NELTA ELT Forum Editorial Board (2023-2024)
Patron – President of NELTA
Editor-in-Chief
Dr. Chet Nath Panta
Dr. Panta earned his PhD in Educational Leadership and MPhil in English Language Education from the School of Education, Kathmandu University (KU). He is working as a visiting faculty there from 2018 AD. Besides, he serves in the capacity of the head teacher at Sisneri Secondary School, Lalitpur, Nepal. He is avidly engaged in teacher professional development and leadership capacity-building workshops, seminars, and publications. His areas of research interest include critical pedagogy, learner autonomy, auto/ethnography, transformative learning, and dimensions of educational/ school leadership. Alongside, he is also a reviewer of a couple of national and international journals.
Editors
Mr. Gobinda Puri
Mr. Puri is a lecturer of English at Janta Multiple Campus, Sunsari, and facilitator of academic writing course at Nepal Open University. He is also an alumnus access instructor at United States-English Access Microscholarship Program, Nepal (2014-2016) and the Mentor, Action Research Mentoring Scheme (ARMS), British Council, Nepal (2019). His research focus is on teacher education, teacher’s professional development, teacher research mentoring, action research, academic writing, and research in higher education. He has presented papers at IATEFL, TESOL, JALT, and NELTA international conferences and published articles in journals and online forums. Moreover, he is the vice-chair of Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA) Sunsari Branch and executive member of the Provincial Committee, Koshi Province. Currently, he is pursuing PhD in English Language Education at Kathmandu University.
Mrs. Indra Kumari Oli
Mrs. Oli is an English language teacher at Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya, Surkhet and a lecturer at Sahara Campus. Currently, she is pursuing MPhil in English Language Education at Kathmandu University. Besides, she is a life member of NELTA and an annual member of TESOL and IATEFL. She serves as the secretary for NELTA Branch, Surkhet. Additionally, she has experience as an English language instructor for Access Center Surkhet under English Access Micro-Scholarship Program, in Nepal from 2015-2017. She has completed various online courses like Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL) from Oregon University in 2016, TESOL Core Certificate Practicum Program in 2021 with scholarships provided by the RELO and the US Embassy in Nepal. She attended a 10-hour professional journal editor workshop in 2022. Her areas of interest include teacher research, mentoring, assessment and online education.
Mr. Surendra Prasad Bhatt
Mr. Bhatt is a teacher educator affiliated with Kathmandu University. He holds an MPhil from Kathmandu University School of Education and has a strong passion for writing and researching teacher wellbeing. With a wealth of experience in teaching, research, and supervising research projects, Mr. Bhatt has established himself as a prominent figure in the field.
Mr. Bhatt is a life member of the Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA) and serves as an executive member of the Geo-linguistic Society of Nepal. Alongside his academic achievements, he has earned a master’s degree in education from Tribhuvan University and possesses over ten years of valuable teaching experience. In addition to his role at Kathmandu University, Mr. Bhatt also serves as a visiting faculty at Rainbow International College. Recognized as a dynamic professional, he actively participates in teacher professional development workshops, seminars, and contributes to various publications.
Mr. Parshu Ram Shrestha
Mr. Shrestha, a life member of NELTA, is in teaching profession since 2008. He completed master’s degree in English Literature from Tribhuvan University in 2007. He is an Assistant Lecturer at Janta Multiple Campus (T.U.), Itahari, and Post Graduate Teacher at SOS Hermann Gmeiner Secondary School Itahari, Sunsari. Currently, he is pursuing MPhil in English Language Education at Kathmandu University.
He attended an online course “Critical Thinking in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Curriculum” from Oregon University, USA, in 2012. He was also a mentee in “Online Exploratory Action Research Training for Nepalese EFL Teachers” from 01 January to 31 December 2019 conducted by Action Research Nepal, Kathmandu. Then, he mentored some Nepali EFL teachers of English from 6 March to 31 December in 2021in “Online Action Research Training for Nepalese EFL Teachers (Mentees as Mentors: Expanding EAR at the Local Networks)” conducted by Action Research Nepal. He is particularly interested in action research, critical thinking, academic writing, and creative writing.
Ms. Pushpa Priya
Ms. Priya is a lecturer of English at different Colleges in Kathmandu such as Global College of Management, Samriddhi College and Columnist of English National Daily of Nepal. She is pursuing MPhil in English Language Education from KUSOED. She completed her MA in Major English from the Central Department of English, Tribhuvan University. She is also a visiting faculty at Kathmandu University of Environmental Engineering, Dhulikhel. One of her manuscripts was published in International Journal of Economics and Entrepreneurship; OJED. Her areas of research interest include transformative education, public speaking, women empowerment, soft skills and communicative competency.
Dr. Vidhya Pokhrel
Dr. Pokhrel is an independent learner who enjoys creating memories out of life experiences. She has earned PhD in English Language Education (ELE) from Kathmandu University, Nepal. She has earned M.Ed. and MPhil in ELE from the same university. She is working in the capacity of the Vice Principal in Regent Residential school, Nepal. She is a regular presenter at national and international conferences. Ms. Pokhrel is a life member of NELTA, member of STAR Scholars’ Network and Full member of Asia TEFL. Her interests include teacher identity, teacher professional development, creative writing, reflective practice and transformative learning.
