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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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English classes as safe time?
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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English classes as safe time?
• “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
norbellam@hotmail.com
ncmirand@usbcali.edu.co
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