ELTRA Project (Funded by the British Council)

On 29 June 2025, the Policy Research Institute (PRI) hosted a landmark public policy dialogue titled “Interlingual Teaching in the Nepali Classroom: From Policy to Practice”, held at PRI headquarters in Narayanhiti. The event brought together an impressive cross-section of stakeholders—researchers, educators, policy makers, and development partners—to deliberate on how multilingual education can be meaningfully implemented across Nepal’s school system.

The dialogue was part of the British Council–funded ELTRA Project, jointly led by Tribhuvan University (Nepal) and the University of Southampton (UK). The project’s principal investigator, Dr. Tae-Hee Choi, presented the core findings from the study, which has been working with teachers across four public schools in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Makawanpur to integrate translanguaging pedagogies into their daily teaching practices.

Facilitated by Dr. Ganga Ram Gautam of the Brookings Institution, the dialogue began by contextualising translanguaging—or interlingual teaching—as more than just using multiple languages in the classroom. Instead, it was framed as an inclusive…

As part of the British Council–funded ELTRA Project: Empowering English Teachers to Adopt Multilingual Pedagogy in Nepal, Dr. Tae-Hee Choi from the University of Southampton was in a visit in Nepal for a residential workshop held in Dhulikhel from June 26–30, 2025.

Hosted at the scenic Dhulikhel Lodge Resort, the residential brought together project collaborators—Dr. Prem Poudel, Dr. Ganga Gautam—and 13 committed teachers from public schools across Kathmandu Valley and Makawanpur. The workshop marked a key milestone in our participatory action research journey, focusing on co-developing multilingual resources, strengthening teacher leadership, and finalising classroom-ready materials rooted in translanguaging pedagogy.

Over two days of intensive face-to-face engagement, teachers presented microteaching demonstrations, engaged in collaborative resource design, and received targeted mentoring on how to lead translanguaging initiatives in their own schools. Dr. Choi’s sessions on mentorship and sustainability were particularly well received, helping position participating teachers as future advocates and trainers within their school…

On May 16th, the Centre for Global Englishes (CGE) and the Centre for Linguistics, Language Education and Acquisition Research (CLLEAR) hosted an interactive workshop titled ‘Influencing Language Policy Making: Strategies and Challenges’. Dr. Choi used the case of ELTRA project to engage the audience with her expertise on generating impact in language education policy. The workshop featured short presentations, followed by audience questions, group discussions, and panel interactions, fostering a dynamic exchange of ideas.

On 15 May 2025, Dr. Taehee Choi, the PI of the project, was invited to present at King’s College London as part of a research seminar on multilingualism. Her presentation, titled “Translanguaging Among English, the National Language, and Ethnic Languages: Initial Findings from a Participatory Action Research”, showcased key insights from a British Council-funded project she co-leads on empowering public-school teachers in Nepal to adopt multilingual pedagogy.

Drawing on one year of intensive participatory action research (PAR) involving 12 teachers of English, science, and mathematics from four public schools in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Makwanpur, Dr. Choi detailed how translanguaging practices were introduced, adapted, and institutionalised in classrooms historically dominated by English and Nepali. The study focused on developing teacher agency through collaborative lesson planning, reflective journaling, and continuous mentoring. The findings highlighted that co-constructed translanguaging practices not only improved student engagement but also promoted epistemic justice by validating local knowledge…