Bhim B. Limbu
Mr. Limbu is a PhD Scholar at IUKL, Malaysia. He holds MPhil Degree in English Language and Literature from Pokhara University. He has worked as an English News Bulletin Editor and Reader at Radio Nepal, Singha Durbar for about 8 years. He is a TEFL-certified English teacher from the TEFL Institute of Ireland. He worked as a Speaking Examiner of Cambridge English Courses: YLE, KET, PET and CAE for Planet EDU-Extralearn, India. He worked for JICA, Nepal as a translator – English to Nepali language or vice versa – for more than 5 years. The areas of his interest include research in schools and education, curriculum and pedagogy; training and workshops on Spoken English, Classroom English, Phonics and Phonetics, etc. He has taught English Language and Literature from school to university level for about 15 years.
Ms. Manda Pokharel
Ms. Pokharel is a life member of NELTA, an English language teacher in Nepal. She is a community school secondary-level (+2) English language teacher and a visiting faculty at Kathmandu University. She is also an MPhil graduate from the same university. Her research areas include young learners, female teachers, and teacher development.
She has attended different national and international seminars and conferences and delivered her research-based plenary talks and presentations. She has published her research articles and some of the others are under review. She also delivers training sessions as a trainer.
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NELTA ELT Forum Editorial Board (2022-2023)
Patron – President of NELTA
Ms. Motikala Subba Dewan
Editor-in-Chief
Mr. Kamal Raj Lamsal
Mr. Lamsal was born in Harinas-5, (then Chinnebas-7) Basantadanda, Syangja. He has earned M.Ed. in English Education from Tribhuwan University. He has taken a teacher trainer’s course on ‘Becoming a Teacher Trainer’ from Homerton College, Cambridge, UK, and an online course on ‘Critical Thinking’ from Oregon University, USA. Moreover, he has attended the ToT on Strengthening Teachers’ Associations (STA), English for Teaching and Teaching for English (ETTE), Quality Education, Quality Schools, Student Quality Circle (SQC), etc. He has attended and presented at many national and international conferences on ELT. He has been teaching English in Waling Multiple Campus and Ranabir Janahit Secondary School in Syangja for about two decades. He also served as a central executive committee member of NELTA (2015-2017) and as a Focal Person of the Syangja Centre of the English Access Microscholarship Program (Access Program), Nepal (8th cohort, 2018). Currently, he is Senior Vice President cum Training Coordinator of NELTA Gandaki Province. Besides his regular job, he volunteers as a teacher trainer for NELTA, ETC, and EDCU. He is a life member of NELTA and a general member of IATEFL. He has published articles in ELT journals. He has worked as the sub-team coordinator of the NELTA ELT Forum (2020-2021 and 2021-2022).
Editors
Mr. Parshu Ram Shrestha
Mr. Shrestha is a life member of NELTA and has been teaching English for the last 14 years. Currently, he is an Assistant Lecturer at Janta Multiple Campus (T.U.), Itahari, and Post Graduate Teacher at SOS Hermann Gmeiner Secondary School Itahari. He is an M. Phil. Scholar at Kathmandu University in English Language Education. He earned his M. A. in English Literature from Mahendra Multiple Campus (T.U.), Dharan, Sunsari, in 2007. He attended an online Critical Thinking in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Curriculum course at the University of Oregon, Linguistic Department, American English Institute (UO AEI), USA, from 09 April to 15 June 2012 with the scholarship provided by American Embassy, Kathmandu, Nepal. He was a mentee in Online Exploratory Action Research Training for Nepalese EFL Teachers from 01 January to 31 December 2019 conducted by Action Research Nepal, Kathmandu. Then, he mentored some EFL teachers of English from 6 March 2021 to 31 December 2021 in Online Action Research Training for Nepalese EFL Teachers (Mentees as Mentors: Expanding EAR at the Local Networks) by Action Research Nepal. Meanwhile, he attended IATEFL Research SIG Teachers Research Online 2021 Conference held on 10 and 11 December 2021 together with his co-mentor Mr. Sagun Shrestha, and mentees who presented their EAR projects in the presence of Prof. Dr. Richard Smith and the international audience. Besides, he has attended several online and face-to-face professional development training and seminars and has also presented his papers. He is a researcher and creative writer who has got a dozen of his research articles and more than thirty short stories published in various journals and ezines.
Ms. Ranjana Kumari Jha
Ms. Ranjana Kumari Jha has earned her M. Ed. in English Education from University Campus, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, and M. A in sociology. Currently, she is a lecturer at the Department of English Education, Hari Khetan Multiple Campus, Birgunj. In addition, she is teaching at Birgunj Nursing Campus and National Medical College. She has published some online research articles and books. Her research interest includes language pedagogy, teachers’ professional development, and sociolinguistics. She is an executive member of NELTA. She has good experience in Training teachers and editing different kinds of journal articles.
Mr. Rudra Thapa
Mr. Thapa is an M.Phil. scholar at Kathmandu University. He has completed his M. A. in English literature and M.Ed. in English education from Tribhuvan University. He is the head of the English department at Kanakai Multiple Campus, Surunga, Jhapa. Besides, he is also a permanent high school English teacher. He is a secretary of NELTA, province no. 1. He has presented papers at national and international conferences and published his articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is an editor of ‘Kanakai Journal’ a peer-reviewed journal and ‘Kanakai Gyanmala, a series of text-book based on the local curriculum of Kanakai Municipality, Jhapa.
He has conducted a mini-research for RMPC at Kanakai Multiple Campus, Surunga. His area of interest includes critical pedagogy and literature in the language classroom. He also works as a teacher trainer in the district and out.
