Professional Documents
Culture Documents
51996
Isabel Tejada-Snchez **
2
*
**
E-mail: andresca@udel.edu
E-mail: mi.tejada10@uniandes.edu.co
How to cite this article (APA, 6th ed.): Bonilla Carvajal, C. A., & Tejada-Snchez, I. (2016). Unanswered questions in Colombias language
education policy. PROFILE Issues in Teachers Professional Development, 18(1), 185-201. http://dx.doi.org/10.15446/profile.v18n1.51996.
This article was received on July 21, 2015, and accepted on October 1, 2015.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons license Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
4.0 International License. Consultation is possible at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
PROFILE Vol. 18, No.1, January-June 2016. ISSN 1657-0790 (printed) 2256-5760 (online). Bogot, Colombia. Pages 185-201
185
Introduction
Foreign language education has become a
common core subject in the Colombian school and
university system since it contributesup to now,
indirectlyto meet the criteria of standardised
measurements,1 but also because of the outstanding
role of English to achieve global communication in
todays world. Our intention as scholars is to discuss
the implications, advantages, and disadvantages of
hegemonising language policies, as in Colombian
programmes for bilingualism and English education.
Most particularly, this paper will address the issue that
language policy has constantly been altered due to
political transitions disregarding educations ultimate
goal, namely, to produce critical and resourceful
citizens who might contribute to a global society.
After ten years of designing and implementing
an explicit English-dominant foreign language
education policy (Programa Nacional de Bilinguismo
in 2004 [National Bilingualism Program]), we deem
it necessary to uphold the existing debate in two ways:
1. By outlining the initiatives preceding that
enterprise as well as the current ones.
2. By providing open questions about the future and
development of English-Spanish bilingualism
in Colombia.
This paper begins with a background review of all
Colombian linguistic educational policies, since their
inception in the 19th century until now. Next, it discusses
Colombias transitions in its policies, as well as draws
open-ended questions that emerge from introducing
English as a foreign language for Colombian citizens.
It is therefore our intention to address these reflections
to all stakeholders in a persistent national education
policy whose conversation urges to be expanded.
1 PISA being one of them: OECDs Programme for International Student Assessment. Although PISA does not address language
testing per se, it includes language-related skills such as reading, critical thinking as well as problem-solving (Ministerio de Educacin Nacional [MEN], 2008).
186
Case Background
Previous Attempts of a
National Foreign Language
Teaching Programme2
Each administration has attempted repeatedly
to implement a nation-scale English teaching plan.
Gmez Delgado (1971) summarises some milestones
in the national history up to 1970. The ever-growing
governmental interest is observable and shared
by different institutions to make the teaching and
learning of foreign languages a more technical,
scientific, and efficient process.
In 1826 there was a national official policy to
establish compulsory subjects across all national
public schools such as Spanish, Latin, Greek, French,
English, and an indigenous language, the one with
the most speakers depending on the region where
the school was located (Rivas Sacconi, 1993). This
well-intended law did not have any practical effects
and it was followed by a series of reforms that would
inevitably lead to the progressive suppression of Latin,
until its total extinction at the end of 1970. French, on
the other hand, was adopted as a subject for secondary
school (compulsory for grades 10 and 11) at the end of
the same decade after a visit of Colombias president to
France. This did not spark any practical improvement
in the students development of bilingualism either,
and ten years later, in a report issued by the British
Council, the conclusion was that the Ministry of
Education had no firm foreign language policy for
students, and its decisions were a result of political
pressures rather than educational considerations
(British Council as cited in de Meja, 2012b).
It was not long before Colombia signed a
political constitutional reform in 1991 that expressly
provided (for the first time in Colombias history) an
2 For a historical overview with special attention to other foreign languages, see Crdenas (2010).
parties, that again CVW was not the right path, hence,
after only five months from the implementation date
(January, 2015), the Ministry of Education changed its
mind and goals. The new programme is now called
Colombia Bilinge 2014-2018 (CB). Figure 1 summarises
the stages described up to present day.
PROFILE Vol. 18, No.1, January-June 2016. ISSN 1657-0790 (printed) 2256-5760 (online). Bogot, Colombia. Pages 185-201
187
Decision to
adopt French
as a
compulsory
subject for
secondary
school
(grades 10
and 11).
Birti
s
h
C
ounc
il's re
port
A Survey of
English
Language
Teaching
and Learning
in Colombia:
A Guide to
the Market.
1989
Vi
s
i
t
o
f Col
omb
ia's p
r
e
s
i
dent
to Fra
nce
1979
Open political
recognition of
all indigenous
languages,
and of the
Colombias
multilingual
and cultural
richness.
of Ed
ucati
on
1994
Gene
ral La
w
Ley 115 de
Febrero 8 de
1994. Por la
cual se expide la
ley general de
educacin,
broadly states
the acquisition
of conversation
and reading
elements at
least in a foreign
language as a
desirable goal.
Co
l
o
m
bia's
new
polit
i
c
a
l
consi
tutio
n
1991
Endin
go
f
C
O
FE Pr
oject
Licenciaturas
were modified
thanks to the
initiative but
no major
changes were
perceived in
national
students'
proficiency.
1997
Programa
Nacional de
Bilingismo.
Colombia
2004-2019.
Ingls como
lengua
extranjera: Una
estrategia para
la competitividad. Intended
to last up to
2019. First
inclusion of the
Common
European
Framework.
