Critical Socio-Cultural Elements of the Intercultural Endeavour of English Teaching in Colombian Rural Areas

Bonilla, Sandra Ximena; Arcila, Ferney Cruz

doi:10.15446/profile.v16n2.40423

Cited by 23 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Similarly, in the study conducted by faculty from Universidad del Valle with 220 primary school teachers from 51 public and private schools in the urban area, teachers noted that the PD courses were often available only to secondary school teachers (Cárdenas & Chaves, 2013). Finally, in the study conducted in rural areas of Colombia, primary school teachers claimed not to have been able to attend seminars, conferences, or formal training, as their city counterparts (Bonilla & Cruz-Arcila, 2014).…”

Section: Professional Challengesmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Summarizing these complaints, in the study conducted by Bastidas and Muñoz-Ibarra (2011) in Pasto, primary school teachers claimed their "didactic materials were nonexistent," (p.95). Finally, in the study conducted by Bonilla and Cruz-Arcila (2014) in rural areas of Colombia, teachers reported that students "do not even have an English dictionary. There are places where English is not even taught and if this is taught, it is by using street handbooks that are full of mistakes and children learn them" (p.126).…”

Section: Work-related Challengesmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In the study in Cali, for example, these seemed to lie in the facts that students did not consider leaning a foreign language as important, that they did not have clear professional goals, and that many of them lacked parent support (Hernández & Faustino, 2006). Meanwhile, in the study in rural Colombia, the reason for students' lack of motivation seemed to be that instead of considering learning a foreign language as a necessity they saw this as a threat to the preservation of their traditions and their culture (Bonilla & Cruz-Arcila, 2014).…”

Section: Work-related Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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English in public primary schools in Colombia: Achievements and challenges brought about by national language education policies

Correa

González

2016

EPAA

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In an effort to become more competitive in the global market, Colombia, as many other Latin American countries, has declared English the dominant foreign language to be taught in schools and universities across the country. To support this measure, in the last 16 years, the government, through its National Ministry of Education, has launched a series of programs such as National Program of Bilingualism 2004-2019; the Program for Strengthening the Development of Competences in Foreign Languages; The National English Program: Colombia Very Well 2015-2025; and most recently, Bilingual Colombia 2014-2018. Results from studies conducted by local researchers across the country suggest that the regulation has posed a series of challenges for public primary school teachers, which these programs have not been able to address. These challenges can be divided into two categories: professional and work related. The purpose of this article is twofold: First, the article intends to provide a critical overview of the four programs that the Colombian government has launched since 2004. Second, the article aims to present some conclusions and recommendations for language policy design and implementation in Colombia.

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Section: Professional Challengesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Work-related Challengesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Work-related Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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English in public primary schools in Colombia: Achievements and challenges brought about by national language education policies

Correa

González

2016

EPAA

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“…It is true that rural students do not recognize English as a priority and they see it only as another subject. Bonilla and Cruz (2014) affirm that for rural students a foreign language is considered unimportant. One way to help students connect to the language is by using their community and context as content.…”

Section: Learning With the Communitymentioning

confidence: 88%

Implementing a community-based project in an EFL rural classroom

Saenz

Florez

Gómez

et al. 2018

Colomb. appl. linguist. j

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Educational work within a social perspective has been a matter of interest and discussion of researchers and teachers whose work is framed within a pedagogy for social justice, community pedagogies, and critical literacy (Comber & Kamler, 2004). A social perspective to education requires that teachers in rural and urban contexts become socially and culturally committed to addressing the learning needs of EFL in classrooms. This article shares the outcomes of the experience of five pre-service teachers who explored a local community of a Colombian rural school with a group of 36 ninth-grade EFL students. The pre-service teachers crafted a project-based curriculum taking the community as the content that would empower the students to explore social and cultural aspects of their community while promoting their EFL learning. Data were collected during the four-month period of the pedagogical intervention through interviews, observations and students’ and teachers’ written reflections. The high school students carried out a series of tasks aimed at raising their awareness about their identity, questioning their surroundings and increasing their self-confidence while using their knowledge of English. Results suggest that a curriculum that integrates the community as content empowered students to learn and reflect upon their learning process while facilitating their participation and inquiring about their own social and cultural reality.

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“…Some of these studies highlight the importance of tailoring locally-grounded pedagogical actions to enhance students sense of cultural belonging and intercultural understanding (Ramos Holguín, Aguirre Morales, & Hernández, 2012) and to account for the cultural values and communicative practices of specific communities (Jaraba Ramírez & Arrieta Carrascal, 2012). Others have focused on identifying critical sociocultural elements (e.g., social needs, economic situation, cultural and historical heritage) challenging elt in rural contexts (Bonilla & Cruz Arcila, 2014). More recently, another study reports how, in a small town, the elt policy is perceived as abstract and detached from the social needs of the community (Roldán & Peláez, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Wisdom of Teachers’ Personal Theories: Creative ELT Practices From Colombian Rural Schools

Arcila

2018

Profile: Issues Teach. Prof. Dev.

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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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Critical Socio-Cultural Elements of the Intercultural Endeavour of English Teaching in Colombian Rural Areas

Cited by 23 publications

References 11 publications

English in public primary schools in Colombia: Achievements and challenges brought about by national language education policies

English in public primary schools in Colombia: Achievements and challenges brought about by national language education policies

Implementing a community-based project in an EFL rural classroom

The Wisdom of Teachers’ Personal Theories: Creative ELT Practices From Colombian Rural Schools

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