Ms. Sikha Gurung
Ms. Gurung is an ELT Facilitator at Kathmandu University and Ullens Education Foundation. She is also a storytelling teacher/trainer in Nepal. Academically, she is an MA (English) and M.Phil. (ELT) scholar. Passionate to grow together, she likes to learn from various ELT/Storytelling Conferences/Webinars/Workshops/Training and share with her fellow English teachers through the same platforms. The insights gained through prestigious scholarships such as: ‘Creativity Group Scholarship, 2018, IATEFL, UK, Meral Guceri Award, TESOL, 2021, USA, and the SUSI Award, 2021, USA, have helped her network with the wider ELT community, widen her perspectives and thereby hone her ELT skills. Therefore, she aspires to make a difference in ELT and Storytelling in Nepal.
Mr. Sudip Neupane
Mr. Neupane is an Access Program Coordinator at NELTA for the English Access Microscholarship Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. He earned his M.Phil. degree in English Language Education (ELE) from Kathmandu University. He completed numerous online courses such as a 60-hour NILE online course entitled ‘From Teacher to Trainer,’ 13 weeks online course on ‘Affective Filter: A Professional Development Course in Facilitating Emotional Engagement’ and a 64-hour online teacher training course (OPEN Course) on ‘Teaching Grammar Communicatively’. He was also an editor of the NELTA ELT Forum for 2021-2022.
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NELTA ELT Forum Editorial Board (2021 – 2022)
Patron – President of NELTA
Ms. Motikala Subba Dewan
Editor-in-Chief
Dr. Padam Chauhan
Dr. Chauhan currently works as an International Student Retention Specialist for the Kearney International Center and an ESL instructor for the Center for English Language Programs at Minnesota State University (MSU), Mankato, USA. Before that, he worked as an academic writing consultant at MSU, Mankato, for five years. He has earned M.Ed. in English Education from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, MA in TESOL, and a Doctor of Education (EdD) from MSU, Mankato, USA. Padam has won scholarships, awards, assistantships, and travel grants, including the Richard H. Annis Scholarship as an outstanding doctoral candidate at MSU, Mankato, and Study of the United States Institutes (SUSI) for Secondary School Educators. He has taught EFL at the high school and undergraduate levels in Nepal. He has also been a K-12 principal in Nepal.
Apart from his regular job, Padam has voluntarily served Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA) for about eight years as its central executive committee member, treasurer, and general secretary. Padam is popularly known for his networking, rapport-building, and robust leadership skills. He is a regular participant and presenter at international conferences related to English language learning and teaching. He has presented his research studies at the NELTA, IATEFL, TESOL, AAAL, and TESL international conferences held in Nepal, the UK, the USA, and Canada. His current research interests include academic reading and writing, academic discourse socialization, culturally responsive pedagogy, second language assessment, ESL teacher leadership, and equitable access to English language education.
Editors
Mr. Agni Gnawali
Mr. Gnawali, originally from Dailekh, has earned his M. Phil. in English from Pokhara University. He started his teaching career two decades ago, along with creative writing, editing, and facilitating teacher training across the country. Currently, he works at Chaitanya Multiple Campus, Banepa, Kavre as the Lecturer and Head of the Department of English Language. Mr. Gnawali also serves as Research Committee Chairperson and Chief Editor of the multi-interdisciplinary journal, ‘Chaitanya Research Journal’ at Chaitanya Multiple Campus. Additionally, he is a visiting faculty at Kathmandu University. In addition to his academic responsibilities mentioned above, he is the chair of NELTA, Kavre branch, and the secretary of the Centre for Academic Research and Services (CARS), Banepa, Kavre. Mr. Gnawali has authored and edited two English book series: Flame English Reader and Dynamic English in Nepal. Recently, he co-authored ‘A Bouquet of Flowers’, a textbook for optional English, for class 11. His main areas of research interest are practical pedagogy and identity.
Mr. Arjun Basnet
Mr. Basnet, a permanent resident of Gorkha, has earned M.Phil. in English Language Education from Kathmandu University (KU), M.Ed. in English Education, and MA in English Literature from Tribhuban University (TU). He has almost got two decades of experience in teaching English as a foreign language to school, college, and university level students. He has been working as a visiting faculty at KU and has also been teaching Bachelor’s and Master’s level courses at TU affiliated colleges. Mr. Basnet has also been working as a translator at JAICA and HEIFER International, Nepal. His M.Phil. dissertation research entitled ‘Constructing Students’ Identities in EFL Context: A Narrative Inquiry’ is instrumental to understand students’ multiple identities constructed in EFL classroom. He has taken an online course on ‘Critical Thinking’ from Oregon University, USA. He is a life member of NELTA. He has presented papers at the international conferences of NELTA. He has rich experience in teaching, researching, and supervising research projects. His research and pedagogical interests include Identity in L2 Learning, Discourse Analysis, Translation, and Critical Thinking, ELT Pedagogy and Materials, and Professional Development.
Mr. Binod Dhami (3rd & 4th Issue Co-ordinator)
Mr. Dhami is an English Language teacher at Washington Elementary School, Mankato, USA. He earned his M.Ed. in English Language Education from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, and MA in TESOL from Minnesota State University, USA. He worked as a teaching assistant and an adjunct faculty at the department of English at Minnesota State University, Mankato, USA, and taught writing composition courses to international and domestic students. As a TESOL trainer at TEFL International, Kathmandu, he facilitated the TESOL certification course and traveled across Nepal to deliver teacher education. In Nepal, he taught nursery through tertiary level as an English teacher and a lecturer. L2 writing, Global Englishes, TESOL methodologies, and language and identity are some of his research interests. Currently, he is exploring Nepali and Bangladeshi English teachers’ perceptions toward the use of Global Englishes in ELT.
