Nepali English Research Articles

Nepali English creative writing: historical trajectory and strategies adopted by Nepali English creative writers

ABSTRACT The paper sets out to trace the history of Nepali English creative writing and identify the strategies used by Nepali English creative writers in creating Nepali English literature. The first section of the paper chronicles the historical trajectory of Nepali English creative writing, illustrating Nepali English bilinguals’ increased use of English as an alternative medium of creative expression. The second section of the paper analyzes four contemporary Nepali English literary works in light of bilinguals’ creativity and notions of abrogation and appropriation processes. The analysis revealed the writers’ adoption of four nativizing strategies: leaving cultural references untranslated, cultural references accompanied by explicitation/English translation, hybrid innovations, and syntactic meshing. Through these strategies, the writers inscribed and foregrounded Nepali-specific linguistic and cultural features in their English literary works, resourcing their bi/multilingual creativity. These findings imply further recognition of emerging literatures in English and their use as resources in ESL/EFL pedagogy.

A multifactorial approach to war and corruption metaphors in South Asian Englishes

AbstractThe present paper provides a corpus‐based study of war and corruption metaphors in South Asian Englishes (specifically Indian English, Bangladeshi English, Nepali English and Pakistani English). Considering the highly news‐relevant nature of these concepts, the South Asian Varieties of English corpus (SAVE2020) serves as the database. In an initial step, we outline the source domains at different levels of schematicity used to construe war and corruption, revealing the salient domains at location and person. By pursuing a multifactorial approach, this study aims at answering the question whether the choice of source domain is governed by the sociolinguistic factors gender and variety, and intra‐linguistic factors, for example, length and semantic prosody of the metaphor‐related words. It furthermore investigates whether multifactorial analyses, which are still a novelty within research on metaphor variation, constitute a suitable methodological approach. By doing so, our research demonstrates the need to complement this quantitative approach with a qualitative one that offers a more fine‐grained description of the source domains used to structure metaphorical concepts like war and corruption.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge and the Nepali English Language Teacher Training

The paper attempts to explore the crucial role of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) within the realm of English language teacher training in Nepal. PCK serves as a vital bridge between teachers’ Content Knowledge (CK) and Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), facilitating effective teaching practices and enhancing student learning outcomes. The study examines the interconnectedness of PK, CK, and PCK, with the aim of improving the quality of teacher preparation programs and ultimately, the English language education system in Nepal. Through an extensive literature review, the research establishes a theoretical foundation, examining the conceptual framework of PCK and its significance in teacher education. It identifies existing gaps and challenges in current Nepalese English language teacher training practices, emphasizing the need for the seamless integration of PK, CK, and PCK in classroom instruction. The paper concludes that the contents of the teacher education and training programs differed from what the experts thought should be given. The broader areas of subject matter become narrower in the TPD program in Nepal. However, the nature of the programs is also responsible for the type of content being tried to be imparted to the English teachers. The research identified various factors influencing the successful implementation of PCK in teacher training. These included limited emphasis on PCK in the curriculum, time and resource constraints, and a lack of alignment between teacher education institutions and school practices. The findings underscored the importance of curriculum reforms and the provision of ongoing professional development opportunities to strengthen PCK integration.

In Search of Quality English Teaching in Nepal: Narratives, Reflections and Descriptors

The aim of this paper is to analyze Nepali English teachers’ narrations and reflections about good English language teaching which they most enjoyed and affected their career choices. The present paper adopted narrative inquiry as a research design. The study was conducted with five participants who unfolded stories and memoirs on how they learned English. The participants shared their experiences which left indelible marks on their minds. The data were analyzed thematically in such a way that their conceptions of quality English teaching were reflected. The study indicated that teachers are instrumental in enabling learning, and they succeed most when they exhibit the behaviors that lead to the desired learning outcomes, such as excellent grades, favorable attitudes toward learning, and improved learning abilities. Good teaching is not a static, stereotyped activity that can only be accomplished by using instructional techniques. Quality English language teaching cannot be imagined without quality English teachers who are required to possess competencies like strong subject-matter expertise, pedagogical skills, contextual knowledge, passion, and the capacity to foster a friendly learning atmosphere so that they can maximize learning and are better able to accomplish increased learning. Thus, quality English language teaching places learners at the center of the learning process.

On liberation of English from purist pundithood through nativization in Nepal

This qualitative content analysis paper attempted to explore the linguistic, creative, and pragmatic nativization employed by creative Nepali authors of English in their writings. I purposively selected three anthologies of stories, four novels, eight essays, one newspaper article, and four news stories/reports. Then, I went through the contents, examined the language used in those texts, noted down the unique features of Nepali English, and thematized them under linguistic, creative, and pragmatic nativization to make the analysis more explicit. I found that the creative Nepali authors of English intentionally nativized English to convey a distinct sense of Nepaliness and to deconstruct the so-called sacred cow model of English. Findings reveal that policymakers and pedagogues need to shift from the monomodel approach to the functional polymodel approach that only values the features of Nepali English as innovations, rather than errors.

