Journal of NELTA Gandaki

Editorial Vol.6(1-2)

Binod Neupane — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has a collaboration with various dimensions regarding language teaching, instructional pedagogy, classroom-based research activities and teachers' professional development (TPD). As a part of English language TPD to improve the quality of EFL and to contribute to knowledge creation, the publication of the Journal of NELTA Gandaki (JoNG) has a pivotal role in sharing pedagogical skills through academic writing among EFL teachers from home and abroad. In today's interconnected world, proficiency in English is a desirable and a requisite skill for personal and professional success. Like educators, researchers, and practitioners, we should equip learners with multidimensional knowledge of EFL in the diverse phenomena.

We are pleased to publish the sixth volume of JoNG, a star-rated NepJOL-indexed peer-reviewed research journal of NELTA Gandaki, covering articles from various facets of EFL pedagogy and research. From exploring innovative methodologies to enhance English language teaching (ELT) to examining the cultural and sociolinguistic dimensions of English education, we strive to cater to the varied interests of our readership. We encourage readers to engage with these articles, not only to gain new insights but also to contribute to the ongoing conversation by sharing their own experiences and expertise. Furthermore, we are committed to fostering inclusivity and diversity in the EFL community.

This issue includes ten articles from various fields of applied linguistics, ELT and testing, ICT in EFL classrooms, and classroom-based research. Of them, the first one explores the factors responsible for the trivialization of extensive reading in university reading instruction. The second article attempts to bridge the gap between traditional pedagogical approaches and modern educational requirements. Similarly, the third article investigates how model presentation, collaboration, discussion, and peer feedback as the intervention of participatory action research (PAR) improve students' academic writing (AW) and presentation skills while dealing with a practical course ‘ELT seminar and report writing’. Likewise, the fourth article sheds light on secondary-level students' experiences of using Facebook for communication and education.

The fifth article examines the students’ perceptions of assessment in the EFL context and explores the preparation strategies for the examination. Similarly, the sixth article explores how counter-discourse exposes illusion and creates awareness taking reference from the text ‘Politics of Fear’ by Al Gore. The seventh article presents a review of participatory action research papers highlighting their meaning, purpose and use in research. The eighth article explores the students’ experiences of cyberbullying through Facebook and the strategies they apply to cope with cyberbullying. The ninth article reveals the usefulness of building collaborative relationships through collaborative mentoring for teachers’ emotional and mental well-being. The final article highlights teachers' perceptions and challenges in using teacher training strategy as a professional development.

We expect that this volume will inspire and guide educators and researchers fostering a culture of research. We appreciate the authors, reviewers, and the entire NELTA family for their support and inspiration to publish this issue. JoNG will continue to serve as a platform for innovative ideas, best practices, and insightful research in the field of EFL.

The articles published in the journal are the properties of NELTA Gandaki Province. However, the authors bear the sole responsibility for the authenticity and liability of the opinions and knowledge expressed in them. We expect constructive feedback from valued readers and well-wishers to uplift the standard and quality of the journal in the forthcoming issues.

-Editors

Extensive Reading at the University Level: Why is it Trivialized in Practice?

Bal Ram Adhikari, Kumar Narayan Shrestha — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The role of extensive reading in the formation of students' life-long reading habits and their overall academic achievement has been well established in ESL/EFL scholarship. Despite this, studies reveal that extensive reading is being either trivialized or ignored in reading instruction. In this regard, the current paper aims to explore the factors responsible for the trivialization of extensive reading in university reading instruction. To this end, the study adopted a single case study design that comprised four university ESL/EFL teachers and eight students as participants. The data were collected through three qualitative methods: non-participatory semi-structured classroom observation, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussion. The analysis of the data revealed four major factors preventing university students from reading widely and extensively: students' poor reading habits, students' increased use of social media, teachers' lack of extensive reading and failure to motivate students, and an unsupportive institutional environment. The findings imply that extensive reading cannot be promoted unless it is integrated into every day reading lessons and practised under the guidance of teachers in a resourceful environment.

