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Stemming from a study of what it is like to teach English in rural Colombia considering both English language teaching policy and social challenges of these contexts, this paper explores different locally grounded English language teaching practices. Through the analysis of teachers' narratives and field observations, four examples of such practices are discussed. These examples highlight how teachers intuitively tend to make the most of their expertise, the limited resources available, and the local lingua-cultural repertoires in an attempt to help students make sense of English. From the perspective of language teaching as a socially sensitive practice, findings suggest that teachers' own experiential and situational knowledge constitutes a powerful platform from which valuable bottom-up practices are and can further be devised.Key words: Critical pedagogy, English language teaching practices, teacher knowledge, rural contexts.Partiendo de un estudio sobre lo que conlleva enseñar inglés en Colombia rural considerando la política de enseñanza de inglés y los desafíos sociales de estos contextos, este artículo explora prácticas de enseñanza de inglés localmente construidas. A partir del análisis de narrativas de profesores y observaciones de campo, se discuten cuatro ejemplos de dichas prácticas. Éstos resaltan que intuitivamente los profesores tienden a sacar el máximo provecho de su experticia, los recursos limitados disponibles y los repertorios lingüísticos y culturales locales para ayudar a dar sentido al aprendizaje del inglés. Desde la perspectiva de enseñanza de lenguas como una práctica socialmente sensible, estos resultados muestran que el conocimiento experiencial y situacional de los profesores constituye una plataforma fuerte sobre la cual se desarrollan prácticas valiosas.Palabras clave: conocimiento docente, contextos rurales, pedagogía crítica, prácticas de enseñanza del inglés.

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This paper problematizes the notion of professional success in English language teaching as constructed in language policy in Colombia. This is done by examining one of the most underexplored social diversities in the field: rural schools. Stemming from a narrative study on how rural English language teachers configure their professional identities vis-à-vis the situated circumstances of their work settings and external pressures, this analysis shows that teachers’ sense of professional success is negotiated in creative, complex, and multiple—although not always consistent—ways, which represent alternative constructions of good teaching to those promulgated in policy. It is argued, then, that a reconfiguration of the belief systems of what teachers should know and do is necessary

Our current globalized world has become a space where many cultures are in permanent contact. Now, we are living in an interconnected world that requires us to be tolerant with others. This article describes some processes through which adult EFL learners developed intercultural understanding. This research aimed to provide clear examples of how significant and necessary it is to give foreign language learners the chance to become aware of the foreign culture while they are becoming proficient in the target language. In addition, this paper also accounts for some kinds of intercultural connections the students make between their native culture and the target one. Through a careful analysis of the data collected, this qualitative case study shows that by implementing different types of pedagogical strategies the students are able to go beyond superficial ideas about the target culture which help them become more open-minded towards other forms of perceiving reality.