafle

 

Making a Milestone: February 2010 issue

Editorial, Nelta Networking

The first issue of our second year, which featured an interview with the President, marked a milestone for monthly ELT discussions on this blog. It is not the technology, the channel, that did the real magic–it is the substance that flowed through this channel, the interest, the contribution you made. This is just a blog, and with the advent of web 2.0 technologies, any individual or a group of people can publish their ideas in mediums like blogs, wikis, discussion forums, etc–that’s not the hard part. The hard and important part is our involvement, the quality and quantity of our discussion, the relevance of the substance to the stakeholders, and a professional culture guiding our  conversations. NeltaChoutari–which has now become a part of Nelta Networking (see entry 1)–has done that magic because a rapidly increasing number of Nepalese ELT professionals have started discussing serious issues here, the traffic has become significant, and despite the technological and material challenges across the country teachers from the branches are directly contributing and participating in the discussions. Let us work together to bring about even more involvement from our colleagues from the branches, the center, and abroad.

This month’s ELT khurak include:

1. Invitation to Nelta Networking Project (by Kamal Poudel, Nelta Secretary)

2. NELTA Surkhet, a Welcome note (by Mukunda Giri)

3. A Teaching Anecdote (by Lekh Nath Sharma Pathak)

4. ELT Resource Development (by Bal Krishna Sharma)

5. Some regular ELT fun stuff

On behalf of the larger Nelta Networking team led by Kamal Poudel and as the person assigned to facilitate the monthly issues and discussions on this blog, I would like to thank Nelta Central Committee for recognizing and expanding the networking possibilities, a vision that everyone of us should appreciate Nelta for.

Please make sure to contribute your suggestions about the networking initiative, especially how we can increase the involvement of our colleagues from the branches. Please also leave suggestions for Bal Krishna about the project on resource building: what resources would best benefit you? And, very important, please take a moment to say hi to Surkhet, or ask a question, or segue into a scholarly ELT issue. Anyway, please write something, for if you expect someone else to comment, too many people will miss one great idea!

Nelta Networking

Nelta Networking

Almost one and a half decades ago, a team of ELT experts and practitioners realized a dire need of a forum for teachers and experts to share their teaching experiences and ideas, and they formed the Nepalese ELT forum, NELTA. That network of teachers now connects several hundred English teachers with one another and with the broader ELT world. As networking is taking new forms—mailing group, social networking, discussion forums, and resource building through professional discussions—NELTA promptly responded to the developments by launching the Nelta Networking initiative which will coordinate and promote networking activities on the web, connecting them with NELTA’s overall professional development initiatives. This blog based webzine, Nelta Choutari, is a part of that larger initiative.

The increase of branches and members is always fundamental for the institutional growth of NELTA, but they both need to be tied up with common goals and objectives and thus finally be the part of the mainstream where various features are/can be amalgamated. Along with the rapid growth of the organization, we have now felt that it’s high time that we started having larger and effective networking for the ELT cadres, practitioners and experts within and beyond the country.

The main objective of the networking initiative is to promote professional conversations among Nepalese English language teachers and to connect them to ELT conversations and resources in the world outside. Communication is key to professional development in a variety of ways: sharing ideas for better work, finding professional opportunities, creating new knowledge through interaction, creating and running professional projects, and so on.  So, discussions of all kinds matter. For that reason, I urge you to please contribute to all forms of networking, whether it is in the form of response/encouragement to colleagues who share ideas, by starting new threads of discussion, updating about activities in your branch, or finding and sharing ELT resources through appropriate channels. If we all contribute what we can, we can make a big difference in the careers of teachers of our and future generations.

As we all know, many NELTA members have no access to the web, while some of us have limited access; only a few have more significant access. The networking initiative will encourage and help those who have access to make online discussions and resources available to their colleagues who have too limited or no access. We need to come together to widen the network so we will not only be in touch with the ELT community through the web and also to connect other colleagues. The discussion thus can have various forms with the larger networking of NELTA.

What kind of projects will the proposed initiative involve? We have in mind a list of projects and we are embarking on them on a priority basis. But we need your input and your participation to make these effective, for in fact your involvement is one of the key goals of networking. So please share your thoughts.

