Abstract

BONILLA CARVAJAL, Camilo Andrés  and  TEJADA-SANCHEZ, Isabel. Unanswered Questions in Colombia's Foreign Language Education Policy. profile [online]. 2016, vol.18, n.1, pp.185-201. ISSN 1657-0790.  https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v18n1.51996.

Following the trend of much of the Western, non-English speaking world, Colombia has tirelessly strived for spreading English education in an effort to augment economic benefits. This paper aims at providing a critical account of foreign language education policy in Colombia, with special attention to English. It outlines the impact of its multiple transitions over the past decades through a historical description that overviews all previous policies, the critical reception by scholars, and present-day initiatives. We then move on to analysing the choice of English as a synonym for bilingualism and conclude with emerging questions that are to be considered for future debates and reassessments of Colombia's English-Spanish bilingual education policy.

Keywords : Bilingual education in Colombia; Common European Framework of Reference; language policy; linguistic colonialism.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English     · English ( pdf )