ABSTRACT

The medium of instruction (MOI) has been a contested issue in multilingual polities globally, as English medium of instruction (EMI) has seen unprecedented growth, threatening the use and sometimes very survival of local/indigenous and even national languages. While the struggles to address related issues have been well researched, how and why local level policymakers enact the well-meant national policies in a way that marginalises indigenous languages and expands EMI has yet to receive due attention. The research is scarce especially when language policy and planning (LPP) is dealt with as part of overall educational governance. Drawing on in-depth interviews with senior policymakers in two similar constituencies in Nepal, and appropriating David Block's agency framework [(2012). Unpicking agency in sociolinguistic research with immigrants. In S. Gardner & M. Martin-Jones (Eds.), Multilingualism, discourse, and ethnography (pp. 47-60). Routledge.], the paper shows the elements of structure that enable or delimit the decision-making of different policymakers concerning the MOI. While professing multilingualism as their ideal language policy, the policymakers are designing policies that sideline indigenous languages. This unintended outcome results from dealing with diverse aspects of structure, i.e. history, physical and imagined spaces, culture, and discourses around languages. Though situated within Nepal, the discussion has wider implications for understanding agentive acts in this globalising world and for LPP as part of general educational policymaking.

摘要

教学语言（MOI）在全球多语言政体中一直是一个有争议的问题，因为英语教学语言（EMI）出现了空前的增长，威胁到本地/土著甚至民族语言的使用，甚至威胁其生存。尽管已经对解决相关问题的斗争进行了深入研究，但是地方政策制定者如何以及为什么以边缘化土著语言和扩大EMI的方式制定良好的国家政策，仍未得到应有的重视。尤其是当语言政策和计划（LPP）作为整体教育治理的一部分来处理时，这项研究很少。基于对尼泊尔两个类似选区的高级决策者的深入采访，并采用了大卫·布洛克的代理框架[（2012）。与移民进行社会语言研究的不择手段。多语种，话语和人种志（第47-60页）。Routledge。]，本文显示了结构要素，这些要素可以启用或限制有关MOI的不同决策者的决策。政策制定者虽然声称使用多种语言作为理想的语言政策，但他们正在设计将土著语言置于一边的政策。这种意想不到的结果来自处理结构的各个方面，例如历史，物理和想象的空间，文化以及围绕语言的论述。尽管位于尼泊尔境内，但该讨论对于理解全球化世界中的代理行为以及作为一般教育政策制定一部分的LPP具有更广泛的意义。