EFL TEACHING AND LEARNING IN COLOMBIA

EFL TEACHING AND LEARNING IN COLOMBIA

1. LANGUAGE is the system of communication used by a particular community or nation-state. “If culture was a house, then language was the key to the front door, to all the rooms inside.” — Khaled Hosseini,

   • Multilingualism
     • In the classroom there are at least two languages: the first and the target (Liddicoat, 2008)
     • In Colombia there are 65 Amerindian languages, two different forms of creole, the Rrom and the Colombia's sign language system -LSC (Census 2005)
       • These languages are deeply rooted to culture.
   • Relations of power
     • Some languages become more powerful and dominant than others leading to stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination
     • The person who speaks the language as the second or foreign language feels worth less than the native speaker
   • Learning and teaching
     • English as a foreign language
       • Policies
         • Decree number 080 of 1974 establishes teaching English at school as a foreign language (still valid)
         • Decree number 1313 of 1979 establishes teaching French for the last two years of school (valid until 1984)
       • Strategies
         • Recognizing the classroom's linguistic and cultural diversity to develop an intercultural pedagogy (Liddicoat, 2008) that breaks away with homogenizing models to teach and learn languages
         • Teaching language and culture in an integrated manner (Prosser & Trigwell, 1999) in agreement with Social Sciences
         • Applying a reflexive, intercultural, functional, and transformational education model
         • Developing the Intercultural Communicative Competence -ICC from a critical standpoint
     • Etnoeducation
       • In Colombia, the 1991 constitution declares that the education provided in communities with their own linguistic traditions shall be bilingual.
       • Policies
         • the National Constitution of 1991 and the Law 115/94 promote ethno-education and entitle ethnic groups to conduct education in their own languages
         • The end rather than the origin to make educational changes
       • Principles
         • Integration: relation between individuals, nature and its social reality  ·         Linguistic diversity: balance of dominance regarding different languages usage ·         Autonomy: ethnic groups’ independence to guide, develop and assess etnoeducation processes   Interculturalidty: Awareness of the national cultural and linguistic diversity  to foster equality and respect   Flexibility: Permanent adjustments to the etnoeducation processes regarding ethnic groups’ needs  Progress: Investigation to contribute to the development of knowledge Solidarity: Support by the side other social groups  
         • Integration, Linguistic diversity, Autonomy, Interculturality, Flexibility, Solidarity, Progress
   • Policies in Colombia
     • Spanish as the official language
       • Impossed by Spain in the XV century
       • Proclaimed in the 1886 and 1991 Constitutions
       • Rooted to a foreign culture (Mecha, 2007)
     • Ethnic groups' languages and dialects status
       • The 1991 Constitution proclaims that the languages and dialects of ethnic groups are official in their territories.

2. "IDENTITY is the form of live which is daily lived in a world of nation states. This form of life is entrenched and taken-for-granted" (Billig, 1985). It is also the form people understand and embrace themselves (harris-Matamoros, 2021)

   • Social Ideologies
     • Nationalism and Nation State
       • Emphasizes loyalty, devotion, or allegiance to a nation-state due to a sense of belonging and unity
       • Facilitators
         • Education
           • Reinforcing the concept of nation by the homogenization of a language (Bourdieu, 1985)
         • Banal Nationalism (Billig, 1995)
           • Subtle representations of the nation in the media and everyday situations which build a shared sense of national belonging, a sense of national identity (Billig, 1995)
           • Strategies
             • Flagging the idea of a nation to make people believe they are part of a group
             • Using crucial words such as we, us, our, here
     • Globalization
       • Equates with Americanisation due to the dominance of the U.S. (Billig, 1995)
         • Sports
         • Science and Technology
           • Entertainment industry
         • Trading
         • Ubiquity of dominant brands
       • Interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations, brought about by cross-border trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of investment, people, and information (Peterson Institute for International Economies)
   • Personal Identitity issues
     • Age, race, ethnicity, cultural background, gender, sexual orientation, origin, social status, language, beliefs, abilities, disabilities, physical appearance, personality, experiences, education, learning processes, among others.

3. INTERCULTURALITY is the equitable and respectful interaction among diverse cultures in response to diversity. This exchange can take place under conditions of equality or inequality (Walsh, 2009).