  1. NETWORKING WITH OTHER ELT ORGANISATIONS: It’s obvious that NELTA is willing to spread its networking with the other regional teachers’ associations. There have already been quite a few meetings and discussions concentrating on strengthening teachers’ association with the help of British Council. The teachers associations (including NELTA itself) have agreed that they will share each others’ programmes across the region (for the present situation, by region we can understand at least SAARC). For example, we shared our “language improvement course” with Shrilankan Teachers’ Association (SLELTA). There can be many other modes of widening the network and making ourselves resourceful. We can have peer reviews of the conference presentation and orgnaisation too. This might sound ambitious, but in many cases these tasks are affordable, as it might not be cost effective for us to participate in the Indian Teachers’ conferences. Networking and working together may help us get some sponsors too.
  2. NETWORKING WITH GLOBAL ELT PROFESSIONAL FORUMS: This might involve helping NELTA members subscribe to networks of organizations like TESOL, IATEFL SIG, ELTEC, informing NELTA members about opportunities and promoting Nelta with such international bodies.
  3. NELTA CHOUTARI’S MONTHLY DISCUSSIONS will continue to promote professional discussion among ELT practitioners interested in ELT in Nepal, and increasing the participation of the branches will be one of its objectives going forward. As a part of the larger networking initiative, this project will also coordinate with other projects designed to increase branch involvement and get more response and input from branches; follow up key NELTA events and develop issues based on them; involve scholars from outside Nepal; increase global traffic; increase active responders; etc.
  4. BUILDING RESOURCE ONLINE and exploring possibilities for including Nepal’s scholarship in global knowledge databases. This also means making it possible for NELTA members to be able to contribute directly to the process of resource building, at least through sharing experience, discussing issues, informing the broader community about branch activities, etc.
  5. SOCIAL NETWORKING AMONG NELTA MEMBERS: By further developing and expanding the use of social networking media like Mailing group, Facebook, Twitter, RSS feeds, and social bookmarking, this project will inform members about NELTA activities at the center and the branches. More broadly, this project is also a part of connecting online and offline networking and resource building. We are planning to find out easier mechanisms of strengthening local branch communications. We have been in contact through NELTA Choutari and Yahoo-groups. Now, we need to strengthen and widen our networking through the technology in a painless way. The members may get discouraged from being the part of technologically available networking like emails and web if they do not have access to this. But we are planning to encourage branches and members by training, supporting with online discussions made available offline, and asking them to post branch updates in these forums (by beginning to discuss what mechanisms will be best for doing so).
  6. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF NELTA WEBSITE: Our current website is a great source of information and resources, and we plan to develop it further as a hub for coordinating all the above activities and projects. Responding to the advancements in web technology, we will be structuring it in ways that branches and members can contribute more directly and in their own ways, especially updating their activities, sharing their resources, learning networking skills, and so on.

Your suggestions and comments are expected and appreciated.

Welcome to Surkhet

Nelta Networking

As we look forward to receiving a large audience of national and international ELT professionals, we are Surkhet are glad to share something about this NELTA branch, with a quick introduction to Surkhet.

Surkhet, a beautiful district in the middle of Midwestern Nepal, is not only famous for its unique communities and cultures but also for some historically and geographically significant places like ‘Kakrebihar’, ‘Shiva Mandir’, ‘Deutibajai’, the ‘Bulbule’ park, and the amazing ‘Barah Lake’ which the birds keep clean. Birendranagar, the headquarter of Surkhet  and an emerging town in Midwestern Region of Nepal, is a business transit point linked to all the districts of Karnali and Bheri zones. People from any part of Nepal can easily arrive here either by bus or airplane. Besides being a business centre, the charm of Surkhet lies in its being a vibrant educational centre. There are already 5 colleges, 26 higher secondary schools, 84 secondary schools, 81 lower secondary school, 389 primary public schools, including 50 private boarding schools in Surkhet. Moreover, with the establishment of a federal republic democratic Nepal, Nepal government has assessed the needs and demands of this region and announced to set up one university here so as to address the educational needs of this region. Hence, it is doubtless Surkhet is poised to become a more advanced educational centre and enhance academic activities in various fields including ELT.

Realizing the need to promote the teaching of English as an international language, and thus a language that is prescribed as a compulsory subject in all levels of formal education of Nepal, English teachers of Surkhet founded the NELTA Surkhet branch in 1996, under the guidance of Dr. Jai Raj Awasti and his colleagues late Khadka Bahadur KC and Nirmal Yogi. The first team was headed by Bishnu Hari Timilsena, and in a matter of few years, many ELT activities were carried out including the establishment of ELT resource centre at Jana Higher S. School. Surkhet is indebted to the British Council for its support in the establishment of the centre with a library and computer facility. British Council also later sponsored a scholarship for Timilsena to attend ELT training in the UK. Under late Uday Bahadur Basnet (1998) and under Lekh Nath Baral (2005), many more trainings, workshops seminars and other professional development activities have been carried out. Two of Surkhet’s scholars got Hornby Scholarship, which added the charm of ELT professionalism among English teachers in the west. Under Bimal Nepali, NELTA added many members and organized trainings like those facilitated by Kate Miller.

