scholarly journals Colombia’s nationwide EFL policy and the construction of equity in policy documents

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 57-74
Author(s):  
Daniel Villegas
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Social Efficiency ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
The Government

The Colombia Bilingüe (Colombia Bilingual)1 program was introduced by the Ministry of Education (MEN) in 2004 with aims of increasing the teaching and learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at primary, secondary and tertiary education level. However, this program has failed to reach its set language goals and has come under strong criticism. Scholars suggest that Colombia Bilingual has not only been unsuccessful in improving English skills but has resulted in unequal practices by favoring language instrumentation, marketization of language services and stratification of people. This paper offers a Critical Discourse Analysis of seven policy papers set forward by the government that have introduced and given continuation to this program. I will argue that the construction of equity in Colombia’s EFL policy is framed within a limited interpretation that has mainly given priority to improving Colombia’s international competitiveness while overlooking other important elements of equity such as autonomy, identity, and equality. I will conclude that the presence of social efficiency messages in the policy documents substantiates previous studies’ criticism and highlights the importance of policy documents towards reaching more equitable language learning practices.

scholarly journals Enacting alternatives to nationalist essentialising in language learning: Students’ voices

2021 ◽  
pp. 001458582098650
Author(s):  
Gloria De Vincenti ◽  
Angela Giovanangeli
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Innovative Teaching ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Alternative Approaches

Researchers examining nationalistic conceptions of language learning argue that nationalist essentialism often shapes the way languages are taught by educators and understood by learners. While numerous studies focus on how frameworks informed by Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and intercultural education offer alternative approaches to national stereotyping, these studies tend to focus on theoretical approaches, teacher perspectives or innovative teaching and learning resources. The literature to date, however, does not provide case studies on student responses to activities designed by the teacher to open up the classroom with opportunities that move beyond essentialist representations. This article responds to the need for such scholarship and presents a case study involving a focus group with tertiary students in an Italian language and culture subject. It reveals some of the ways in which students enacted and reflected upon alternatives to nationalist essentialising as a result of language learning activities that had been informed by the discursive processes of CDA. The findings suggest that students demonstrated skills and attitudes such as curiosity, subjectivities and connections with broader social contexts. Some of the data also indicates student engagement in critical inquiry and their potential for social agency.

scholarly journals An Analysis of an EFL Teachers' Guide: A Case Study

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Nazari
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Teaching Objectives ◽  
Efl Teachers

This paper is an attempt to analyse one of the documents which may affect the classroom activities of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers, namely teachers' guides. It also explores the context at which the document is aimed and critiques how EFL teachers are advised to teach as well as how EFL is taught. As such, the paper stands where critical discourse analysis and language policy come together in the study of language policies in education. The teachers' guide chosen and the analysis carried out here are not necessarily concerned with their representativeness and typicality but with the opportunity they provide to the researchers and teachers to learn about such language policy documents and how language and language teaching objectives are represented in them. The issues raised in this paper will have relevance to the EFL teachers' guides and EFL education in other contexts, as these issues are likely to be true of other EFL milieux.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN EFL CLASSROOM

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
Fahri Haswani
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Based Instruction

In  response  to  an  appeal  from  Indonesia’s  Ministry  of  Education  and  Culture  to  all universities and colleges to improve the quality of tertiary  education toward regional and international standard, language institutions are making great efforts to further promote the  foreign  language  learning  process.  In  the  last  few  years  there  have  been  dramatic changes  in  the  ways  that  languages  are  taught  by communicative  approach  and  the introduction of technological tools. In recent years, the use of technological aids, especially those related to computers, has increasingly become  a common feature of the classroom. There is no doubt that computer based instruction will occupy a more central role in the foreign language classroom in the future. Information technology has drawn the interest of teachers of English as a second or foreign language in non-English speaking countries. The technology integration into  the curriculum is not a single concept which is generated from one  single  theory  nor  does  it  give  full  guidelines  for  the  implementation  in  practical situation. This issue constitutes ideas from many different theories. This paper  discusses the issue of technology contributions in EFL classroom. The question raised in this paper is how technology facilitates  the attainment of course goals.  The answer of the question will help  English  teachers  to  clarify  the  real  problems  of  the  initiative  so  that  the  innovation and possible changes can be aligned with the need of the students. However, this literature review  only  covers  limited  issues  related  with  the  role  of  technology  in  EFL  classroom. Further  discussion  from  other  different  points  of  view  is  still  needed  to  create  more complete description of conceptual foundation of the innovation.

scholarly journals The representation of cultural values in Korean as a foreign language (KFL) textbook

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Didin Samsudin ◽  
Velayeti Nurfitriana Ansas ◽  
Risa Triarisanti
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Multicultural Awareness ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Korean Language ◽  
Creative Products

The representation of cultural values in textbooks is crucial to be examined because learning a foreign language is bound with the culture. Although previous research has quite extensively investigated this issue, much is yet to be explored in the context of Korean as a foreign language learning. This study aims to address the gap by investigating how cultural values are represented in the Korean as a foreign language (KFL) textbook, published by The Korea Foundation for Indonesians. A critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach was employed to analyze the data. The findings exhibited the representation of cultural values in four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The introduction to the Korean language could be given through cultural recognition. Among the identified cultural values in the textbook, the representation of showing respect to creative products or the results of local culture was more evident than the other categories, followed by showing respect to cultural differences from various ethnic or religious groups and merging with nature and life. However, the representation category of showing respect to indigenous people’s culture was not seen in the textbook. This suggests that the textbook is intended to foster the students’ multicultural awareness in learning Korean as a foreign language.

