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                                <h2>The ‘English’ debate</h2>
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                                            February 1, 2017 00:35 AM
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                                                <a href="http://www.myrepublica.com/news/author/1964">Chura Bahadur Thapa</a>
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                                            <a href="http://www.myrepublica.com/news/author/1964">Chura Bahadur Thapa</a>
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                            <p class="gmail-selectionShareable"><strong>Three million children in Nepal are now studying in private schools that market their English medium instruction </strong><br>
Nepali media is starting to stir up debates on the medium of instruction
 (MOI) in schools, which is a positive sign. In this article, I briefly 
describe the schooling in Nepal and try to link it up with the language 
policy debates. I will also take up the issue of such policies in Hong 
Kong, where I currently live and pursue my studies, in order to draw 
some meaningful comparisons. </p>

<p class="gmail-selectionShareable">Some people tend to portray Nepali 
language as mother tongue of all the people living within the geographic
 borders of Nepal. On the other hand, there are also those who tend to 
believe that speaking or forcing children to speak a few English words 
within the confines of school will increase their English proficiency 
and lead to their overall academic growth. People in Nepal seem to be 
increasingly attracted to the idea of English education, which has also 
contributed to accelerated growth of private schools even in remote 
parts of the country.</p>

<p class="gmail-selectionShareable">According to Nepali government and other 
sources, almost three million children in Nepal are now studying in 
private schools that market their English medium instruction (EMI). But 
there are many unanswered questions, ranging from English proficiency of
 teachers, to school and classroom resources, to teacher expertise, to 
parental support, to career advancement of school graduates.</p>

<p class="gmail-selectionShareable">The debates and practices in Hong Kong can
 be, to some extent, useful references for Nepal. Contrary to the 
linguistic and ethnic diversity in Nepal, Hong Kong is predominantly a 
monolingual society, with almost 95 percent of its population consisting
 of Cantonese-speaking Chinese people. During colonial times, the rulers
 devised the policies that favored EMI schooling of students. Such a 
policy produced anti-colonial localists, who in turn lobbied for Chinese
 Medium of Instruction (CMI) in schools. </p>

<p class="gmail-selectionShareable">Before 1997, when Britain formally handed 
over Hong Kong to China, 98 percent primary schools here used Cantonese 
as a medium of instruction, while almost all government schools used 
English as the medium of instruction at the secondary level. The end of 
colonialism in 1997 saw an immediate change of MOI in schools, when 
almost ninety percent of the secondary schools were forced by the 
government to switch to CMI. However, middle-class parents resisted 
post-colonial MOI policy and demanded that their children be given an 
opportunity to study in English medium, thereby forcing the government 
of Hong Kong to fine-tune its MOI policy in 2009. <br>
This policy gave flexibility to schools to adopt English medium based on
 English proficiency of both teachers as well as students. As a result, 
many schools in Hong Kong are now teaching one or two classes at the 
secondary level in English, or they teach some content-related subjects 
such as Mathematics or Science in English. However, teachers wishing to 
teach in English medium must either pass a benchmark examination in 
English language as specified by the government or score at least Band 6
 in IELTS. Without such qualification, the teacher’s ability to teach in
 English medium is considered questionable, with negative consequences 
for student learning.<br>
There is a mass of literature suggesting that language of instruction in
 classroom determines the future of a child. On the other hand, new 
studies also suggest that learning in English and developing proficiency
 in English as early as possible leads to overall educational 
development of a child. This is because without knowledge in English it 
is increasingly difficult to build academic and professional expertise, 
which is also the case in Nepal. Therefore Nepal’s policymakers need to 
develop mechanisms to help its school students make the transition from 
mother tongue instruction to English medium instruction. </p>

<p class="gmail-selectionShareable">Hong Kong’s example, again, can be 
instructive. But Nepal also needs to come up with its own guidelines on 
medium of instruction, based on contextual realities of its schools, 
parents, students and teachers. It should then have benchmark 
examinations for teachers wanting to teach in English medium (public or 
private) on one hand, and on the other set a level of English 
proficiency for students before they are put into English medium 
classrooms. The government should also ensure that schools are able to 
put in place adequate resources to support its MOI policy. </p>

<p class="gmail-selectionShareable">The author is a PhD Candidate in linguistics at The University of Hong Kong</p>

<p class="gmail-selectionShareable"><a href="mailto:churathapa@gmail.com">churathapa@gmail.com</a></p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable"><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/159f9fb0d0fa3224?compose=159fa90bce7fa3db">https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/159f9fb0d0fa3224?compose=159fa90bce7fa3db</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message.  A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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