Profesor y portafolio en la consolidación de una cultura de la evaluación-como-aprendizaje

En este artículo se discuten los resultados de un estudio de caso en el que se exploraron los retos generados por la implementación de un portafolio evaluativo en el programa de inglés de una universidad pública colombiana. Los hallazgos surgidos del análisis de entrevistas semiestructuradas, grupos focales, reuniones de profesores y reflexiones de los participantes, seleccionados a partir de una muestra representativa, permitieron examinar la cotidianidad de sus prácticas evaluativas e identificar dinámicas, roles y conceptualizaciones relacionados con dicho proceso. Así mismo, develaron un impacto positivo para el desarrollo de la autonomía tanto en docentes como en estudiantes, derivado del ejercicio de una práctica reflexiva influida por el papel del profesorado en la implementación del portafolio. Sin embargo, se evidenciaron ciertas limitaciones en la viabilidad del proceso evaluativo a causa del tiempo y la experiencia que demanda una realimentación dialógica integrada a la enseñanza. Este reto fue resuelto por algunos profesores a través del uso de las TIC (Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación) y al compartir sus experiencias, lo que muestra la importancia de articular la práctica docente y el desarrollo de habilidades tecnológicas a los programas de formación en evaluación.

Commodity, Immunity, and Struggle: (Re)visiting Senses of Community in ELT

This article comprises part of a broader doctoral research project that seeks to explore the senses of community of four English language pre-service teachers (ELPTs) of a public university in Bogotá, Colombia. This study used a relational methodology that introduces an interepistemic dialogue between mainstream research and the Indigenous Research Paradigm. The data collection process was carried out through five sessions jointly agreed upon and designed with the participants. The main data collection instruments were autobiographies, which were a joint construction, and transcripts of the sessions. The research results show that the university, the English language teacher education program (ELTEP) and the practicum, among others, are part of a constellation of communities of fear or communities that represent a challenge. It was concluded that it is possible to understand the constellation of fear through an alternative theoretical framework that includes community as commodity, as immunity, and as struggle. This study contributes to research trends that seek to privilege the research participants’ voices and offers a different way to approach communities in ELT.

Critical Pedagogy Trends in English Language Teaching

This article presents a literature review regarding the latest trends in the inclusion of Critical Pedagogy (CP) in English Language Teaching (ELT) in different countries worldwide and in Colombia, considering its different regions. A review of different articles was conducted by considering four databases that include two regional and two international journal directories in both English and Spanish. The papers were analyzed and discussed from a mixed approach in which four keywords were tracked, and factors such as geographical distribution, as well as the way in which CP was implemented in the studies, were identified. The results of this query show that CP in ELT is an emerging trend, especially in countries where political, social, and economic inequality remains. In the same way, the findings suggest that different strategies regarding curricula analysis, the role of teachers and students as social subjects, among others, have been carried out in order to foster the understanding of this theory and its application and considerations in real-life contexts. Attempts to implement CP in English classes have proven to be meaningful experiences and constructive at developing critical thinking strategies in students.

español como L2 en aprendientes bilingües hablantes de namtrik en edad infantil: estudio de actitudes lingüísticas

El pueblo misak es una comunidad indígena del suroccidente colombiano que, no obstante un estrecho y prolongado contacto histórico con la cultura occidentalizada y la lengua española, mayoritaria en el territorio, ha logrado conservar su identidad lingüística y cultural. En este contexto, el presente artículo expone los resultados de un estudio de actitudes lingüísticas donde se analizaron las percepciones de un grupo de niños misak en edad escolar –alumnos del quinto grado de educación primaria, hablantes de namtrik y aprendientes de español como segunda lengua– respecto a algunas variedades del español colombiano, incluyendo aquella con marcas de namtrik hablada en el resguardo de Guambía. Los hallazgos permitieron establecer relaciones entre las actitudes lingüísticas de los niños namtrik, una motivación de tipo instrumental y los problemas de aprendizaje relacionados con una situación concreta, determinada por el contacto entre lenguas y culturas.

Teachability of Figurative Language: Teachers’ Perceptions of the Role of Metaphor in English Language Teaching in Chile

This paper reports on a qualitative study that examined the perceptions of English teachers towards the ‘teachability’ of metaphorical language in Chilean EFL classrooms. The study aimed at gaining a better understanding of teachers’ perceptions of the role of metaphor in the English language classroom. A group of six in-service English teachers participated in this qualitative study. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, which addressed three broad dimensions: (i) the views and definitions of metaphor; (ii) the teachability of metaphorically used language; and (iii) preparedness to teach metaphor. The data were thoroughly coded and analyzed thematically. The results revealed that, despite an apparently heightened awareness of the presence and role of metaphor in culture, this did not permeate the participants’ teaching practices, thus calling for more explicit preparation in teacher education programs and radical changes to the ‘educational culture’ that is still imbued with dominant neoliberal ways of doing and thinking.