The 21st Century Model for Pedagogical Transformation: Exploring Teachers' Identity and Professional Responsibility

Yadu Prasad Gyawali, Meghna Mehndroo — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study proposes to facilitate the implementation of learner-centred, language-integrated, and future-oriented teaching and learning methodologies, per the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) principles and global educational perspectives. The primary goal of the study is to bridge the gap between traditional pedagogical approaches and modern educational requirements. The independent discussion with four educational experts from Nepal and content analysis were regarded as the methods of the study. The paper highlights the importance of learner-focused teaching and learning strategies, where learners are encouraged to develop creativity and critical awareness. Furthermore, Sustainable Development Goal 4, India's NEP 2020, and Nepal's education policy aim to improve educational quality and accessibility, focusing on fair access and inclusion for those in need. India and Nepal also prioritize teacher training and development to improve education systems, contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 4. The Article concludes by focusing on language, logic, and social context, in line with recent reports and research studies, to ensure outcome-based learning in a changing world. Similarly, some suggestive parameters for curricula reform to enhance sustainable development goals in line with the 21st-century mindset have been discussed.

Collaboration, Discussion, and Feedback for Improving Students’ (Report) Writing and Presentation: A Participatory Action Research

Rajan Kumar Kandel, Ganesh Kumar Kandel — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigates how model presentation, collaboration, discussion, and peer feedback as the intervention of participatory action research (PAR) improved students' academic writing (AW) and presentation skills while dealing with a practical course ‘ELT seminar and report writing’. We implemented the intervention for three months in our regular class with 30 students pursuing a Master's Degree in English Education from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. During the intervention, we used observation notes and after the intervention, we used semi-structured interviews (with 15 students) to collect data. The findings showed that the intervention significantly improved the students' AW and presentation skills. The findings also showed that students refined their writing skills by gaining insight from the model presentation, discussions, and feedback. They significantly improved their writing and presentation skills through collaborative tasks performed regularly during the study. The study suggests that model presentation, group discussion, peer and teacher feedback, and self-reflection can be effective in enhancing students' AW and presentation.

Exploring Students' Experiences of Using Facebook for Communication and Education

Babita Parajuli — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This article aims to explore the Secondary Level students' experiences and perceptions of using Facebook for academic and communicational purposes contributing to the less explored literature on students’ social media usage in the context of Nepal. I used a descriptive-qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with purposively selected eight grades 11 and 12 students studying in a government secondary school in Morang to investigate their daily usage of Facebook. The thematic analysis of this study indicated that most students perceived Facebook positively as one of the potential tools for their classroom learning purposes along with their daily online communication with family, relatives, and friends. However, some students also revealed their experiences of misusing Facebook such as creating fake Facebook accounts, chatting and flirting with unknown people, uploading fake photos, and receiving unpleasant comments in the posts resulting in family pressure on them. This study highlighted Facebook as a popular social network that has become one of the important tools in students’ daily lives and academic careers by ensuring their electronic participation in communication and education, increasing their social relationships, collaboration and information sharing in the 21^st century.

Basic Level Students’ Perceptions and Practices on Assessment

Sudip Neupane — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Assessment in a classroom context is a method of evaluating students’ ability and knowledge with certain purposes. This phenomenological study shared the students’ perceptions of assessment in the EFL context and explored the preparation strategies for the examination. The information for this study was collected via in-depth interviews with six participants studying at the Basic Level (Grades 6-8) in one of the private schools of Kathmandu Valley. The findings of the study showed that the students were somewhat dissatisfied with summative assessment. They suggested a balance between summative and formative assessment. The participants favoured project assessment as it provided the learners ample opportunities to learn from each other, and their performance was measured while engaging in the project activities. This study is expected to be useful for students, teachers, teacher educators, researchers, policymakers, and ELT experts by providing perceptions, insights, and assessment practices.

Fear as a Political Propaganda: A Study on Politics of Fear by Al Gore

Madan Prasad Baral — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The practice of creating fear for personal interest or the interest of the political party is common throughout the world. Politicians use any sort of practice for power hunting. Fear not only influences the discourse but also shapes knowledge and reasoning capacity thereby creating an illusion in people. To expose illusion, counter-discourse or positive discourse is required. This study aims to explore how counter-discourse exposes illusion and creates awareness taking reference from the text ‘Politics of Fear’ by Al Gore. The study is done using the document analysis method and the information is analysed based on the framework consisting of five discursive strategies viz. framing, countering publicly, and counter-discursive strategies (logical inversion, parody, complexification, partial reframing and radical reframing) for contesting the mainstream discourse as introduced by Macgilchrist (2007). It is argued that ‘Politics of Fear’ by Al Gore was an attempt to create awareness among the public against propaganda created by the then US President George W. Bush during election through the television advertisements.