Mr. Bishnu Kumar Khadka
As a professionally dedicated, academically sound, passionate to learning, creative, and resourceful professional, Mr. Khadka is committed to teaching, writing, training, research, and professional leadership career in the field of ELT. Currently, he is pursuing PhD from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He has been teaching English as a foreign language for more than a decade and presently working as an Assistant Dean of Faculty of Education cum Assistant Professor of English Education at Central Campus of Education, Mid-Western University, Surkhet, Nepal. Besides, he works as the Central Committee Member cum President of Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA), Karnali Province Committee. He is a general member of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), UK and TESOL International Association, USA. He has worked as the researcher, trainer, speaker, writer and freelancer facilitator and published books, research articles, and opinion-based papers in the field of education in general and ELT in particular. He has participated and presented the papers in the national and international workshops, conferences, and seminars organized in India, USA, and Italy.
Mr. Chet Nath Panta
Mr. Panta is a PhD scholar in Educational Leadership at Kathmandu University (KU). He has earned his M.Phil. in English Language Education from KU. Mr. Panta also works as a visiting faculty at KU. Besides, he serves in the capacity of headteacher at Sisneri Secondary School, Lalitpur, Nepal. As a dynamic ELT professional, he is avidly engaged in teacher professional development and leadership capacity-building workshops, seminars, and publications. He is also an English language editor of Council for Doctoral Studies, Pokhara University. He is the joint secretary of NELTA Lalitpur branch. His areas of research interest include critical pedagogy, positive psychology, autoethnography, transformative learning, and issues of school leadership.
Mr. Gobinda Puri
Mr. Puri is an assistant lecturer of English at Janta Multiple Campus, Sunsari, affiliated to Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He is also an alumnus instructor at United States-English Access Microscholarship Program, Nepal and the Mentor, Action Research Mentoring Scheme (ARMS), British Council, Nepal. He also serves as a teacher trainer and a resource person in the region. His research focus is on teacher education, action research, critical theory, and research in higher education. He has presented papers at IATEFL, TESOL, JALT, and NELTA international conferences and published articles in journal and online forums. He is also the vice-chair in Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA) Sunsari branch and executive member in Provincial committee, Province No.1. Currently, he is pursuing his M.Phil. in English Education at Nepal Open University.
Ms. Gyanu Dahal
Ms. Dahal has earned M.Ed. in English Education, MA in English Literature, and MA in Sociology. She has been teaching EFL for the last 15 years. Currently, she works as an English Teacher and Lecturer at Little Angels’ School and Little Angels’ College, Lalitpur. Besides, she also works as a Virtual Class and Radio Class Teacher in CEHRD, Government of Nepal. At present, she also serves as a Teacher Trainer in the IDT Nepal project at the US Embassy. She has won The A. S. Hornby Educational Trust Scholarship for the cohort 2021-2022. She has also worked as a Teacher Trainer, Mentor, and Mentor Trainer in ETTE, and AARMS Projects at British Council. She has trained English teachers, principals, and resource persons of different parts of the country, being a part of British Council projects. She has presented and participated in international conferences on ELT. She is a life member of NELTA. She firmly believes that “Teachers should have passion for teaching.”
Mr. Jagadish Paudel (1st & 2nd Issue Co-ordinator)
Mr. Paudel is currently pursuing his PhD in Rhetoric and Composition Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), USA. In the Rhetoric and Composition Program, at present, he serves as an Assistant Director for that program at UTEP. He completed his MA and M.Ed. in English from Tribhuvan University (TU), Nepal. During more than a decade of teaching at the university level in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT), instructing English for second language learners in Nepal, he has presented his research at both national and international conferences. During his academic journey, he has won several awards and grants, including the Dream Award of the (US) College Composition and Communication Conference and a Summer Graduate Enhancement Award (2021) at UTEP. He has authored more than a dozen published journal articles in the field of ELT. His areas of interest include Social Justice Pedagogy, Hindu Rhetoric, and Public Discourse. Professionally, he has a very strong and wide network across the world. Besides academic pursuits, he served as the Assistant Campus Chief and Student Sport and Welfare Chief in Dadeldhura Multiple Campus, Dadeldhura, TU. He also served as a member of the English and Other Foreign Languages Education Subject Committee at TU. Similarly, he served as a volunteer in the capacity of Central Committee Member and Membership Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA). During his professional career in Nepal, he traveled extensively from the far-western region to the eastern part of Nepal.
Mr. Kamal Raj Lamsal (5th & 6th Issue Co-ordinator)
Mr. Lamsal was born in Harinas-5, (then Chinnebas-7) Basantadanda, Syangja. He has earned M.Ed. in English Education from Tribhuwan University. He has taken a teacher trainer’s course on ‘Becoming a Teacher Trainer’ from Homerton College, Cambridge, UK and an online course on ‘Critical Thinking’ from Oregon University, USA. He has attended and presented at many national and international conferences on ELT. He has been teaching English in Waling Multiple Campus and Ranabir Janahit Secondary School in Syangja for about two decades. He also served as a central executive committee member of NELTA (2015-2017) and as a Focal Person of the Syangja Centre of the English Access Microscholarship Program (Access Program), Nepal (8th cohort, 2018). Currently, he is Senior Vice President of NELTA Gandaki Province. Besides his regular job, he volunteers as a teacher trainer for NELTA, ETC, and EDCU. He is a life member of NELTA and a general member of IATEFL. He has published articles in ELT journals. He has worked as the sub-team coordinator of NELTA ELT Forum (2020-2021), a bimonthly official e-zine of NELTA.