Semantic Volte Face of English Words in Nepal

With the spread of English globally and its contact with the local languages, English words have undergone some changes in their pronunciation, forms, meanings, and functions. This paper attempted to explore the changes in the meaning of English words in Nepal. From different literary texts, I purposively selected thirty English words that I found unique in their meanings, four English language teachers who could provide information about the semantic changes of some English words, and my own experiences. The selected words were categorized into five themes: semantic broadening, semantic narrowing, amelioration, pejoration, and semantic shifts, which were then analyzed and interpreted. The study reveals that English words in Nepal have changed their meanings from narrow to broad, from positive to negative and vice versa, and to something different or new in meanings, which are the variety markers of Nepali English (NE). The results of the study are useful for teaching profession, World Englishes, corpus linguistics, contact linguistics, contact literature, semantics, and pragmatics.

Nepali English or Other Varieties of English: Perspectives from English Language Teachers in Nepal

This qualitative content analysis article aims at exploring the perspectives of English language teachers on Nepali English (NE). I purposively selected six college level English language teachers from Sunsari and Morang districts and collected the required data through a semi-structured interview. The study reveals that NE has emerged in Nepal as a result of mother tongue influence, nativization of English to local contexts, and exposure from the non-native teachers during the second language acquisition process, and it is practically more appropriate than other varieties of English in Nepal. All the research participants favour NE as it is more intelligible and easier to teach and learn than the other varieties of English, promotes Nepali identity, boosts confidence, reduces anxiety, and helps to resist the hegemony of British English (BE) or American English (AE). They, however, believe that more research and discourse on NE, its codifi cation and standardization, and power (political, economic, and ideological) are necessary for bringing NE into concrete form. These perspectives from the English language teachers on NE pave the ground for appropriating English language policies, English language curriculum, textbooks, and pedagogy in Nepal, and rethinking the traditional treatment of errors.

Teachers of English and their Perceptions towards ESL Errors

This study entitled 'Teachers of English and their Perceptions towards ESL Errors' aimed at evaluating and determining gravity of grammatical errors in terms of acceptability and intelligibility judgments. Quantitative research methodology was utilized in this study. The data was gathered with the aid of a questionnaire prepared on the basis of the result of error analysis conducted earlier. The questionnaires were mailed to English teachers of different private and public schools, colleges and universities of Nepal and worldwide. Two hundred twenty (220) useable surveys were collected altogether for the study: 100 surveys from Nepali English teachers, 100 surveys from native English speaking teachers, 20 each from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and America, and likewise, 20 surveys from non-Nepali English teachers. Received responses were analyzed and explained descriptively. The findings of the study showed that the native English teachers evaluated the errors far more leniently than Nepali and non- Nepali English teachers. There is no any significant difference in evaluation of errors found in between Nepali and non-Nepali English teachers, but compared to native English teachers, they were found statistically and significantly different in their judgments of errors in acceptability and intelligibility both. On the other hand, while comparing judgments of learners' errors in between the native English teachers; it was revealed that there were not any significant differences found there. It is recommended that the native English speaking teachers’ perception of errors be rightly explored and accordingly evaluation scales be developed and the teachers be made aware of such universal rating scales of grammatical errors while evaluating learners' errors.

Nepali English Teachers’ Perceptions Towards Global Englishes in ELT

Traditional English language teaching (ELT) goals have been questioned by advocating Global Englishes language teaching (GELT). To execute GELT, understanding English languageteachers’ perceptions toward Global Englishes (GEs) is imperative as teachers’ beliefs determine pedagogical practices. Although numerous studies have explored English languageteachers' perceptions of GEs around the globe, there is a dearth of empirical research in Nepal. Thus, this study explores the perceptions of Nepali English languageteachers towards GEs in ELT. Employing a purposive sampling method, 25 Nepali English languageteachers in Nepal were interviewed, using semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and transcriptions were coded using (van Manen, 2016) to generate themes and to interpret data. Results indicated that the teachers were aware of an emergence of GEs and considered the use of GEs in ELT beneficial. They also admitted that the exposure to GEs provides English language learners with exposure for communicating with the users of varieties of English in this multilingual and multicultural world. Furthermore, the participants anticipated attending GE-inclusive teacher professional development (TPD) such as conferences, workshops, and GE-aware online courses. Highlighting the necessity of GE-informed TPD programs for teachers, the participants also aspired to be involved in GE-inclusive deliberations on the topics such as the emergence of new Englishes, GE-oriented workshops, and talk shows on the use of GEs in ELT.

