<div dir="ltr"><div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-main-heading">
<h2>The ‘English’ debate</h2>
<div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-col-sm-12">
<div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-headline-time m_-5821847580460768330gmail-pull-left">
<p class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-selectionShareable">
February 1, 2017 00:35 AM
,
<a href="http://www.myrepublica.com/news/author/1964" target="_blank">Chura Bahadur Thapa</a>
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-bidhee-share"><div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-mct_bidheeShare" id="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-bidheeShare_878"><div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-mct_bidheeShare_container"><div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-mct_bidheeShare_counter" id="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-bidheeShare_counter_878" style="display:block">33<div>SHARES</div></div><div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-mct_bidheeShare_buttons" id="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-bidheeShare_buttons_878"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrepublica.com%2Fnews%2F14102&t=My%20Republica%20-%20The%20%E2%80%98English%E2%80%99%20debate" class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-bidheeShare_btn m_-5821847580460768330gmail-facebook" target="_blank">facebook</a><a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?via=RepublicaNepal&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrepublica.com%2Fnews%2F14102&text=My%20Republica%20-%20The%20%E2%80%98English%E2%80%99%20debate" class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-bidheeShare_btn m_-5821847580460768330gmail-twitter" target="_blank">Twitter</a><a rel="nofollow" href="https://plus.google.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrepublica.com%2Fnews%2F14102" class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-bidheeShare_btn m_-5821847580460768330gmail-google" target="_blank">Google+</a></div></div></div></div>
</div>
<div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-inner-featured-image">
<img src="http://www.myrepublica.com/uploads/media/2017/_ABC.jpg" alt="The ‘English’ debate" class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-img-responsive">
</div>
<p class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-tag m_-5821847580460768330gmail-news-content m_-5821847580460768330gmail-selectionShareable">
</p><div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-pull-left">
<div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-box-author">
<a href="http://www.myrepublica.com/news/author/1964" target="_blank">
<img src="http://www.myrepublica.com/media/cache/nagarik_thumbnail_100_113/uploads/author/Chura-Bahadur-Thapa.jpg" alt="Chura Bahadur Thapa" class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-imgLeft">
</a>
<h4>
<a href="http://www.myrepublica.com/news/author/1964" target="_blank">Chura Bahadur Thapa</a>
</h4>
<br>
<span></span>
<br>
</div>
<div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-author-related-news">
<h2>More from Author</h2>
<ul class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-list-group m_-5821847580460768330gmail-new-summ"><li>
<a href="http://www.myrepublica.com/news/14102" target="_blank">The ‘English’ debate</a>
</li></ul>
</div>
<div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-add-container">
<a href="http://www.myrepublica.com/news/14102" target="_blank">
<ins class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px"><ins id="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-aswift_0_expand" style="display:inline-table;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color;height:250px;margin:0px;padding:0px;width:300px;background-color:transparent"><ins id="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-aswift_0_anchor" style="display:block;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color;height:250px;margin:0px;padding:0px;width:300px;background-color:transparent"></ins></ins></ins>
</a>
</div>
</div>
<p class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-selectionShareable"><b>Three million children in Nepal are now studying in private schools that market their English medium instruction </b><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="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-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="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-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="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-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="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-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="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-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="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-selectionShareable">The author is a PhD Candidate in linguistics at The University of Hong Kong</p>
<p class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-selectionShareable"><a href="mailto:churathapa@gmail.com" target="_blank">churathapa@gmail.com</a></p><p class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail-selectionShareable"><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="m_-5821847580460768330gmail_signature">******************************<wbr>********<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/<wbr>mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>******************************<wbr>*************</div>
</div>