Mr. Kishor Parajuli
Mr. Parajuli is an English Language Teacher at Pragati Secondary School, Hetauda. He also works part-time as a lecturer of English Education at Hetauda Campus, Hetauda. He has about two decades of experience in teaching English from pre-primary to university level. He is pursuing M. Phil. in English Education at Nepal Open University, Kathmandu. Currently, Mr. Parajuli serves as the General Secretary of NELTA Bagmati Province. He is a life member of NELTA, Nepal and an annual member of IATEFL, UK. He completed a ten-week long online course on ‘Practical Applications in Listening and Speaking Skills’ (PALSS) from Oregon University, Oregon, USA and other similar online courses on ELT. He facilitates training sessions for English teachers and has presented papers at NELTA national and international conferences on ELT issues.
Mr. Parmeshor Baral
Mr. Baral, a life member of NELTA and an executive member of NELTA Kaski branch, is an English language teacher, teacher trainer, and researcher from Pokhara. He has been working as a lecturer in the department of English Education, Prithvi Narayan Campus for one and half-decade. In addition to regular teaching and learning activities, he is actively involved in different research activities and has published more than a dozen research articles in different national and international journals. Additionally, he presented two papers in the annual conferences of GATESOL in 2017 and 2018 about different issues of the English language teaching in Nepalese classroom simultaneously besides presenting papers in the international ELT conferences organized by NELTA and other similar professional associations. Furthermore, he has co-authored two reference books for the students of B.Ed. major English of Tribhuvan University. Besides, Mr. Baral is the chief editor of the Journal Renaissance, published biannually by Pokhara Lincoln International College, Pokhara. Currently, he is a Ph.D. scholar at Kathmandu University School of Education, and his main area of interest is different issues of English language teaching.
Ms. Sikha Gurung
Ms. Gurung is an ELT Facilitator at Kathmandu University and Ullens Education Foundation. She is also a storytelling teacher/trainer in Nepal. Academically, she is an MA (English) and M.Phil. (ELT) scholar. Passionate to grow together, she likes to learn from various ELT/Storytelling Conferences/Webinars/Workshops/Training and share with her fellow English teachers through the same platforms. The insights gained through prestigious scholarships such as: ‘Creativity Group Scholarship, 2018, IATEFL, UK, Meral Guceri Award, TESOL, 2021, USA, and the SUSI Award, 2021, USA, have helped her network with the wider ELT community, widen her perspectives and thereby hone her ELT skills. Therefore, she aspires to make a difference in ELT and Storytelling in Nepal.
Mr. Sudip Neupane
Mr. Neupane is an Access Program Coordinator at NELTA for English Access Microscholarship Program. He earned his M.Phil. degree in English Language Education (ELE) from Kathmandu University. The title of his M.Phil. research is ‘Assessment Experience of English Language Teachers: A Narrative Inquiry.’ He also earned a 60-hour NILE online course entitled ‘From Teacher to Trainer.’ He has delivered numerous sessions for CPD of teachers and teacher educators. He has experience in teaching English language to young and adult students in Nepal. He also worked as a Master Trainer at English and Digital for Girls Education (EDGE) Project implemented by the British Council Nepal. The areas of his interest include language assessment, teacher professional development (TPD), inclusivity in English language classroom, IT in education, and ELT pedagogy.
Mr. Surendra Raj Joshi
Mr. Joshi, a life member of NELTA, has been engaging himself in teaching-learning as a profession for the last 15 years. Currently, he works as a Program Head of Cambridge International A-Levels at Global College, Mid-Baneshwor. Mr. Joshi has earned MA in English Literature from Tribhuvan University. He is currently pursuing an M.Phil. in ELE from Kathmandu University. He has presented papers in NELTA international conferences. His key areas of research interest are academic writing, teachers’ professional development, feedback to EFL/ESL learners.
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NELTA ELT Forum Team Members (2020 – 2021)
Patron – President of NELTA
Editor-in-Chief:
Dr. Kashi Raj Pandey is a life-long educator of English language, literature and writing. Besides his full time teaching and research commitments at Kathmandu University, he has been continuously involved in various NELTA activities since February 2001. He has visited many of our branches as a lead trainer, and helped the life members in bringing their skills and knowledge into practice. He went to Australia in 2014 for his study after having won a bursary in the Australia Awards in open competition. After completing PhD from Murdoch University (Perth), he returned to Nepal in 2018. He has written travelogues, short stories, and poems about people, places, and professions, both in English and Nepalese languages. he has presented his poems and short stories as a feature in several literary events in Australia. It is also significant to note that his PhD thesis comprises many poems and dilemma stories, representing Nepalese characters and contexts that are related to teaching and learning situations. He has published a book “Writing Power” to his credit, and at present, just published another book, “Theorizing Transformative Learning: The Power of Autoethnographic Poetics in Education”.
Editors:
Mr. Batuk Lal Tamang is the Head Teacher and English Language Teacher at Annapurna Secondary School Chitwan. He is also the Chair of NELTA Chitwan Branch. He has spent teaching for more than 29 years at Secondary Level, teaching English Education at University for more than 9 years and working as Roster Teacher Educator at Education Training Centre Bharatpur for more than 18 years. He has written more than 10 English books for School Level Students. He worked as lead trainer at ETTE+ Project in Chitwan in 2012 – 2013 organized by NELTA and British Council. He was a Hornby Summer Scholar (Kazakhstan 2009) and TEA Fellow 2017 (USA).
Ms. Bibha Jha has spent more than one decade in teaching English. She is pursuing M. Phil (ELE) at Kathmandu University, Nepal. She is a life member of NELTA. She has been appointed as editorial member of NELTA ELT Forum for its E-zine (2020 June -2021 May). She has presented her papers at regional and national conferences. She is an emerging trainer for teachers and researcher especially on the issues related to Teaching and Learning English.
