Unequal Language Policy, Deficit Language Ideology, and Social Injustice: Critical Ethnographic Study of Language Education Policy in Nepal

• In Event: Talking Back: The Intersection of Multilingualism and Racism Through a Critical Ethnographic Lens

Abstract

Researchers have long been critical about the role of language education policies in reproducing social inequalities. Tollefson’s (2013) work has immensely contributed to understanding how language education policies are deeply embedded in structural inequalities and power relations. He argues that language education policies “must be understood in connection with broad social, political and economic forces” because they are “not merely about choice of language as medium of instruction, but instead are often central to a host of social processes” (Tollefson, 2002, p. x). Scholars working with the indigenous and minoritized communities have unpacked how the language education policies of the nation-states have contributed to erase indigenous and minoritized languages from public spheres. Author 5 (2003) and Hornberger (2006), among others, have discussed that indigenous communities are facing layers of challenges to make their languages visible in dominant public spheres. Such challenges include broader hegemonic ideologies that support colonialism, neoliberalism, nationalism and local issues such as lack of awareness and assistance (Author 2, 2017; De Korne, López Gopar, & Rios Rios, 2019). At the center of critical language policy studies remain language ideologies and sociopolitical inequalities. In analyzing language ideologies and inequalities in education, it is important to consider schools as a sociopolitical space that reproduce dominant language ideologies through its language policy. More importantly, they should be taken as part of state mechanisms which support but not disrupt dominant ideologies and diminish the value of indigenous languages.
Building on a critical and engaged approach (Author 2, 2017; Tollefson, 2013), this paper analyzes deficit language ideologies and their contribution to the erasure of indigenous languages in education in Nepal. More specifically, I discuss how public schools are creating and promoting language hierarchies and invisibilizing the space for indigenous languages. I draw on the data from my ethnographic study in a public school of eastern Nepal.

Author

• Prem Phyak, The Chinese University of Hong Kong