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Technology has always proved to be beneficial for language learners across the globe. In the 21st century it has been seen that language education is highly influenced by innovations that have been made in the field of technology. It has eased the teaching learning process by offering enormous resources to language education. As a case in a point, it has played a prominent role in transforming the traditional way of teaching English. As David Crystal comments, “there has never been a language so widely spread or spoken by so many people as English”.
English language has always been and is still gaining a significant place in both the developed and developing countries. It is an international language which has opened various avenues for the language learners. Due to the onset of technology, the demand of English is growing day by day. It is interesting to note here that in countries like India and Nepal the highest number of books and materials are published in English making it easier for the learners to access the language.
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The use of computers, mobile phones, ICTs has made the learners feasible to access the language. Since the use of English has attained an extensive popularity there is a need for the teachers to equip themselves with the use of latest technology.
Literature available in different accessible sources was reviewed for collecting necessary data. Shrestha (2011) in his study found that although technology is rampantly used in Nepal, it has not been exploited for language learning.
Furthermore, Awasti, Pahari and Shrestha suggested that language laboratory is of tremendous help to enhance the proficiency of English language to the learners at the Bachelor’s level. According to the report of a non- profit educational sponsorship program, teachers in rural region of Nepal have a limited access to English language education and schools having students from poor socio-economic background did not have the technological resources for students. In addition to these, a study on English teachers’ perception and practices of ICT by Thapaliya (2014) emphasized that although the teachers held a positive attitude towards the use of ICTs for educational purposes, they lacked adequate training opportunities and sufficient class hours. Mittal (2015) in her article questioned on the use of technology in English language teaching is of help to the students and teachers. She interestingly pointed out that if technology is mingled with traditional teaching, then it would definitely be fruitful for the teachers and students. Mishra (2015) has suggested that technology integrated language learning can yield good results by the combined efforts of teacher and the taught. ICT tools have changed the paradigm of the teaching and learning of English language in India (Akhtar, 2016). These studies reveal that English enjoys a prestigious position in the South Asian countries. English is viewed as the language of opportunity opening avenues for employment and communication across the region.
All of the above reviews focused on the positive sides of technology in relation to English language teaching and learning but none of the studies gave a strong conclusion to suggest whether the technological use is really a boon or a curse to the teachers teaching English in India and Nepal. Moreover, no previous studies have been conducted with respect to the status of English language education by drawing a comparison between two neighboring countries-India and Nepal where English is taught as the second language. Since English is taught as a second language in both the countries, the proposed study primarily aims to compare the status of English language teaching in India and Nepal, and secondly it seeks to draw a comparison between the perception and attitude of teachers and students towards the use of technology for English language education in India and Nepal.
The issue of use of technology for English language education has been a major concern in the countries like Nepal and India. Although both the countries are persevering to upgrade their education system and come at par with the developed countries, they are to some extent failing to attain these objectives due to the lack of enough resources, inadequate training of language teachers in the use of ICT. The teachers find theoretical and traditional methods more appealing than the practical approaches and one such perception is that the practical application is highly challenging. In this regard, teachers need to gain expertise over the use of technology while dealing with the language learners.
In Nepal the National Education System Plan (1971-76) brought a drastic change in the English curriculum where the weight age of English courses was reduced from 200 marks to 100 marks. It also made English no longer a compulsory subject while the majority of teachers and taught advocated “continuing English in secondary level” (Awasthi, 1979). The circumstance worsened when the government decided to switch over from English to Nepali as a medium of instruction at the school level. English language teaching has always suffered from improper research, minimum funding and inappropriate directions. Low quality teaching atmosphere, huge size of the classrooms, lack of adequate infrastructural facilities and technology and inadequately trained professionals are some of the burning issues that have added fuel to the fire.
Likewise, English in India faced a few setbacks post independence, however, various education commissions reiterated the importance of English and decided to retain it as the second language at it had become the lingua franca of the country. Today, English occupies an important place in the Indian school curriculum but the teachers seem to rely on the obsolete lecture method, grammar-translation method and bilingual method rather than using technologies like language laboratory, Computer assisted Language Learning (CALL), internet access etc. The recent studies have shown that shortage and unreliability of equipments, insufficient funds, challenge of language and content, dearth of dynamic and trained teachers are some of the issues that have degraded the situation regarding English language education with respect to the use of technology (Budhedeo, 2016).
As per the reports published by the British Council, South Asia is a region having diverse political, economic, cultural and linguistic fields. However, English is viewed as the language of opportunity having tremendous scope for employment prospects and communication across the region. In this context, a study from India and Nepal will be undertaken to compare their use of technology for English language education. The proposed study aims:
The proposed study will seek to respond to the following questions:
To attain the objectives and address the research questions of the study, a descriptive survey method will be used. The number of samples will be 1000 to 1200 comprising of English teachers and English learners collected with the help of random sampling method from the urban higher secondary schools of Nepal and India. Detailed open-ended structured questionnaire will be administered and interviews will be taken to gather the opinion of the respondents. A self made questionnaire and interview schedule will be applied followed by pilot study which will be conducted to test and standardize the tools ahead of the main research activity to discover the teachers’ and students’ perceptions on feasibility of technology for English language learning and instruction. For analyzing the data, t-test will be used to determine the difference between the means of two groups and to study the comparison between two countries qualitative study will be undertaken.
The findings of the study will contribute to the benefit of English language education in both the neighboring countries of India and Nepal considering the fact that the technology has a vital role to play in imparting English language education to the school students thereby improving the proficiency and broadening the horizon of linguistic skills among both the educators and the learners. The schools that apply the recommendations derived from the study will help to develop the performance of students in English language learning. The study will further assist in enhancing the communication skills of the learners by means of use of technology. The teachers from both the countries can organize refresher courses and training programs under the guidance of language and technical experts to upgrade themselves with the latest advancements taking place in the field of language education. The proposed study will primarily help the educationists from both the countries to draw a comparison between the status and position of English language education and investigate the future challenges and chalk out the strategies to overcome them. For the researcher, the study will assist in uncovering the critical areas that many researchers were not able to explore.
Ethical considerations during data collection and reporting will be strongly taken into consideration by the researcher. According to Davidson and Tolich (1999), there are five key principles to research ethics: do no harm, voluntary participation, informed consent, avoid deceit and ensure confidentiality and anonymity. The researcher will ensure that no human subject is harmed by her research. The researcher will protect her participants’ rights to privacy through the provision of confidentiality. It will be made sure that the participants will voluntarily participate in the study and that they have the right to withdraw at any time without any reason. According to Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2007) the basic principle of ethical enquiry is informed consent, hence consent forms will be explained and given to participants to sign prior to pilot study and data collection.
Technological Use for English Language Education in India and Nepal. (2021, Dec 15). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/technological-use-for-english-language-education-in-india-and-nepal-essay
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