Language Policy and Ethnolinguistic Identity in Nepal-A Comparative Case Study of Majority and Minority Groups

Abstract

This study aims to look at the ethnolinguistic identity of students from two different perspectives: majority and minority groups, in order to understand how the ethnolinguistic identities are perceived individually by students themselves and how they perceive or recognise each other. The overarching goal of the study is to examine how language policy has affected the ethnolinguistic identity of students in Nepal. These purposes are addressed through a comparative case study design analysing data from both individual semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews. The aim of the study’s comparative aspect is to provide an understanding of majority and minority students’ perceptions towards their own identity and towards each other’s identities (majority vs minority students). Sixteen participants were selected: eight from an urban area, Kathmandu and eight from a rural area, Dang. Power dynamics and relationships were reflected upon within an interpretive paradigm and qualitative approach. The study reveals that the individuals construct their identity through their experiences and their involvement with other communities that both speak and do not speak their mother tongues. Thus, the participants associated their mother tongue with their own identity and ethnicity comparatively against other groups. The findings indicate that the caste prejudice, the layers of the Nepali language, the hierarchical system and language policy of Nepal have supported the majority students to perceive the minority students’ negatively based on their ethnolinguistic identity in schools and society. The findings also suggest that the imposition of Nepali and English as a medium of instruction in schools has resulted in both Nepali and English as a form of symbolic capital, while minority languages are perceived as less legitimate or valueless in the linguistic market. Further, the study points out that the minority students who do not master the legitimate languages are discriminated and disrespected in schools by the teachers (from the majority community) as well as majority students. Thus, this study overall demonstrates that the ethnolinguistic identity of minority students is excluded in schools, further affecting their ethnolinguistic identity in society as a whole.