English in Nepal: Attitudes Towards Nepali English or Other Varieties of English

Since the emergence of varieties of English, varying debates and discussions about their formal features, functions, and roles have persisted worldwide. This quantitative survey research aims to identify the attitudes of Nepali speakers of English towards Nepali English (NE) and other varieties of English. Using the survey questionnaire, the researcher collected primary data through online and face-to-face modes from one hundred participants sampled randomly, out of which fifty participants were the English language teachers from different schools and community campuses and fifty participants were Master level students, including those students pursuing their Master level thesis from a community campus of Morang district. The participants’ attitudes were analyzed and interpreted in terms of intelligibility, nature of standard, identity, practicality, and acceptance. The study showed that most participants were positive towards NE and most of them responded that they can better understand English spoken by NE speakers than British English (BE) or American English (AE) native speakers. However, majority of them were not against BE or AE in terms of intelligibility, nature of standard, and practicality though they supported NE more.

Epicentral influences of Indian English on Nepali English

AbstractThe present paper investigates India's potential role as a linguistic epicentre for Nepal by conducting a short‐term diachronic follow‐up study of Bernaisch and Lange (2012) that is based on the South Asian Varieties of English corpus. Based on the recently updated version of the corpus with similar data from a decade later, a potential spread of the presentational itself construction with an adverbial focus, which has allegedly spread in Nepal originating in Indian English, is investigated. Also, possible instances of invariant use of itself, that are frequently used in Indian English, will be scrutinized. While findings indeed show an increase of the adverbial focus construction, supporting India's role as an epicentre for the region, only one invariant use of the feature can be documented in Nepali English, which can tentatively be interpreted as a selection process that might be at play in the acceptance and spread of certain epicentrally induced features over others.

The Nepali Perspectives on International News Coverage

This paper presents a reflection on the colours of headlines in international news coverage in the Nepali English dailies. Headlines have the power of attracting and repulsing audiences on the ground of their professional appearance especially, in this context, relating to their different colours. It is important to note that audiences complete their journey in three ways: tasting, gulping, and biting and processing titles that can zest things up. It is actually a portrayal of professional insight into the multi-dimensional messaging of information through headlines crafted in the context of international communication in Nepal. There is still a need for other empirical research on headlines from several other perspectives.

Bilinguals’ Creativity in Nepali English: Sheeba Shah’s Novel The Other Queen

This paper attempted to address the issues related to bilinguals’ creativity in Nepali English and their implications for World Englishes in the Nepali context. I purposively selected Sheeba Shah’s (2018) novel The Other Queen, went through the contents, and examined the language used in the novel to investigate the linguistic and literary creativity. In this paper, I employed a theoretical framework derived from Kachru (1985) to describe how English is nativised in the Nepali context to convey the Nepali socio-cultural, political as well as historical information, and explore how Nepali literature written in English exhibits typical bilingual creativity of the Nepali writer. I found that the bilingual writer adopted different linguistic and literary strategies such as direct lexical transfer, code-switching, hybridisation, metaphors and proverbs, loan translation, and nativised discourse strategies to convey a distinct sense of Nepaliness. Evidences justify that the bilinguals’ creativity contributes to develop new canons in Nepali English literature.

Features of ‘Nenglish’, an Emerging Variety of English

English has gained a high value in Nepalese societies. The craze of English Medium Instruction at schools, use of English in government and private offices and adoption of it by Nepalese speaker has shown that English has slowly become our property, our language. As a result we are on the way to develop ‘our English’ i.e. Nenglish or Nepanglish. This paper excavates and explains the features of Nepali English that is used commonly in Nepal. This article is mainly a desk research which also includes researcher’s observation of the English phenomena in the town. The findings show that Nepali English is on the way to being a special variety of English and has several features such as being influenced by ‘Hinglish’; utilizing American lexicon; adopting words from Sanskrit language; including special modification and coinage; Nepaliness in pronouncing and adding tag questions etc.

Ecological Approach to the Second Language (L2) Teaching and Nepali English Teachers

Ecological approach to L2 teaching is based on the concept of language ecology. In this ever changing world nothing is static. After so many approaches, methods, views, and ideas, ecological approach has made its appearance on the ELT stage. The approach is new to many Nepali English teachers who equate it with teach­ing ecology through the English language. The present paper explores the origin of the approach, shows differences between ecological approach to L2 (English) from teaching ecology through English, presents situation of language ecology, and ELT in Nepal, and suggests what could be possibly the best ways to teach English in Nepal.