Mr. D.N. Joshi, Peer reviewer of JSARD California State University, has earned his MPhil degree in English Education from Kathmandu University. He has also earned M.Ed. in English language Education. His MPhil research entitled “ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION PRACTICES: NARRATIVE is instrumental to the teachers addressing learning diversities. He has been in teaching field for the last 20 years. He taught in M. Ed for five years and has been teaching courses at different TU affiliated colleges. Mr. Joshi is the winner of the young principal award established by Civil Voice for Peace and Development, 2015 from the then Education minister Madhav Prasad Ghimire He has also served as a treasurer and secretary of NELTA Kanchanpur. His areas of interest include teaching methods and techniques, addressing learning differences and literature and language teaching. His interest for further degree is Navigating meaning engagement in Qualitative research: A Narrative Inquiry.
Mr. Gopal Prasad Bashyal is Instructor at Educational Training Centre, Palpa, Nepal. He is the Senior Vice President of NELTA province No. 5. His Optional English series (Grade 1 – 5) is taught as supplementary textbooks in several schools of Nepal. He has published Teaching English to Beginners, ELT Handbook and The Recollections and several ELT and education related articles in local and national journals and newspapers. He has a wide experience of learning and sharing experiences at different institutions and organizations home and abroad
Mr. Guna Raj Nepal is a lecturer of English at Sukuna Multiple Campus, Morang, and Vishwa Adarsha College and Rastriya Janasahayog College, Sunsari. He is also the Chair of NELTA Morang. He has contributed more than 20 years to the field of teaching. He has facilitated several sessions on ELT for teachers teaching across Province 1. He has presented papers and given plenaries both at the provincial and national conferences of NELTA. Currently, he is an M.Phil. Scholar at Kathmandu University. His research and pedagogical interests include critical thinking, ecological approach to English language teaching, and interdisciplinary studies.
Mr. Guru Prasad Poudel, M. Phil. in English Language Education, is a young scholar of English. He has a good experience of teaching, researching and supervising the research practitioners. He has been involved in different professional associations including NELTA, TESON, LS, and currently has been contributing as a central committee member of NELTA in teacher training and other scholarly guidance. He has a dozen of publications in different journals. His area of interest include: identity research, critical discourse analysis, ELT pedagogy and materials and professional development.
Mr. Gyanendra Kumar Yadav is an ELT scholar, researcher, and teacher-trainer. He has been teaching at different levels for more than a decade. Currently, he is pursuing his M. Phil. in English Language Education from Kathmandu University, School of Education. An active life member of NELTA, he has published journal articles and presented papers in NELTA conferences on pertinent issues in ELT and teacher development. His areas of interest include English language teachers’ identity, language planning and policy, academic writing, and continuous professional development (CPD).
Mr. Hom Raj Khadka is an English language instructor in Education Training Center Rupandehi Nepal. He has 15 years of experience in teaching and learning ELT integrating technology. He has been Teaching English in Banke Bagesshowry Campus Nepalgunj. He conducts training to Teachers of English Language of different levels, empowering them for professional development. He holds a Master in English, Sociology, and Postgraduate in e-learning and Online Education. He presented ample research papers in ELT Association as NELTA, ELATAI, AINET, BELTA, and TESOL USA. And he also presented Paper in Webinar hosted by IATEFL UK.He is a center Committee Member of NELTA. Technology, pedagogy, and Contents writing are his areas of interest in Education.
Mr. Kamal Raj Lamsal, from Syangja, has been teaching English in a college and a community school for more than seventeen years. He has a master’s degree in English education. He has done a teacher trainer’s course from the UK and an online course on critical thinking from Oregon University, America. He is a teacher trainer under NELTA, ETC Kaski and EDCU, Syangja. He is a life member of NELTA, Senior Vice President of NELTA Gandaki Province, and a member of IATEFL. He has been presenting papers in International conferences of NELTA for many years. He has written articles for different journals.
Mr. Kunjarmani Gautam is an English Language Teacher and Teacher Educator. After 20 years of experience in Resunga Multiple Campus, he coordinated English Access Micro-scholarship Program at NELTA
Mr. Laxman Prasad Bhandari is an Assistant Professor in English and Business Communication at Lumbini Banijya Campus, Butwal, Nepal. He earned his Master’s degrees in English Education (M. Ed.) and Sociology and Anthropology (M. A.) from Tribhuvan University. Currently, he is pursuing MPhil. in English Language Education (ELE) at Kathmandu University School of Education. Mr. Bhandari is a life member of NELTA, and a member of IATEFL, UK. He has published research papers in national and international journals. The areas of his interest include teacher education and Training, Qualitative Research, ELT pedagogy, and academic writing.
Mr. Rameshwar Thakur, MPhil in English, has dedicated himself as an English Teacher to teach English up to graduate levels for about 22 years. He is currently serving as a permanent secondary level English teacher in a community school and working as a visiting faculty in Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel as well. Besides, his contribution in NELTA Bagmati as the senior vice-president has offered him the post of the coordinator of NELTA Bagmati Journal Publication Committee. Furthermore, he helps in running TPD sessions as a roster training at ETC Dhulikhel.
Mrs. Ritu Kumari Tiwary is a secondary level teacher of English at Siddhartha Shishu Sadan Boarding School, Janakpurdham. She has spent more than 10 years in the field of teaching. She is a life member of NELTA and was an Access Instructor from 2016-2018 at Laxminiya Rural Municipality-2. She has presented her papers on different ELT issues at provincial and national conferences. She has edited the Newsletter published by NELTA, as an Access Instructor of sixth cohort in 2018. Recently, she has joined an NGO ‘Aasaman Nepal’, highly recognized in 15 districts in Terai which is dedicated for marginalized children, girls and women empowerment.
