‘My English reflects my identity': voices of public high school English teachers on Global Englishes in Nepal

ABSTRACT

While Global Englishes (GE) problematises nativespeakerism, standardness, and ownership of English, exonormative norms of English language still subjugate English language education (ELE). Although studies show that exploring teachers’ voices and beliefs about ELE and the inclusion of GE in teaching English is essential, as their voices and beliefs influence ELE, research on understanding public high school English teachers’ voices about GE in an understudied and under-resourced context, Nepal is unavailable. Thus, this study explores public high school teachers’ voices about GE in Nepal thereby employing a narrative inquiry. Recruiting 12 public high school teachers through a purposive sampling method, individual interviews were conducted via Zoom. The analysis of narratives was conducted using Braun and Clarke’s [(2006). “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 3 (2): 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa] six phases of qualitative data analysis. The findings indicated that the participants seemed to be aware of GE. Expressing the common belief that English used in Nepal has distinct features from the Englishes used elsewhere, the findings reveal that English in Nepal is influenced by American, British, and Indian Englishes along with the first languages spoken in Nepal. Moreover, participants interrogated nativespeakerism and decentered ownership associated with Inner Circle Englishes.

KEYWORDS:

• Global Englishes
• Nepal
• English language teaching
• Ownership of English
• Teachers’ voices
• Language and identity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).