Decolonizing English Language Teaching in Colombia: Epistemological Perspectives and Discursive Alternatives

In times of geocultural subalternization of knowledge and education, English language teaching (ELT) is torn between subalternizing policies and subjectivating practices. Within this context, ELT teacher educators face policies and discourses aimed at framing their teaching practices, professional lives, and research agendas. However, at the same time, they are expected to engage in practices and processes that allow for personal adaptation and social change. Amid this ambivalence, this reflection paper makes a call to decolonize ELT in Colombia. To this effect, this paper reviews some basic epistemological perspectives such as colonialism and decolonial studies. Then, it proposes the decolonization of ELT, along with a grammar of decoloniality based on discursive alternatives about power, knowledge, and being with the potential of bringing about a transformative teacher subjectivation. The main conclusion is that the Colombian ELT community needs to first deconstruct dominant structures and strategies that enact epistemic and cultural dominance of the global north, and then construct alternative discourses and practices that acknowledge and disseminate the singularities of its knowledge and culture.

Pair Research Tasks: Promoting Educational Research with Pre-Service Teachers

This paper presents a study that explores the role of pair-work tasks to promote educational research in 20 pre-service English language teachers (eleven males and nine females) of a Colombian public university. The project was carried out to enhance educational research skills and knowledge by developing theoretical-practical pair-work research tasks. Data was collected through observation field notes, semi-structured interviews, and field journals. The results suggest that pair-work research tasks increased learners' opportunities to acquire theoretical and practical educational research knowledge and skills. Due to this exercise, the participants learned to define, formulate research objectives-questions, review the literature, and state research methodologies to finally write their research proposals. Additionally, pair-work research assignments offered an effective way to work together, negotiate, reach agreements, and gain experience by conducting theoretical and practical research exercises.

Bombast Bombardment and Dense Syntax versus Effective Communication and Language Teaching in ESL Settings: Nigerian English Examples

Influenced by certain factors and motives, some educated Nigerian English speakers use high-sounding expressions, as well as dense, windy, and complex syntactic structures. This paper examines this linguistic habit in Nigerian English to show how entrenched it has become; explain the sociolinguistic, historical, and idiosyncratic factors that influence it; show its effect on its audience and readers; and determine its implications for teaching and learning English in English as a second language (ESL) settings. The paper adopted the qualitative research method, and data were extracted from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were extracted from well-known Nigerian ‘bombast bombardiers’ (users of bombast). Secondary data were gleaned from historical events and published and creative works. The study established that the use of ‘language explosives’ (high-sounding lexical items) is a common linguistic habit in ESL. Some educated Nigerians, for instance, use the habit to show off learning and their mastery of the language, estrange others in communication, create humor, and gain popularity. Although the paper avers that the habit in its unguided form hampers effective communication, it submits that it possesses certain socio-political and pedagogical utilities in ESL settings.

Hacer el pensamiento visible para el fortalecimiento de las habilidades comunicativas en inglés de niños de transición

Esta investigación tuvo el propósito de indagar por el fortalecimiento de las habilidades comunicativas en inglés de niños del nivel de transición en un colegio privado de la ciudad de Bucaramanga (Colombia); nivel que, de acuerdo con el Ministerio de Educación Nacional de Colombia (Decreto 3870 de 2006), es la oferta educativa para los niños de 5 años cumplidos. El planteamiento de este proyecto se abordó desde el diseño de una secuencia didáctica, utilizando como base teórica, por un lado, el enfoque de Pensamiento Visible para el desarrollo y la promoción de disposiciones de mente a través de la implementación de rutinas de pensamiento y, por el otro, el enfoque Natural de la Lengua para el trabajo de la competencia comunicativa. La recolección de datos se hizo a partir de la documentación generada desde las rutinas de pensamiento, los apuntes en el diario de campo y el material fotográfico y audiovisual. Los datos recolectados mostraron el vínculo que existe entre el lenguaje y la producción de pensamiento. Los hallazgos obtenidos fueron: primero, la lengua materna tiene un papel importante en la adquisición de una lengua extranjera. Segundo, el proceso de lectura y escritura en una segunda lengua está estrechamente relacionado con la competencia que tenga el individuo en su lengua nativa. Tercero, las rutinas de pensamiento funcionan como herramientas de andamiaje en la interiorización de vocabulario y en la comprensión de estructuras gramaticales.

Developing Oral Interaction Skills in Foreign Language Learners through Media Literacy

Few studies in Colombia have incorporated media literacy in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) environments. This paper presents the results of a research conducted in an upper-intermediate course in the Language Institute of the District University (ILUD) in Bogotá. A media literacy model was adapted to create weekly radio workshops in an eight-week pedagogical intervention. During the research study, data were collected from the participants' weekly interactions, discussions, reflections, as well as from semi-structured interviews and field notes taken from my observations as a participant-observer. It was found that EFL learners from a mixed-ability group were engaged in media literacy practices, mainly when they reflected upon news through their realities, beliefs, and attitudes. The results of this study demonstrated that students developed oral interaction skills and acquired diverse strategies that helped them discuss messages from different media outlets, express their personal opinions, and gather additional information to support their findings.