Mrs. Shyama Khanal is a lecturer of English at Janata Campus, Nepal Sanskrit University, Dang. She is life member of NELTA cum executive committee member of NELTA, Dang branch. She is former access instructor (6th cohort) at Dang. Her education qualification is M.A and M.Ed. in English. She has presented several papers in National and International (Nepal, Malaysia and Finland) conferences. She is working as a peer reviewer in Haimaprabha; a peer reviewed research journal published from Janata Campus, Dang. She was in editorial board in the same journal (2074). She is teacher trainer with several experiences in online courses.
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Team Members (2017-2020)
Motikala Subba Dewan, Patron
Editor-in-Chief
Mr. Sagun Shrestha is a 2016 Hornby scholar for the postgraduate course in English Language Teaching at the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. He has coordinated English Access Microscholarship Program in Nepal and served as a teacher trainer in Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA). Equally, he has worked as an English teacher for more than seven years. He is also an editor-in-chief of ‘The GEM 2012’ and co-author of ‘English Teaching Methods’. Aside from his involvement in ELT, he is also a roster translator of Translators Society of Nepal and has translated some stories and poems. One of his translated stories has been published in ‘The Journal of Academy’. He is a Regent Scholarship winner from the 49th IATEFL international conference held in Manchester, UK and Professional Development Scholarship winner from 49th International TESOL Conference and English Language Expo held in Toronto, Canada.
Editors
Dinesh Kumar Thapa, from Nepal, has earned an M. Phil. degree in English Language Education in Kathmandu University, Nepal. Mr. Thapa works as a teacher of English at Kitini Secondary School/ College, Lalitpur, as well as a Visiting Faculty of Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Training at Kathmandu University, Nepal. Mr. Thapa has been teaching English to learners at different levels and training EFL teachers for over a decade. Mr. Thapa is a life member of NELTA, and is serving NELTA Lalitpur as Secretary at present. He has also successfully served as an editor of NELTA ELT Forum in the years 2015- 16. He has attended to and delivered in trainings and seminars on topics related to English language education both in home and abroad. In addition to writing on issues related to ELT, he has also published books for EFL learners at different levels. Mr. Thapa has a keen interest in the nuances of EL teacher development, and specializes particularly in training EFL teachers. He is also involved in research activities on issues related to medium of instruction, teaching English and teacher education. He can be contacted at didthapa@gmail.com/ dinesh@kusoed.edu.np.
Dharmanand Joshi is an MPhil research scholar in English education at Kathmandu University, School of Education, Nepal. He has earned his M.Ed. in English Education from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He has been in teaching field for last 14 years. He has also been serving as a Secretary at NELTA Kanchanpur. He has a wide range of experience of teaching from pre-primary to masters level. His areas of research interest include teaching methods and techniques, ICT in Education and language planning and policy. He can be reached at dnsushil016@kusoed.edu.np
Komila Tangirova is a Hornby scholar, currently studying MA in ELT with specialism in Testing and Assessment at Warwick University, UK. She has been working as a teacher of English at Uzbekistan State World Languages University since she earned her MA degree (English Linguistics) in 2010 at the same University. She has been participating in different projects focused on the development of teaching English at tertiary institutions. Her professional interests include Language Testing, Materials Design and Teaching English for Specific Purposes. She is currently involved in the project run by British Council in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education and a group of specialists from different regions of the country to reform teaching and testing ESP at higher educational institutions in Uzbekistan. She can be contacted at tangirova.komila@mail.ru
Laxmi Prasad Ojha is a Lecturer in English Education at Tribhuvan University, Nepal and has a decade of experience in teaching English as a Foreign Language to school, college and university level students. He is the Membership Secretary of the Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA) and was co-editor of the ‘Journal of NELTA’ from 2013-2015. He has trained teachers for various agencies in Nepal and has published articles on issues in teaching English and teacher education. His areas of interest are language planning in education, teacher development, critical pedagogy and indigenous knowledge and culture. He can be reached at laxmiojha99@gmail.com.
Maricarmen Gamero is an Aggregate Professor in the Department of Languages at Francisco de Miranda University (UNEFM) in Falcón, Venezuela. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in English Language Teaching at UNEFM in 2007, and since then she has been working as a teacher of General English and English for Specific Purposes at Secondary Schools and Tertiary Level Institutions. She earned the degree of Expert in E-Learning Processes from Fundación para la Actualización Tecnológica de Latinoamerica (Ecuador), an MA in Distance Education from the Caribbean International University (Curazao), an MA in Educative Research from Universidad de Carabobo (Venezuela). She is currently taking an MA in English Language Teaching (Specialism in Teacher Education) in the University of Warwick, UK as a Hornby Scholar. She was the Secretary from 2011-2014 of the Venezuelan CALL Association- AVEALMEC. She has coordinated the in-service teaching training programme at UNEFM for Professors from different disciplines. She is interested in researching in the field of teacher education and psycholinguistics. She can be contacted through: gamero26@gmail.com.
Miriam Corneli is a former English Language Fellow in Nepal and Sri Lanka (2013-2015) and is passionate about mind/body education. She earned her MA TESOL at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and has taught in Taiwan, Vietnam, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, and 3 different States in the US. She has taught English from pre-primary to PhD students and is very fond of researching how the brain works and educational neuropsych, creativity and practicality in global Englishes, what increases motivation, how to improve pronunciation, and the role of positive emotions and positive psychology in learning. Miriam enjoys learning other languages, including Spanish, Mandarin, Nepali, Hindi and French. She enjoys giving presentations and facilitating teacher training sessions and loves working with teachers. She can be reached at languagecoach.miriam@gmail.com.
