Translanguaging as a Pedagogical Resource in English Language Teaching: A Response to Unplanned Language Education Policies in Nepal

The chapter critically discusses how ‘difficult circumstances’ are constructed through ‘unplanned’ language education policies in Nepal and how the students’ existing linguistic and cultural knowledge can be a significant resource for teaching English as a foreign language in Nepal’s multilingual context. More specifically, I analyse how the unplanned aspect of English language education policy creates ‘difficult circumstances’ for both English as a compulsory subject and medium of instruction policies and discuss the relevance of a translanguaging pedagogy in teaching English and other subjects through English. While challenging the monolingual approach to classroom pedagogy, translanguaging pedagogy is suggested as a viable alternative which recognizes students’ existing linguistic knowledge and literacy skills to engage them in a deeper understanding of subject matter, to keep classroom tasks/activities moving, and to negotiate meanings in classroom interactions.