English Language in Nepal
According to Ethnologue (2005), there are 126
languages in Nepal and more than 90 are spoken by different indigenous groups
of the people within a small tract of land; some languages are in the verge of
extinction due to the varied cultural and religious traditions. Learning and teaching
situations are also varied due to geographical variations. In spite of having the
varied situations, there is a great role of English since it is the language
used in the world.
English is the world’s most widely used language. It is the
language of international business and academic conferences, of diplomacy and
sports. It is one of the six official languages of the UNO which plays vital
role for international communication. English has become indispensable vehicle
to the transmission of modern civilization into the nation. It is the passport
through which one can visit the whole world and one who knows English can enjoy
the advantages of the world citizen. Crystal in this regards mentions that more
than two thirds of the world’s scientists write in English. English in case of
correspondence also has already occupied about three quarters of the entire
correspondence all over the world. This indicates the domination of English language
in male writing. Eighty percent of all the information stored in the electronic
retrieval systems of the world is stored in English. And, it has also got the local
level examples of the same theme simply available everywhere.
Thus, the English language has been inevitable in the pre sent context.
In Nepal, it is taken as a foreign and modern language. The beginning of
English in Nepal is closely connected with the rise of the Rana regime. The
formal beginning of English teaching was started when Jung Bahadur Rana
established Darbar School in 1910 B.S. Since then it has been introduced right
from the grade four to the Master’s level. Now, in public schools, it is taught
as a compulsory subject from grade one to bachelor level but in case of private
schools it is introduced from the very beginning; i. e., nursery level.
Thus, learning English has become
indispensable since it has a great role in the modern world. In spite of its
importance, while mentioning the actual ELT situation of Nepal, on the other
hand, is not satisfactory at all in the sense that typical educational environment would be one
where the teachers have large classes of around 50-60 students if not more.
This will make it very difficult for the students to hear the teacher speak or
for the teacher to hear the students. Often all the class room contains are the
bare necessities like the blackboard, and furniture fixed on the ground making
it impossible to move for group works or making space for games and role plays,
which are essential parts of Communicative Language Approach ( CLA). Texts are
printed in cheap papers which sometimes make photographs look blurred and
uninteresting. Even in urban areas, lack of electricity affects the students
who sit far away from the blackboards or teachers from playing the tapes for
teaching listening skills. These are some of the factors that deter teachers
from using communicative approach.
Need and Importance of the English Language in the Context of Nepal
Nepal has adopted English at in the core of
educational planning. Explaining the significance of ELT, Kansakar (1998)
focuses that since the teaching of English in Nepal is not neglected or devalue
by any sector of the nation but it has assumed greater importance view of the
country. English Language Teaching has with no doubt now become an essential component
in the educational system of Nepal. Mainly in the private schools either
encourage or compel the kids to be exposed by English or the medium of
instruction in those schools is English but not Nepali. The English language asa medium of instruction for other subjects and English as content (structure,
literature) begins from the very beginning stage of education. English is
accepted as a compulsory subject in the curriculum. In government aided
community schools, it is taught from grade one. As the objective of compulsory English
course is to make students communicatively skilled, the syllabus should be
communicative approach focused ‘non -elective courses’; elective courses should
be optional.
Nepal needs English not only for academic
activities but also to establish diplomatic relation with the foreign countries
to run trade, business, and industries and for the development of science and
technology. So it has become almost the language of survival in Nepal. In Nepal,
English has been started to be used as a second language. English has been
given a high priority for any students to become successful in national and international
communication. So, the English language has become an integral part of
education in the sense that Nepali is not sufficient to meet all the
requirements of communication especially in scientific and technical matters.
So the importance of English in Nepal cannot be minimized. It is the language
through which Nepalese people can be modernized and can mix-up with the
contemporary material World.
Conclusion
Thus, English is the world’s most widely used language, is also the
language of international business and academic conferences, of diplomacy and
sports and is one of the six official languages of the UNO which plays vital
role for international communication. It has become indispensable vehicle to
the transmission of modern civilization into the nation. Nepal cannot be the
exception. By understanding the high level grow and impact of it, almost all
the governmental and non-governmental agencies have been adopting it with love
and respect.
References
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(1992). First language acquisition. Cambridge: CUP.
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Kumar, R.
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