Noel T. Franco Jr. graduated from the University of the Philippines with a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication (Cum Laude) and earned 45 units for the master’s program in Language Education at the same university. Having been in the teaching profession since 2004, he has handled language, literature, communication and education courses and has also served as resource speaker and trainer in several national and regional training programs in the Philippines. Aside from being a teacher, he also worked as Associate Research Director of the Centre for Research and Publication of Baliuag University, Philippines. His passion for improving the teaching and learning environment in his class has led him to being involved in certain research endeavours which were presented in national and international research conferences. Being a recipient of A.S. Hornby Trust and British Council Scholarship, he is presently pursuing Masters in English Language Teaching (with specialism in Teacher Education) at the University of Warwick. His e-mail address is noeltfranco@gmail.com.
Mirian Führ is a Hornby scholar 2016/2017 for a Masters in English Language Teaching at University of Warwick, in the UK. She comes from Brazil and holds a degree in Languages – Portuguese and English, from Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS). She has got a specialist in Teaching and Grammar of Portuguese, from Universidade Federal do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UFRGS) and another one in Teaching and Learning of English, from UniRitter Laureate International Universities. She has been teaching English to all language levels and age groups in language institutions, in regular public and private schools for about 8 years so far. She has also worked as a research assistant in the Education field while she was at the university and has attended several courses, congresses conferences, and seminars in Brazil and abroad, delivered some workshops for other teachers. She can be reached via mirianfuhr2017@gmail.com.
Pramod Kumar Sah is a PhD fellow in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He earned his MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics from the University of Central Lancashire, UK and MED in English Language Teaching from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He has designed and delivered a wide range of ESL/EFL courses in Nepal, China and the UK. He has published book chapters, journal articles, newsletter articles, and book reviews in reputed book series and journals. His major research areas include language planning and policy, literacy instruction, critical multiculturalism and multilingualism,critical pedagogy, and applied sociolinguistics. He can be approached at pramodtesol@gmail.com
Shyam Pandey is a PhD student on Second Language Studies at Purdue University, USA. He has earned an M. Ed. in ELT from the Kathmandu University, Nepal and MA TESL from the Minnesota State University (MSU), Mankato, USA. He has taught English as a foreign language at the high school and undergraduate levels in Nepal. Additionally, he has led a U.S. government sponsored program named English Access Microscholarship Program, Nepal. Besides, he has taught basic writing to the multilingual writers as a graduate teaching assistant and tutored writing at the Writing Center at MSU. His current interests include L2 writing, multimodal pedagogies, and TESOL methods. He can be reached at shyampandey15@gmail.com.
Suman Laudari is a PhD fellow at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia. He earned an MA TESOL from the Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK and an M.Ed. in ELT from the Kathmandu University. He has experience of teaching young and adult learners of English as a foreign language in Nepal, UK and Australia. He has travelled across Nepal to train teachers of English for various agencies, including NELTA, British Council and Regional English Language Office (RELO). His research interests are the integration of technology in a language classroom, ICT in education policy, technology and motivation, motivation in second language learning and motivation and writing in a second language.
NELTA ELT Forum is an official blog of Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association( NELTA) which works for the professional development of English teachers and teacher educators. With the aim of disseminating the contextual and global issues of ELT, it has incepted the blog where a team of editors will be liaising with ELT professionals and echo the noble voices to it.
Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA) was founded in 1992. The British Council Nepal played an instrumental role in the establishment of this Association. The main objective behind its establishment was to set up a common platform for all the teachers of English in Nepal so as to support their professional development. Since its establishment, it has been recognized as a non -governmental, non-political, non-profit making professional association with the aim of enhancing ELT in Nepal. The need to improve the teaching and learning of the English language, thereby keeping abreast of new development in ELT, lay the foundation of NELTA. The following points justify the emergence of NELTA.
Majority of English teachers in Nepal were untrained and no EFL qualifications were required to become an English teacher at primary level. Thus, some kind of initiation to familiarize them with the ELT pedagogy was a must.
As there was no professional organization of ELT until then, teachers could hardly participate in professional development activities.
The ever increasing demand for English grew more and more due to the expansion of English medium schools together with the proliferation of business and tourism sector especially after the restoration of democracy in the country.
The Ministry of Education was on the verge of revising the school level English language syllabi. The departure from structural teaching to communicative teaching demanded massive teacher training and orientation, which the government could not do alone.
Currently NELTA has 44 branches across the country and more than 5000 life members fromhome and abroad. It also works in partnership with American Embassy, British Council, Indian Embassy and Ministry of Education Nepal. English Access Microscholarship Progrm, English by Radio, ELF program and ETTE+ are some of the major programs NELTA is implementing.
Team Members: (2016-2017)
1. Meera Shrestha- Patron
Editors:
2. Ashok Sapkota
3. Bophan Khan
4. Dinesh Kumar Thapa
5. Ganesh Gnawali
6. Janak Raj Pant
7. Kunjarmani Gautam
9. Madhukar K.C.
10. Miriam Corneli
11. Sagun Shrestha
12. Shiv Ram Pandey
13. Shyam B. Pandey
14. Suman Laudari
15. Umes Shrestha
Team Members: (2014-2015)
1. Hemanta Raj Dahal – Patron
Editors:
2. Ashok Sapkota
3. Dinesh Thapa
4. Janak Raj Pant
5. Kashi Raj Pandey
6. Laxmi Pd. Ojha
7. Madhukar KC
8. Madhu Neupane
9. Miriam Corneli
10. Sagun Shrestha
11.Shiv Ram Pandey
12. Shyam Bd. Pandey
13. Suman Laudari
NELTA ELT Forum
NELTA ELT Forum 