Preserving Linguistic Identity Amid English Dominance: Theoretical Reflections on English Teachers’ Challenges Under NEP 2020 in India

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 reaffirms India's commitment to multilingual education and mother-tongue-based instruction, particularly in the foundational years.However, this vision clashes with the entrenched socio-economic dominance of English as a global and aspirational language, creating a complex pedagogical terrain for English language teachers.This paper explores the theoretical tensions surrounding English language instruction in India within the frameworks of linguistic imperialism (Phillipson, 1992) and post-method pedagogy (Kumaravadivelu, 2006).It critically examines how English, as both a tool of empowerment and a marker of inequality, complicates the goals of linguistic inclusion set forth by NEP 2020.The discussion underscores how English teachers are caught between institutional and parental demands for English fluency and the policy's vision for mothertongue affirmation.Through these theoretical lenses, the paper calls for teacher empowerment, context-responsive pedagogy, and institutional support as essential components for reconciling the competing imperatives of linguistic equity and English proficiency in Indian classrooms.