Multilingualism in education primarily aims to improve the quality of learning and to ensure access of ethnolinguistic children to education. Nepal expressed commitment along with other nations through the World Declaration on Education for All (EFA) in 1990 to reform the education policy and programme in a way that would ensure equitable learning opportunities for all and meet the basic learning needs of every person. After a decade of the declaration, governments of the world gathered in Dakar and agreed to achieve six basic goals of education by 2015. Ensuring all children including those belonging to ethnic minorities have access to good quality basic education was one of those goals. Nepal as a participant of the World Education Forum agreed to achieve the goals expressed in the collective commitment. Following the commitment of the government to achieve six EFA goals, education policies and programmes were reformed to expand learning opportunities to the children from disadvantaged groups. Nepal has added one more goal to the six EFA goals agreed in Dakar. The seventh goal of Nepal’s EFA is to use students’ home languages in the classroom in order to create a better learning atmosphere for ethnolinguistic children (MOE, 2003). The EFA programme of Nepal aimed to ensure equitable learning opportunities for the children from ethnolinguistic communities through the use of students’ home languages. In this view, multilingualism in education that recognises the use of students’ home languages as the principal language of education is focused on pedagogy and aims to improve the learning atmosphere and the quality of education.
Pedagogy, however, is not the only aspect of the multilingual policy in education. Language communities in Nepal have been struggling for the recognition of minority languages in education mainly for the purpose of preserving indigenous languages. The constitution (GON, 1990) that opened the door for multilingual policy in education recognised minority languages in education with the purpose of preserving heritage languages and promoting linguistic diversity. Linguists and language communities view the policy of multilingualism in education as an instrument in language revitalisation initiatives. Transferring languages to new generations is one of the most effective measures in language maintenance.
Furthermore, language is a marker of group identity and the prominence of a language signifies the position of the group in relation to political power and access to economic resources. The legitimation of minority languages in formal domains of communication such as education is also the recognition of ethnolinguistic identity. It reflects the growing influence of ethnolinguistic groups in policymaking and indicates the shift in societal power relation in the polity bringing minority groups into the field of power politics. Ethnopolitical activists have focused on the policies that recognise minority languages as legitimate languages in formal contexts of communication. This also suggests that the multilingual policy is a field of ideological contestation and identity formation.
Languages of Nepal
Nepal is a multilingual nation with 123 languages (CBS, 2012) belonging to four language families: Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman, Austro-Asiatic and Dravidian (Bradley, 1997; Yadava, 2003; Noonan, 2005a; Lewis, 2012). The vast majority of languages are spoken by a small section of the population. Out of 123 languages, four percent of the nation’s population speak 104 different languages. Seventy-three languages have less than 10,000 speakers each, whereas 73 percent of the nation’s population speak five major languages: Nepali, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tharu and Tamang (CBS, 2012). The small size of the language-speaking population is one of the factors affecting the vitality of minority languages.
Most of the minority languages are constrained in oral tradition and are losing vitality due to the unfavourable language ecology. Among the major languages, Nepali is the largest language, spoken by 45 percent of the population as the first language (CBS, 2012). As reported in the national population and housing census (CBS, 2012), the number of languages with more than 100,000 speakers is 19, whereas the number of languages having less than 10,000 speakers is 73. Each of the 36 languages is spoken by less than 1000 speakers. Similarly, there are 13 small languages and each of them is spoken by less than 100 speakers.
Language enumeration is inconsistent in the successive census reports, the only authentic source of language data. The national census of 1952/54 enumerated 44 languages. Different numbers of languages were reported in the census reports as 36 in 1961, 17 in 1971, 18 in 1981, 31 in 1991 and 92 in 2001. The reports of the national census were criticised for not recognising all minority languages and presenting an unreliable number of speakers of the minority languages. Turin (2004) criticises the situation of language enumeration as the state of uncertainty. His criticism is based on the lack of unanimity among government authority and language scholars about the number of languages spoken in the country. Yadava (2007) argues that all the efforts of language enumeration including the national census are just an estimation of languages. Such uncertainty can only be resolved with the census accompanied by a linguistic survey of the nation (Yadava, 2003).
Furthermore, distinction between language and varieties is the problem in language enumeration. A language can have distinct varieties based on social and geographical differences. Such social and geographical variation creates ambiguity in language identification. Kansakar (1996) suggests distinguishing language and language varieties before the enumeration of languages. There is a possibility of presenting language varieties as distinct languages or independent languages as the varieties of other languages. The author points to the ambiguity of linguistic composition in Nepal as arising from the failure to identify the ethnic origin of speakers of various languages and to recognise the distinction between a language and a language variety. He further comments that even those languages which are identified as independent languages are only recognised as having different sets of vocabularies. Several of them require linguistic studies for the identification of language varieties, closer affinity and other linguistic identities.