Participatory Action Research in Social Sciences and Education

Gobinda Puri — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Participatory action research, as other qualitative methods. like phenomenology, ethnography, narrative inquiry, autoethnography, and case studies, has emerged as a distinct field of study and established itself as a research design in the field of social sciences and education. This methodological conceptual paper presents a review of participatory action research papers highlighting their meaning, purpose and use in research along with their definitions, the process of conducting research through participatory action research as a methodology, its guiding principles, strengths, weaknesses and challenges, applications, misconceptions and analysis of previous studies through participatory action research in various disciplines and contexts. This paper also highlights how participatory action research elevates the marginalized communities involved in the research process, solves their workplace problems and transforms their identities throughout the research by reviewing a few sample studies through participatory action research. The findings show that participatory action research has been immensely used in the social sciences and educational research for creating new knowledge as well as improving the existing situation. This paper might provide some significant insights into understanding and employing participatory action research to the teachers, teacher educators, and researchers who opt for using research as part of their academic degrees.

Secondary Level Students’ Experiences of Cyberbullying through Facebook

Betendra Kumar Dahal — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

ICT users face various challenges due to the lack of knowledge and awareness to use its tools properly. Along with the spread of Facebook users, the trend of cyberbullying is gradually increasing among teenagers including school students who have been victimised daily. This study explores the students’ experiences of cyberbullying through Facebook and the strategies they apply to cope with cyberbullying. I employed the qualitative research method in which the semi-structured interview was designed to collect data from 16 participants. The finding of this study depicts that cyberbullying is experienced by the participants in various ways like sharing memes on Facebook wall and Messenger, using nicknames, using unacceptable (vulgar) words, teasing, threatening, hacking Facebook passwords, and using, proposing for being close friends and joining photos and uploading, sending messages time and again and calling during night time. The study also found that cyberbullying makes victimised people feel insecure. It was also suggested to report with the family members and friends making strict laws, keeping in school level curriculum and launching mass awareness to cope with the cyberbullying activities found in the school level students of Nepal.

Collaborative Mentoring for In-service Teachers’ Well-being in the Nepalese Context

Gyanu Dahal — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Teachers experience challenges in their teaching careers these days. The challenges sometimes may affect their personal and professional well-being. Therefore, to address these issues, teachers need to develop collaborative relationships with other teachers and engage in self–reflection activities. This study aims to explore the usefulness of building collaborative relationships through collaborative mentoring for teachers’ emotional and mental well-being. A review of selected literature examines collaborative mentoring as beneficial for teachers’ well-being as it enables teachers to reflect on their classroom practices and provide and receive support and feedback from their colleagues. I used a qualitative research paradigm to study the impact of collaborative mentoring on the emotional and mental well-being of six private school teachers. The data was collected from teachers' reflective journals and semi-structured interviews. The results seem to indicate collaborative mentoring is useful for teachers' mental and emotional well-being as well as professional development. This study is useful for those who are planning to research mentoring and collaborative mentoring, teachers' well-being, and teacher education.

Teacher Training as a Strategy of Professional Development: Perceptions and Challenges

Khem Raj Rauteda — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This article aimed to explore the beliefs and opinions of in-service secondary-level teachers towards teacher training for professional development. Moreover, it intended to identify major issues that existed in the field of teacher training in Nepal. It is a qualitative research study in which the teachers' stories and experiences have been documented. A purposive sampling strategy was used to select the sample from the target population. Unstructured in-depth interviews were conducted to collect data. The data were further analysed thematically. The study found that many teachers perceived teacher training as a strategy of professional development that equipped them with both the content and the pedagogical knowledge and skills. However, the study has highlighted various issues and challenges such as geographical difficulty, inaccessibility to the resources, centrality in training practices in the federal system, nepotism, favouritism, and political relations while selecting the trainees. The study implies that the training courses, provisions, policies, and programs are to be developed and launched based on the teachers’ needs. Furthermore, teacher training should be decentralised.