   • Why to teach it?
     • To transform structures, institutions, and social relationships (Walsh, 2010)
     • To interpret and understand others regarding different conditions and characteristics (Walsh, 2010)
   • How to teach and promote it?
     • Adopting policies of interculturality that embrace diversity and foster everyone to know one another
     • Decolonizing the languages curriculum to transform imposed concepts and practices in order to create spaces for other languages
     • Fostering reciprocal relations between people to grow together in knowledge, spirit, and humanity (Macha)
     • Avoiding dominance or supremacy by one group over another
     • Listening to the participants to evaluate and know the impact of any process
   • What is culture?
     • “Culture is the collective programming of the human mind that distinguishes the members of one human group from those of another. Culture in this sense is a system of collectively held values.” (Hofstede, 1991)
     • Diversity in Colombia
       • According to the National Planning Department (DNP), the indigenous population in Colombia is 1,378,884, which represents 3.3% of the national populace, and these citizens live in the 33 departments of Colombia

4. DIVERSITY implies the understanding that each person is unique and made of individual differences (Esquivel, 2021). It implies appreciating 'the difference rather than 'the different' (Skliar)

   • Ethnic Minorities Situation in Colombia
     • Updside
       • Policies to protect national linguistic and cultual assets
     • Downside
       • Education and relations of power
         • In Colombia, indigenous and black peoples face problems because there is little education in their mother tongues so they end up studying in a second language: Spanish
         • Professional education in Colombia is centered in writing while minorites come from oral-tradition cultures
         • Ancestral knowledge is not considered valid because it is not systematized, demonstrable and capable of being applied (Mecha 2007)
         • Although there are laws proclaimed to ensure ethno-education it is not for real
       • Linguistic and cultural detriment
       • Social acceptance
         • Disdain, lack of opportunities, discrimination, and segregation

5. EDUCATION is a system where conversation and relationships must be fostered in order to preserve 'the differences' instead of concealing, normalizing or destroying them (Larrosa, 2002)

   • Colonial purposes
     • Normalization
       • Imposing a 'normal' identity to the 'different', who is considered the origin of the problem (Skliar)
       • Educational arguments to promote 'normality' according to Carlos Skliar
         • Completeness
           • Because something or somebody must be completed
         • Future
           • Because it is more important what something or somebody will be in the future than what they are in the present
         • Explanation
           • Because there is an 'incompetent' student that needs a teacher able to explain
         • Inclusion regarding 'the different'
           • Because it is a subtle substitution of exclusion
     • Assimilation
       • Culture and language are imposed
         • Power dynamics create a sense of identity in terms of inferiority
         • Detriment of native language and culture
   • New purposes
     • Inclusion regarding 'the difference'
       • Avoiding making differences between subjects
       • Living 'the difference' as an end to stop 'normalization' rather than a tragedy
       • Understanding all humans have differences
       • Recognizing that 'normality' is the problem, not 'abnormality'
       • Adopting adjustments and supports in the curriculum, instructions, activities, and assessment
     • Decolonizing education
       • Promoting local cultures and languages
     • Fostering pedagogical changes
       • Having an impact on community
   • Teacher's role
     • Adopting a social and critical perspective of interculturality
     • Identifying types of students within the classroom
     • Considering diversity in the curriculum, instructions, activities, and assessment
     • Connecting language with culture
     • Updating pedagogical practices
     • Supporting personal identity
     • Being critical about learning and teaching processes, regarding learners' needs

6. REFERENCES

   •    Soler, C., (2013). Usted ya en la universidad y no sabe escribir. Universidad Francisco José de Caldas Editorial. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14483/9789588782980 Moya-Chaves, D. S., Moreno-García, N. P., y Núñez-Camacho, V. (2019). Interculturality and language teaching in Colombia: The case of three Teacher Education Programs. Signo y Pensamiento, 37(73). https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.syp37-73.iltc Skey, M., (2009). The National in Everyday Life: A Critical Engagement with Michael Billig's Thesis of Banal Nationalism. The Sociological Review 57(2), 331-346. DOI https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2009.01832.x Mecha Forastero, Baltasar, "Una mirada de embera sobre el conocimiento y la investigación", Revista Educación y Pedagogía, 19(49), 103-118. file:///C:/Users/USUARIO/Downloads/Dialnet-UnaMiradaDeEmberaSobreElConocimientoYLaInvestigaci-2575794%20(5).pdf Mercado Epieyú R. S., (2009). Educación conquistada y propia. Revista Educación Y Pedagogía, (49), 79-82. Recuperado a partir de https://revistas.udea.edu.co/index.php/revistaeyp/article/view/6633 Harris-Matamoros, E. E. y Santamaría-Valencia, H. (2020). Desafíos en el proceso enseñanza aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera: una discusión sobre los estudiantes de lento y rápido aprendizaje en México. Matices en Lenguas Extranjeras, 14(2), 111–144. https://doi.org/10.15446/male.v14n2.92650 Quintero-Polo, A. (2022). Interculturalidad en la formación de docentes de idiomas. Consideraciones teóricas y prácticas. Lenguaje, 50(2), 396–403. https://doi.org/10.25100/lenguaje.v50i2.12147  

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