Rethinking Teacher Education from the Perspective of English Language Teachers for Addressing Multilingual Issues in Nepalese Classrooms

Abstract

This study explores English language teachers’ lived experiences of multilingual classrooms in Nepalese secondary schools. It focuses on multilingual issues relating to rethinking teacher education. The study adopted an interpretative phenomenological research design, involving five English language teachers from five community schools in Kathmandu, employing purposive sampling. This study collected data through interviews and analyzed them using the thematic approach proposed by Van Manen (2016). The findings show that multilingualism is an essential feature of Nepalese English language classrooms, where learners bring diverse linguistic and cultural resources. The findings also reveal that teachers faced several multilingual issues, such as balancing English with learners’ home languages, addressing varied levels of English proficiency, insufficient teaching materials, and learners’ reluctance to participate in English. English teachers developed their professional identities through deliberate classroom experience and reflection, moving beyond rigid English-only orientations towards linguistically diverse perspectives. The findings indicate that teachers expected teacher education programs to be rethought, preparing them with the knowledge and skills required for enacting multilingual realities of English classrooms. Based on these findings, we argue for rethinking English language teacher education by incorporating multilingual pedagogies, using learners’ familiar languages as teachers’ strategies, and constructing and using language-inclusive materials.