Above all, the problem in language enumeration is beyond linguistics. On the one hand, there are no sufficient data to identify languages and, on the other hand, the available data have been manipulated for political purposes. The authorities and ethnopolitical activists attempted to manipulate the linguistic data aiming to under-represent or over-represent the number of speakers of languages. During the Panchayat era, the regime was criticised for reducing the number of languages in the reports of the national census. The regime is believed to suppress minority languages with the goal of promoting language assimilation. The national census of 1981 enumerated only 18 languages and it reported Nepali as the first language of more than 58 percent of the population (CBS, 1981).
On the other hand, the number of languages is increasing consistently in the censuses conducted in the post-Panchayat era. The increasing number of languages is correlated with the decreasing percentage of the Nepali-speaking population. The number of languages decreased from 44 to 18 in the national census between 1952/54 and 1981, whereas the percentage of Nepali language speakers rose from 49 to 58 during the same period. In contrast, the number of languages rose in the national census carried out during the post-1990 period and the percentage of Nepali language speakers decreased. The number of languages rose to 123 and the percentage of Nepali language speakers decreased to 45 in the national census of 2011.
The continuous decrease in the percentage of the Nepali mother tongue population denotes the growing awareness of linguistic identity among the ethnic population. Languages represent ethnic, cultural, social and regional identities. There is a surge in claiming ethnic and regional identities in the post-1990 era. Local communities of indigenous groups are claiming local varieties as distinct languages in order to establish independent ethnolinguistic identity. Likewise, Nepali-speaking communities in the north-west parts of the nation are seeking regional identities through the recognition of local varieties as distinct languages. Linguistic regionalism emerged in response to the exclusionary behaviour of the regime. New languages such as Doteli, Baitadeli, Achhami, Darchuleli, Dailekhi and Dadeldhuri, which are regarded as regional varieties of Nepali (Pokharel, 2031 BS; Bandhu, 2052 BS), have emerged as independent languages in the latest census. The rise of regional varieties as independent languages does not have a strong linguistic basis. Several languages have been created in close proximity. These languages are from the region receiving less attention from the state throughout history and are in low rank in the human development index in comparison with other regions of the state.
The sense of identity among the ethnic population in Nepal is on the rise in the post-Panchayat era. Even the people who speak Nepali at home are reported as the speakers of ethnic languages. It is evident in the Myagdi district where almost a half of the population belongs to the Magar community but speak Nepali at home (Ghimire, 1999). The ethnic community lost the mother tongue a long time ago. The author states that three members of the community, who were over 80 years at the time of the interview, told him that they did not speak Magar even when they were children. One of them recalled her childhood and said that her grandparents used to speak Magar but encouraged the children to speak Nepali.
However, the reports of the national census from 1991 to 2012 have shown unreliable statistics of Magar language speakers in Myagdi. Although the number of the ethnic population is consistent, the number of language speakers is fluctuating. It is possible that some members of the community have acquired the ethnic language through language learning courses. In this case, the ethnic language becomes the second or additional language rather than the first language one speaks at home. The report of the national census (CBS, 1991) shows 105 speakers of the Magar language in Myagdi, whereas the report of the next national census (CBS, 2001) presented around 17,000 speakers of the Magar language in the district. In the latest census (CBS, 2012), the number of Magar language speakers again decreases to 2516.
As language is instrumental in the construction of group identity, there are cases of conflict between dominant and local varieties. Ethnolinguistic organisations at the centre are criticised for ignoring the identity of small communities and regional varieties. The Ghale community has been raising voices for several years to recognise their independent identity. The central organisation of ethnic nationalities has not recognised them as an independent ethnic group and, thus, Ghale is not on the list of indigenous ethnic communities. This applies to the recognition of languages and language varieties too. Minority languages are highly diverse in terms of linguistic features, resulting in distinct varieties in every local community. Ethnolinguistic organisations at the centre choose the dominant variety as the standard language. Such attempts of the organisations are not always accepted by the local communities. Examples of the resistance of dominant varieties by local communities were observed during the implementation of multilingual education programmes in Magar, Tamang and Chepang languages.
Linguistic studies (e.g., Lewis, 2012) recognise some of the regional varieties of Tamang as independent languages, whereas the national census (CBS, 2012) has denied the independent status of these varieties and reported all these varieties as a single Tamang language. Likewise, the varieties of Newari spoken in the Kathmandu Valley and western part of the Gandaki province are mutually unintelligible, but the national census has reported only a single Newari language in the nation. In contrast, several local communities in the north-east of the nation have obtained independent identities during the post-Panchayat era. Prominent linguists (Kansakar, 1996; Bradley, 1997; Yadava, 2003; Noonen, 2005a) have classified about two dozen language forms spoken in the eastern hilly region under the Rai-Kirant language. Rai-Kirant was being reported as a single language until the national census of 1991, but the census of 2001 reported 23 distinct languages from this group.
