This paper explored and analyzed features of English pronunciation that could cause intelligibility problems for Nepali English learners (ELs), who use English as a foreign language (EFL) or English as a second language (ESL). We examined the Nepali ELs' pronunciation issues by juxtaposing them with comparable segmental and suprasegmental features…

This paper presents the use of translanguaging in the assessment of content subjects in the context of Nepal's higher education. Since its proposition in the 1990s, translanguaging has been receiving much scholarly attention in multilingual educational contexts. In such contexts, individuals' language practices show a shift from the understanding…

This article aims to identify the ideologies of school-head teachers towards a mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) policy and analyse how these ideologies influence the implementation of MTB-MLE policy in schools in the context of Nepal. Adopting qualitative ethnographic research, two school-level policy arbiters (head teachers)…

Framed within pedagogical translanguaging, this qualitative case study explored university teachers' translanguaging practices in the bilingual space in English reading instruction. Data were gathered through class observations and semi-structured interviews with four teachers instructing English reading courses in the Bachelor of Education…

While other languages can be used in English-medium instruction (EMI) classrooms, little research has been conducted on the alignment of the use of these languages with the objectives of EMI policy and how bi/multilingual practices such as translanguaging respond to the sociopolitics of EMI classrooms. This case study examined both teachers' and…

Despite Nepal's huge linguistic diversity, maintaining minority languages and providing the mother tongue-based education to non-dominant language children are Nepal's two major obstacles. Scholars have pointed to a negative consequence of the standard language ideology on non-dominant language maintenance and mother tongue-based schooling. Using…

Building on the long-standing tradition of challenging oppression and questioning whose interests are being served in the field of language education, we report on a study that involved a group of U.S.-based graduate students who collaborated with a ninth-grade English teacher in Nepal. The study comes out of a larger project that sought to…

Drawing on the lived experiences of three community school English teachers in Nepal, this article explores the uses of the learners' first language (L1) in English as a foreign/second language (ESL) classes. As the data, we collected the written lived-experience descriptions from the teachers, observed their classes, and interviewed them. We…

This paper outlines the different aspects of language contact in Newar, the ethnic indigenous language community of the Kathmandu valley, focusing on language use and attitudes. The data were collected in 2016-2017 with the help of survey questionnaire, key informant interviews, informal interviews, and various observations based on the…

While decolonisation is usually discussed in relation to countries that were formally colonised, countries that have not been formally colonised have also faced challenges related to colonialism. In this case, it is worth considering whether decolonial theory has more widespread applicability to respond to global challenges faced in the…

The paper explores how the discourse of nationalist and neoliberal agendas have shaped the conceptions of literacy education in Nepal, the ramifications for social stratification. As the review shows, the ruling elites tactfully imposed their language, culture, and knowledge in literacy curricula in the name of national unity, but to maintain…

Researchers have attempted to address the intersection of multisensory and multimodal discourse practices from an interactional perspective. This study argues for the value of experiential, non-interactional multisensory discourse resources and proposes a conceptual framework of "multisensory discourse resources" to bridge visual and…

Few data exist on the prevalence of autism in low-income countries. We translated, adapted and tested the acceptability of a Nepali-language version of a screening tool for autism (Autism Quotient-10). Using this tool, we estimated autism prevalence in 4098 rural Nepali children aged 9-13 years. Fourteen children scored > 6 out of 10,…

Analyzing three cases of school-level language policy decision-making in Nepal shows that each school had a pair of language policy arbiters, actors with disproportionate power over language policy decisions. The permissive but passive stance of Nepal's government toward providing multilingual schooling including minoritized languages created a…

This article provides an ethnographic discourse analysis of an intercultural communication training course for tourism workers in Nepal, and investigates the communicative practices Nepali tour guides are socialized into as part of the development of their professional competence. Their work competence and skills include learning some tactics of…