Dr. Taehee Choi delivers Invited Lecture at King’s College London on Multilingual Pedagogy in Nepal
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 systems and linguistic identities.
The lecture generated wide interest among researchers and practitioners working on multilingualism, language policy, and teacher development. The project’s outcomes offer practical models for implementing language-in-education reforms in linguistically diverse and policy-constrained contexts.