2004
Various articles
from the
previous General
Education Law
in 1994 were
modified to
reflect the
horizon of
English as a
technical tool for
employment.
2013
Co
l
o
m
bia V
ery W
ell
Programa
Nacional de
Ingls Colombia
Very Well
2015-2025. 1.3
billion
Colombian
pesos for ten
years in a
flagship
endeavour.
2014
Co
l
o
m
bia B
iling
e
Some traits of
CVW are kept
(textbook
materials such
as English
Please, and the
Common
European
Framework)
but ample and
clear information of its
overall scope
and strategies
for implementation have not
been released.
2015
Only time
will tell
2026
???
3 For a description concentrating on the phases for policies in bilingualism spanning 2001 through 2016, see Fandio-Parra (2014); for other descriptions addressing the status of Colombias Islander English, see Gonzlez (2010).
Ending
decade for
Latin as a
subject in
Colombian
schools
Compulsory
subjects across
all national
public schools
Spanish, Latin,
Greek, French,
English and an
indigenous
language, the
one with most
speakers
depending on
the region
where the
school was
located.
Law
Marc
h 16t
h
1970
Extin
ction
o
f
L
atin i
n sch
ools
1826
Natio
nal B
ilingu
a
li
s
m
Prog
ramm
e
188
Biling
ualism
Law
PROFILE Vol. 18, No.1, January-June 2016. ISSN 1657-0790 (printed) 2256-5760 (online). Bogot, Colombia. Pages 185-201
189
English exclusively (Bermdez Jimnez & FandioParra, 2012; de Meja, 2011). Bilingualism is thus
presented as a rigid conceptualisation fostered by
myths (Guerrero Nieto, 2008), at the expense of the
full recognition of all other indigenous languages and
the multilingual nature of the country. It is a source
of concern that the government refers to bilingualism
in Colombia as a concept that can be detached from
Spanish (Vargas, Tejada, & Colmenares, 2008). Plus,
in the design, planning, and implementation, none of
the voices from English teachers, scholars, principals,
secretaries of education, or indigenous community
representatives have been heard thus far (Correa &
Usma Wilches, 2013), all framed as a panacea against
poverty, creating in this fashion the image of an
apolitical, homogenous nation, without regions, or
ethnic groups; neglecting the traditions of Raizals and
Afro Americans (Torres-Martnez, 2009).
Another criticism is that peculiar contextual
features were outright disregarded when the NBP was
put into effect. In this respect De Zubira Samper (n.d.)
highlights the major drawback of imposing a nationwide bilingual programme without first attending to
the priorities in education: students deduction and
induction skills, argumentation and critical reading; it
is meaningless to aim at foreign language proficiency
without Spanish fluency in the first place. At the higher
education level the NBP is not influential either. Lpez
(2009) argues that it does not shape any perceivable
change in foreign language programmes because its
implications are not clearly understood; he focuses on
the NBPs presence in the Exmenes de la Calidad de
la Educacin Superior [ECAES] whose English section
is based on reading excerpts from the Cambridge
publishing house. His findings suggest that ECAES is a
low-stakes test given that no influence is found in those
programmes, which leads one to believe that the policydriven tests cannot have the consequences intended.
In general, NBP does not consider the differences
in context of application of assessment criteria which
190
PROFILE Vol. 18, No.1, January-June 2016. ISSN 1657-0790 (printed) 2256-5760 (online). Bogot, Colombia. Pages 185-201
191
6 Information about CB, as well as the Ministrys lines of action can be found here: http://www.colombiaaprende.edu.co/html/
micrositios/1752/w3-article-315515.html, and on the Ministrys official
website: http://www.mineducacion.gov.co/
7 Information about the focal regions: http://www.mineduca
cion.gov.co/cvn/1665/w3-article-351513.html
192
PROFILE Vol. 18, No.1, January-June 2016. ISSN 1657-0790 (printed) 2256-5760 (online). Bogot, Colombia. Pages 185-201
193
194
9 For a study regarding the constraints that yield the infrastructure and resources of private schools and the implementation of
the NBP, see Miranda & Echeverry (2010).
PROFILE Vol. 18, No.1, January-June 2016. ISSN 1657-0790 (printed) 2256-5760 (online). Bogot, Colombia. Pages 185-201
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196
Unanswered Questions
In keeping with the previous literature review,
the actions undertaken by the Ministry, and the
current perspectives of CB, several questions emerge.
We will attempt to briefly discuss them as a whole
with the hopes of stirring conversation between
the government officials, schools, universities,
technical institutions, teachers, professors, scholars,
administrative staff, parents, and, importantly,
undergraduate students in Licenciaturas.
1. Why does the government continue replicating
previous flaws that have already received criticism
thereby plainly ignoring the extensive body of
literature that stands against those flaws?
2. Why was CB a clean slate after CVW was launched?
3. What is the notion of education that the
government truly seeks, and especially of
English teaching? Training for minimum-wage
workforce? English as a skill for technical literacy
in an inner-circle dominated world?
4. Why has Colombia Bilinge 2014-2018 (until the
revision of this paper) decided to implement this
policy in what they called focus areas and not
the rest of the country as stated before? What will
it happen to the rest of the country?
5. Why is an English-only policy tantamount to
bilingualism for the government and why are
PROFILE Vol. 18, No.1, January-June 2016. ISSN 1657-0790 (printed) 2256-5760 (online). Bogot, Colombia. Pages 185-201
197
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