Besides, some of the foreign languages are also included in the report of the latest national census. The report has also presented English, Chinese, Spanish, French, Russian and Arabic as the languages of Nepal. People of Nepal have scattered across the world in search of employment and education. They may speak the languages of the nations where they live for extensive years. In addition, a few foreign nationals may become members of Nepali society by marriage. The inclusion of foreign languages in the report of the national census is convincing to some extent. However, enumeration of foreign languages along with the native languages may create problems in policymaking and planning activities. Foreign languages spoken by a small number of populations should be distinguished from the indigenous languages spoken by minority communities.
Linguistic diversity
An influx of people from every direction throughout history, isolation of language communities in geographical remoteness and sociopolitical processes prevented homogenisation and enriched linguistic diversity. On the one hand, the efforts of nation-building focused on the integrity of the state and the construction of national identity by linguistic and cultural assimilation and, on the other hand, major historical events such as regime changes from one language group to another, formation of satellite states and immigration of people speaking new languages prevented the ongoing process of linguistic and cultural assimilation. Despite state protection given to Sanskrit, Newari and Nepali during Lichchhavi, Malla and Shah periods respectively, Nepal is still a linguistically diverse nation.
By the time of the latest unification of the nation during the second half of the eighteenth century, there existed multiple developed languages. Maithili was the official language of the Mithila kingdom, which gained prosperity from ancient time till the fifth century BC, and Pali language was a developed language as an alternative to Sanskrit during the time of Gautam Buddha, while Newari and Maithili gained the official status of the court language during the Malla period (Rana, 1998).
Awasthi (2004) discusses the role of the river system in enriching linguistic diversity in the nation. Language communities separated by large rivers developed distinct linguistic features in the course of time and, ultimately, created new languages. Likewise, the rivers, flowing from north to south, link two different civilisations in the south and in the north. The impact of these two large cultural areas in Nepal is closely tied to the diverse linguistic and ethnic make-up of the country (Eagle, 2008). Urban and semi-urban parts of the nation have become linguistically heterogeneous due to the increasing trend of rural to urban migration. In search of modern facilities and better living conditions, people move to these areas giving rise to linguistic heterogeneity. Indigenous language communities have scattered throughout the nation in search of resources such as better economic, employment and agricultural opportunities and the services of the state.
CBS (2012) reports that there are not just more than a hundred languages in Nepal, but almost every administrative unit at the grassroots is linguistically heterogeneous. Of more than 3000 village units (VDCs in the previous administrative division), only 78 from 20 districts are homogeneous with all people speaking a single language. Likewise, of the 75 districts (in the previous administrative division), each of the six districts has more than 50 languages. The number of districts with 25–49 languages is 33 while 32 districts have 10–24 languages each. There is no single district in Nepal with a population speaking less than five languages. The degree of linguistic heterogeneity is intense in the eastern part of the nation.
According to the latest census report (CBS, 2012), Nepali, the national official language, is the dominant language with 45 percent of the population speaking it as the first language. It is the largest language in 54 districts, while it is in the second largest position in 15 districts and in the third largest position in the remaining districts. Nepali is spoken as the second language in 72 districts. Likewise, Maithili and Doteli languages each stands in the first position in four districts. Bhojpuri, Tharu, Tamang, Limbu and Bajjika each is in the first position in two districts. There are three languages, Avadhi, Gurung and Baitadeli, standing in the first position in one district.
Linguists have classified the languages spoken in the nation as Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman, Austro-Asiatic and Dravidian based on the affiliation of languages to language families. Some linguists create a separate group, language isolate, for a language whose affiliation is yet to be discovered. Likewise, the language of the deaf community can also be presented in a separate class. Besides, the languages spoken in the nation need to be classified on the basis of origin and linguistic status in order to devise plans for the development of indigenous languages and to allocate the resources appropriately. Indigenous and foreign languages need to be classified into separate groups in order to ensure that the resources allocated for the development of native minority languages should not be taken by the foreign languages which are also spoken by a small size of population. It would be useful to classify languages also in terms of the degree of maintenance and literary development in order to focus the language development activities on the documentation and revitalisation of indigenous languages. The proper grouping is also important in setting the policy of official language at local levels and as the language of education as well.
Thus, it is important to group languages not by the number of speakers, but by their origin. Overall, the languages spoken in the nation can be classified into two groups: native languages and foreign languages. This grouping isolates foreign languages into a separate group. The native languages can be divided further into two groups: developed languages and developing languages. Yadava (2014) classifies the languages spoken in the nation into four groups: major languages, minor languages, cross-border and foreign languages and recently migrated languages.