A Diverse Data Augmentation Strategy for Low-Resource Neural Machine Translation

One important issue that affects the performance of neural machine translation is the scale of available parallel data. For low-resource languages, the amount of parallel data is not sufficient, which results in poor translation quality. In this paper, we propose a diversity data augmentation method that does not use extra monolingual data. We expand the training data by generating diversity pseudo parallel data on the source and target sides. To generate diversity data, the restricted sampling strategy is employed at the decoding steps. Finally, we filter and merge origin data and synthetic parallel corpus to train the final model. In the experiment, the proposed approach achieved 1.96 BLEU points in the IWSLT2014 German–English translation tasks, which was used to simulate a low-resource language. Our approach also consistently and substantially obtained 1.0 to 2.0 BLEU improvement in three other low-resource translation tasks, including English–Turkish, Nepali–English, and Sinhala–English translation tasks.

The Wayward Daughter Author: Shraddha Ghale

Shraddha Ghale, a new entry into Nepali English Literature has come up with a novel titled The Wayward Daughter.

Non-Canonical Syntax in South Asian Varieties of English: A Corpus-Based Pilot Study on Fronting

Abstract In the present paper, I present a pilot study on fronting in six South Asian Varieties of English, i.e. Indian English (IndE), Bangladeshi English (BgE), Sri Lankan English (SLE), Nepali English (NpE) and Pakistani English (PkE) as compared to their historical input variety, i.e. British English (BrE). For each of these varieties, based on the South Asian Varieties of English (SAVE) newspaper corpus and the news section of the British National Corpus, 500 sentences per variety were manually parsed and the sentence-initial elements were annotated for their information status. Methodologically, I apply regression and CART classification tree analysis to test for variety-specific as well as universal features of fronting in SAVEs. The analysis reveals that constituents are mainly likely to be fronted when the information they represent is given (regardless of variety). Within this category, there are also clear variety-specific differences between IndE, PkE, SLE and BdE on the one hand (showing a generally higher frequency of object fronting), and BrE, MdE and NpE on the other (with a higher frequency of fronted adjuncts).

Teachers’ Attitudes towards Critical Pedagogy and its Practice in ELT Classrooms

Critical Pedagogy (CP), a mode of pedagogy, aims to empower learners and provide justice by offering preferential options and deconstructing authoritative and logo centric tendency in education. The current study, by using a mixed methodological design (qualitative and quantitative), illustrates a group of Nepali English language teachers’ attitudes regarding CP in ELT, focusing on how they employ CP in their classrooms. For this research, a sample of 10 teachers was purposively selected from Baitadi and Dadeldhura districts. Five teachers’ classes were observed. Analyzing the data collected through a survey questionnaire, it was found that all the teachers are in favour of CP in most cases in ELT. Even if all the teachers were notionally appeared in favor of practicing CP in most of the aspects that were asked to them, quite contrary to it, observation results of the teachers’ classes revealed that they did not, in any real sense, embrace CP in their teaching practice. Hence, this study invoked the ELT teachers to embrace CP practically in the classrooms. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nelta.v19i1-2.12086 Journal of NELTA, Vol 19 No. 1-2, December 2014: 132-146

The dative alternation in South Asian English(es)

The present paper focuses on the modelling of cross-varietal differences and similarities in South Asian English(es) and British English at the level of verb complementation. Specifically, we analyse the dative alternation with GIVE, i.e. the alternation between the double-object construction (John gave Mary a book) and the prepositional dative (John gave a book to Mary) as well as their passivised constructions with regard to the factors that potentially exert an influence on this alternation in seven varieties of English. The South Asian varieties under scrutiny are Bangladeshi English, Indian English, Maldivian English, Nepali English, Pakistani English and Sri Lankan English, while British English serves as the reference variety. The patterns of GIVE are annotated according to the following parameters including potential predictors of the dative alternation: syntactic pattern and semantic class of GIVE; syntactic complexity, animacy, discourse accessibility and pronominality of constituents (cf. Gries 2003b; Bresnan and Hay 2008). The choices of complementation patterns are then statistically modelled using conditional inference trees and a random-forest analysis.The results indicate that many of the predictors found to be relevant in British English are at play in the South Asian varieties, too. The syntactic pattern of GIVE is, in descending order, uniformly influenced by the predictors pronominality of recipient, length of recipient, semantic class of GIVE and length of patient. Interestingly, the predictor country is marginal in accounting for the dative alternation of GIVE across the varieties at hand. Based on this observation, we derive variety-independent protostructions, i.e. abstract combinations of (cross-varietally stable) features with high predictive power for a particular syntactic pattern, which we argue to be part of the lexicogrammatical “common core” (Quirket al. 1985: 16) of English.The implications of the present paper are twofold. While the order of the predictors regarding their influence on the dative alternation is clearly compatible with earlier studies (cf. e.g. Green 1974; Ransom 1979; Hawkins 1994; Gries 2003b), the stability of the order across varieties of English calls for a) a more fine-grained gradation of linguistic forms and structures at the lexis-grammar interface as indicators of structural nativisation and b) a revision of earlier verb-complementational findings specific to individual or groups of varieties of South Asian English.