efl policy in colombia4

7/27/2019 EFL Policy in Colombia4

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Language Policy in Colombia:

A Look at the Core of the Onion

Norbella Miranda

Calgary, Sep. 7th, 2013

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Language Policy in Colombia:

A Look at the Core of the Onion • Bilingual Colombia Program (PNB)

• Background of language policies in Colombia• Research design• “English will always be the Cinderella” • English as an occasional guest in English classes• English classes as school safe time?

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EFL policy in Latin America

Curricular reforms started in the 90s Foreign models Early start

English language policies associated to economicreasons Parents’ interest

Mass media- importance of English, reforms,

problems Gaps between public/private; rich/poor; rural/cities Lack of teachers in primary

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Bilingual Colombia Program (BCP)

• NBP began in 2004 --- its goals must beachieved in 2019

• No other language policy has triggered muchcontroversy• Marked by a context of macroeconomic

endeavor

• Created within a context of pronounceddifference between public and privateeducation

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Background on education policies forlanguages in Colombia

• 1828: Reform of ‘Plan General de Estudios’ (core curriculum),which mandated the offering of English and French classes ifthere were sufficient funding

• 1994. General Education Act 115- ‘conversation, reading andcomprehension’ of at least one foreign language in the corecurriculum, from primary to secondary

• 2004: Programa Nacional de Bilingüismo 2004-2019

(MoE, 2004)

• 2006: Standards for Teaching English as Foreign Language(MoE, 2006)

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Goal of the PNB:

“To have citizens who are capable ofcommunicating in English, in order to be able to

insert the country within processes of universalcommunication, within the global economy andcultural openness, through [the adopting of]internationally comparable standards”

(MoE, 2006)

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Colombian goals for FL education

Population group

Colombian

standards for EFL

competence

Common European

Framework of

Reference (CEFR)

Students of grade 3 A1 A1

Students of grade 5 A2.1

Students of grade 7 A2.2 A2

Students of grade 9 B1.1

Students of grade 11 (end of high school) B1.2 B1

Undergraduate students of academic programs other than ELT

licenciaturas

B2 B2

Current teachers of English B2 B2

New English language teaching professionals C1 C1

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What’s been studied about NBP:

• Unfavorable conditions(Hernandez & Faustino, 2006; Miranda & Echeverry, 2010 and 2011;

Obando & Sánchez, 2008; Cárdenas, 2006; Guerrero, 2010)

• Shortage of English Ts in primary school(Cárdenas, 2001; Quinchía, 2004, 2007, 2009)

•Bilingualism = English(Valencia, 2005; Guerrero, 2008)

• Undervalue of indigenous languages(Guerrero, 2009; de Mejía, 2006)

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What’s been studied about NBP:

• Foreign models(Gonzalez, 2009; Ayala & Álvarez, 2005)

• Manufacturing of consent

(Valencia, 2013)

• Exclusion and Stratification(Usma, 2009)

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National

Local

School

Classroom

Supranational

The study:

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Research designResearch questions:

How do teachers and school community interpret thecurrent Colombian policy for foreign language education?

How do their interpretations line up with theinterpretations of policymakers?

How is the policy appropriated by teachers in their

interactions with students?

Why is it appropriated in this way?

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Johnson’s (2009) Heuristic

Policyagents

Policygoals

Policyprocesses

Policydiscourses

Policycontexts

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Research design

• Data sources

3rd , 7th and 11th grade teachers

11th

grade studentsPolicy documentsSchool policy documentsSchool academic coordinators of primary and secondary

School principalNational and local coordinators of NBP

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Research design

• Data collection procedures

Observation of English classesInterviews

Document analysisNon participant observation of school routines

•

Analytic approachQualitative analysis of ethnographic dataCritical discourse analysis of policy documents

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• Cali

Site

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SitePublic school - established in 1968 - 3,000 Ss - located in aneighborhood of low socioeconomic status

“

The school premises are fine. There are other schools in worseconditions“ 11th grade teacher

“If the education provided is not good, it’s not the teachers’

fault” 11th grade student

“The school is a place where you feel harmony” 11th grade student

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Site

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“English will always be the Cinderella”

“Another student told me ‘they [the instructors] said to usto answer the other areas first’ [in the ICFES practicetest]”

“The school could have more opportunities [to teachEnglish successfully] if we all were committed, all of us,teachers and the principal, to the teaching of English…”

11th grade teacher

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English language: an occasional guest inthe English class

3rd grade

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English language: an occasional guest in

the English class

“There’s a student that participates a lot and he asks me

‘Why don’t you speak English all the time?’ He told me just a few minutes ago: ‘Why don’t you speak English allthe time?’

11th grade teacher

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English language: an occasional guest in

the English class“when I have attended the seminars [aboutstandards] they [the instructors] say that we mustwork all [language skills] simultaneously. Doyou think one works on them simultaneously?One never works on conversation… Once in awhile, one complies with Listening. One stays inwriting… and reading. Reading and writing,

only those two” 11th grade teacher

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English classes as safe time?

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EVALUATION

CRITERIA STRATEGIES

Responsibility: compliance with

workshops and activities

Participation in class.

Individual, pair and group work.

Bringing the necessary materials for class

work.

Notebook revision.

Self assessment

Role plays

Dialogues ICFES test.

The student…

role plays class situations

participates in games

practices reading comprehension

represents some commands

follows instructions

reads aloud instructions and texts

makes posters

gets ready for the ICFES exam

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• “The ICFES [body] knows that English in Colombia isvery poor, so they will ‘throw’ very simple questions

that only require interpretation and questions based onreadings… So, I can say that I’m quite relaxed about it,regardless of the education the school gives or if I likeEnglish or not”

11th grade student

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What’s the essence of the policy?

3rd grade teacher : They have some basic knowledge, some very basic

basis on vocabulary, like numbers, family, vowels… but practically, they

start from scratch in secondary education.

11th grade teacher: Not in English, not in English, they don't have

competence in English.Researcher: But, I mean, they have some competence in listening or…

11th grade teacher: : Even less in listening.

Researcher: Can they write a composition?

11th grade teacher: : No, not even that…lists of topics…lists of words.I wish it were a composition.

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Thank you

[email protected]

[email protected]

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efl policy in colombia4

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