English Language Education in Nepal

A Decolonial Perspective

Abstract

This study aims to critically examine how colonial influences shape language education practices and how alternative epistemologies can be foregrounded. It employs a qualitative thematic literature review design, drawing on Braun and Clarke’s approach to systematically code, analyze, and interpret existing scholarly literature. The findings revealed colonial legacies and cultural hegemony, and barriers to quality education. It validates that the norms of the dominant Anglo-American language, native-speaker ideologies, examination-based practices, and the use of textbooks reproduce language and educational inequities. The study calls for a reorientation of the study of the English language towards decolonisation by incorporating the use of indigenous knowledge, multilingual pedagogies, culturally responsive teaching, and critical consciousness. This can be a way to make English a tool that will support linguistic diversity. English can be re-visioned as a transformative resource that helps to enhance equity, linguistic diversity, and function as an instrument for facilitating inclusive practices.