scholarly journals Interactants' beliefs in teletandem: Implications for the teaching of Portuguese as a foreign language

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 691-709
Author(s):  
Karin Adriane Henschel Pobbe RAMOS
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Teaching With Technology ◽  
Beliefs And Values

ABSTRACT Based on the principles of autonomy and reciprocity, Teletandem connects language teaching with technology, by furthering interaction between college students aiming at providing a virtual context for language teaching and learning. A system of beliefs and values can emerge in this fruitful environment and such emergence can directly affect the process. This study aims to investigate the belief system, which emerges out of Teletandem mediation sessions, and to discuss its implications for the teaching of Portuguese as a foreign language from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis.

scholarly journals What counts as ”knowledge” in foreign language teaching and learning practices today?

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrika Tornberg
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Learning Practices ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Language Teaching And Learning

Abstract The purpose of this text is to describe and problematize possible didactic consequences for the communicative aspects of foreign language teaching and learning that the contemporary discussion at both national and transnational levels about ”knowledge” and ”accountability” in education may lead to. This discussion concerns, among other issues,  various standardized measurements of pupils achievements and increasing demands on schools and teachers to deliver measurable and comparable results.   What, then, counts as ”knowledge” in foreign language teaching and learning practices today? By undertaking a critical discourse analysis (Fairclough 1989) of the maybe most important transnational steering instrument for language teaching and learning practices in contemporary Europe, i.e.,The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Teaching,Learning and Assessment (CEFR) (2001) at least some answers to this questions may be clarified:  The discourse of ”knowledge” in foreign language teaching and learning as expressed in CEFR is described by means of a typology of decontextualized  ”competences” and ”skills”, cathegorized  in specific domains  and reference levels. One of the consequences for the communicative aspects of foreign language teaching and learning practices may be that a former democracy-oriented discussion about the aims and meaning of language communication in an increasingly heterogeneous and plurilingual world is lost.   Key words: Communicative aspects of foreign language teaching and learning practices, ”Knowledge”, ”Accountability”, ”Competences and Skills”, CEFR, critical discourse analysis.

scholarly journals Gendered Discourses in Moroccan EFL Textbooks: A Critical Discourse Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Driss Benattabou
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Written Text

The general objective of this paper is to examine the problem of gender inequality in Moroccan textbooks of English as a foreign language (MEFL). Nine MEFL textbooks published and sponsored by the Ministry of Education in Morocco have been sampled to serve this purpose. The written discourse of these textbooks has been examined employing Van Dijk (1995, 2001); Wodak (2001); and Fairclough’s (1989) theoretical framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The results of this inquiry do suggest that much remains to be done regarding the predominance of male-centered patterns characterizing the discoursal practices of these textbooks. There is a general tendency to depict women as subservient housewives, subordinate, disempowered, marginalized, silenced, and even excluded from the written text. Their portrayal is sill connected with less intelligence, lack of independence, submissiveness, and social inferiority. The sampled textbooks are fraught with myriad instances of power relations of dominance and hegemony, thereby accentuating the gender gap between the two sex groups to men’s favor.

The Use of Multimedia and its Impact on Bangladeshi EFL Learners at Tertiary Level

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Farzana Sharmin Pamela Islam
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

As 21st century is the era of modern technologies with different aspects, it offers us to make the best use of them. After tape recorder and overhead projector (OHP), multimedia has become an important part of language classroom facilities for its unique and effective application in delivering and learning lesson. Although in many parts of Bangladesh, a South Asian developing country, where English enjoys the status of a foreign language, the use of multimedia in teaching and learning is viewed as a matter of luxury. However, nowadays the usefulness and the necessity of it are well recognized by the academics as well as the government. The study aims to focus on the difference between a traditional classroom void of multimedia and multimedia equipped classrooms at university level by explaining how multimedia support the students with enhanced opportunity to interact with diverse texts that give them more in-depth comprehension of the subject. It also focuses on audio-visual advantage of multimedia on the students’ English language learning. The study has followed a qualitative method to get an in-depth understanding of the impact of using multimedia in an English language classroom at tertiary level. For this purpose, the data have been collected from two different sources. Firstly, from students’ written response to  an open ended question as to their comparative experience of learning  lessons with and without multimedia facilities; and secondly, through  observation of English language classes at a private university of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The discussion of the study is limited to  the use of multimedia in English language classroom using cartoons, images and music with a view to enhance students’ skills in academic writing, critical analysis of image and critical appreciation of music. For this purpose, cartoons in English language, images from Google and music from You Tube have got focused discussion in this paper.

THE ADVANTAGES OF PROMOTING LEARNERS’ AUTONOMY IN EFL CONTEXT

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hapsari Dwi Kartika
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Autonomous Learning ◽  
English Teaching ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Students Success

This paper explains why learner autonomy is taken into account in language learning where English is a foreign language for the learners particularly in Indonesia. The definition of learner autonomy and its advantages to language learner in EFL contexts will be described within this paper. Many scholars from psychological education and English teaching and learning had proved that language learning can be improved by certain strategy. They revealed the correlation between the autonomous learning with students’ success in learning with different aspect. The definition of autonomy is similar to many different words such as self-regulated and self-determined. Finally, the writer suggests how teacher can promote the autonomous learning atmosphere in the classroom.Keywords: strategy, promoting autonomy, EFL context, Indonesia

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