ORCID Profile
0000-0001-6886-4401
Current Organisation
Monash College (Monash University) Melbourne
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-2010
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 04-09-2023
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Date: 31-12-2011
Abstract: One of the most linguistically and culturally ersified countries in the world, Nepal is in the midst of linguistic and cultural chaos. Linguistic and cultural ersity itself is at its centre. One explanation for the sad situation is that the ruling elites, who have held power since Nepal’s inception in the eighteenth century, have conducted an invisible politics of privileging languages and of deliberately ignoring issues related to minority and ethnic languages to promote the languages of their choice. While this invisible politics of ‘unplanning’ of languages has been responsible for the loss of scores of languages, it has helped the elites to achieve ‘planned’ linguistic edge over the speakers of other languages. In the changed political climate, the Nepalese people have embarked upon a debate about what language policy the country should have and what roles and statuses should be accorded to the local/regional, national and international languages. The socio-political and linguistic context of the current language policy debate and the lack of a clear and consistent language policy allow the ruling elites to adopt an approach which in the existing situation does more harm than good.
Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 20-09-2022
DOI: 10.21203/RS.3.RS-2067037/V1
Abstract: This article is a pedagogical response to the theoretical and ideological stance which suggests that not all languages are worthy of inclusion in the school curriculum. It argues that, like any other resource, languages can be developed, conserved, and promoted through education. Very often, languages and cultures in contemporary socio-political discourses are referred to as valuable resources of a nation. However, citing a lack of resources and practical relevance, scholars contest the ways and the extent to which these languages should be developed and preserved. This article challenges such a politico-economic stance and recommends that a plurilingual education policy, based on the ground realities of a nation and a linguistic ecology needs to be considered for the development and promotion of languages. Presenting Nepal as a case, the article claims that in its complex linguistic context, plurilingual education is more relevant than bi- and tri-lingual education, and therefore, there is a need for a pedagogical shift in language education. Nepal, a small, multilingual Himalayan nation has embarked upon seeking a new political will and a fresh mandate for developing an inclusive language education policy in the federal system of governance. The federal states are seeking to adopt the three-language education policy with Nepali, English, and one locally chosen language. In a context where there are scores of languages, this policy is flawed for more than one reason. The paper analyses the proposed policy and offers a language education framework with a view to re-engineering plurilingualism at the grassroots level. Based on the relevance of fostering in idual as well as societal plurilingualism, and an analysis of related literature, it argues that in the developing socio-political scenario and existing linguistic landscape, the much-hyped three-language education formula will damage the existing linguistic fabric and create further isions in the Nepalese population.
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 04-09-2023
No related grants have been discovered for Ram A. Giri.