NELTA Surkhet is currently chaired by Uttam Gaulee, and we are professionally thriving more than ever before. Recently, we organized a week long work shop for primary, secondary, tertiary level teachers as well as the principals, which were facilitated by Gretchen Coppedge, an English fellow NELTA/KU from the US and Gita Sitaula, a NELTA central executive committee member. This year, Surkhet also organized a training that provided TESOL certificate to twenty members; the training was facilitated by Hementa Dahal, the general secretary and Kamal Paudel, the secretary of NELTA of behalf of TEFL International. NELTA Surkhet is also conducting a range of professional development activities including publication of a newsletter; meetings and interactions between teachers and the chairperson, members, secretaries, and past chairs of NELTA centre; and we are gradually increasing the involvement of our members in networking with NELTA community across the country and the world.

The most important ELT event that is on the horizon of NELTA Surkhet at this time is the 2010 International Conference of NELTA. We are proud to host and organize the Conference in Surkhet. We eagerly look forward to the conference as another milestone for this branch and towards professional development of English teachers in western Nepal.

Please click on the comment link below and leave a question, comment, or thoughts you would like to share or ask with the great community of ELT professionals who will be meeting in beautiful Surkhet, or who might not be able to attend so would like to learn from this forum. It would be great if we can share about other branches in this forum, now and in the coming months. (If you have any questions about the venue, accommodation, programs, or anything that you would like to write off the list to us, please write to mukunda_teacher_giri ~ yahoo . com.)

– Mukunda Giri

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Hello World!

Miscellaneous, Nelta Networking

Written by Shyam Sharma as the About page when Choutari was started.

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The new era of web based communication began with someone writing “Hello World!” in a website created with complex web/code language. Today, with the advent of Web 2.0 web technologies, what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG). Bal, Prem, and Shyam (3 NELTA members who are studying abroad) began this collaborative blog in the beginning of 2009. Our intention is to make our often useful conversations, and the conversation of everyone who will join us in the future, accessible to other ELT professionals back home in Nepal and abroad. In sharing our ideas publicly, we are sort of making a rhetorical statement to the effect of something like this: What we know is knowledge too.

Please join us and let us help one another grow as knowledge-makers, as teachers and learners.

A snapshot from Choutari history

Nelta Networking

Originally written by Shyam Sharma on a joint blog namedKnowledgeMaking–contributed Bal and Prem also–before we began the NeltaChoutari blog, which replaced three people talking with a web magazine and public discussion forum. (post date changed here)

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“Over the course of the last few months, Bal, Prem, and I have been talking about a random but very significant set of issues via email (copying among the three of us). I am beginning to wonder if we should redirect that time and energy into something more productive, more shared, and more beneficial for a larger community. As Prem and I talked on Skype this afternoon, we should archive and share these discussions through blogging (I created this blog after our talk), through a wiki (I set up knowledgemaking.pbwiki since that email also), a discussion list (way to go), or anything better than email–email is not designed for collaboration, for Pete’s sake! Here is how each of those technologies would help us preserve good conversation for our own and other people’s advantage.

  • Blog: a blog, like this one, will allow us to archive our discussions by date and also allows us to tag them by subject areas so we can both browse and search. I am serious when I suggest that what we are talking about is real serious “knowledge,” and I believe there’s much advantage in at least the three of us sharing/brainstorming ideas like those that we’ve been for some time. Having a common blog will allow us to freely write back and forth, generate ideas for long term and short term project, and not worry about manually archive them.
  • Wiki: Our Choutari wiki is public, so I set up a private one knowledgemaking.pbwiki for us to set up a schedule (that’s best for collaborative edititing, project schedule, automatic update notification, etc, and we’re already familiar). For all the good things, wiki demands that we archive things manually, so let us use both wiki and blog to do what they can do.
  • Discussion list: It’s still high-end technology (one that I had on my site went corrupt with a million spams, so I got rid of it). Advantages include designed for interaction, automatic archiving, visual organization of response, and a lot of built-in convenience for discussing in particular. I will update on this; you guys do the same.

On a more important note, lately we’ve also been talking about oral projects. Coming from an oral culture, we do better than westerners with oral interaction, oral materials, especially in Nepalese (Trust me, if we don’t require people to say it all in English, they’d say more substantial things). So, by using a schedule on wiki that we all can edit, let us set up something like once a month 3-way call on Skype among the 3 of us, talk based on specific agenda (communicated by email in advance; or negotiated before going on record), with one of us moderating the interaction, and record the talk and edit it.”