Language Education in Multilingual Colombia: Critical Perspectives and Voices from the Field

by Norbella Miranda (Editor), Anne-Marie de Mejía (Editor), Silvia Valencia Giraldo (Editor)

Overview

This collection brings together cutting-edge research and theoretical discussions on the linguistic, cultural, and political forces that shape multilingual Colombia, highlighting the country’s unique sociolinguistic landscape and offering new insights into multilingualism in the Global South.

The volume outlines the changing dynamics of multilingualism in Colombia, where Spanish, Spanish-based and English-based Creoles, the linguistic and cultural heritages of Indigenous communities and migrant groups, and the prevalence of English in language education policy intersect. The chapters explore the implications of policy making on language policy discourse and especially on language teacher education for those working on the margins in urban and rural areas. They also explore existing understandings of interculturality and the work of academics and local communities in minority language revitalization efforts.

Problematizing essentialized views of language and culture and raising awareness around the complex relationship between language, identity, and interculturality in the Global South, this book will be of interest to scholars in multilingualism, sociolinguistics, language education, teacher education, and applied linguistics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367725501
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/27/2024
Series:	Routledge Critical Studies in Multilingualism
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Norbella Miranda is Assistant Professor in the School of Language Sciences at Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia. She holds a PhD in Educational Sciences from Universidad del Quindiìo, Armenia, Colombia. Her research and publications focus on educational language policies, bi/multilingualism and curriculum development for language education. She is a member of the EILA research group (Equipo de Investigación en Lingüística Aplicada) of Universidad del Valle. Her publications include: Appropriation of Colombian ELT policy in a targeted school: The creation of an "elite" yet still needy school in the public education system (book chapter, Routledge, 2021).

Anne-Marie de Mejía is Professor in the area of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education at the School of Education at Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá. She holds a Ph.D in Linguistics from Lancaster University, U.K. Her research interests include teacher empowerment, interculturality, language and education policy, and bilingual teacher development.

Silvia Valencia Giraldo is Professor in the area of Sociolinguistics and Bilingualism in the School of Education at Universidad del Quindiìo, Armenia, Colombia. She received her Ph.D from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK., in the area of bilingualism. Her research interests include bilingual classroom interaction, language policy, and literacy.

Table of Contents

Contents

List of illustrations

Acknowledgements

Critical perspectives on language education in multilingual Colombia: An introduction ANNE-MARIE DE MEJÍA, SILVIA VALENCIA GIRALDO AND NORBELLA MIRANDA

1. Multilingual Colombia: Dimensions of linguistic and cultural diversity

SILVIA VALENCIA GIRALDO, NORBELLA MIRANDA AND ANNE-MARIE DE MEJÍA

SECTION I

Creole and Indigenous Languages in Colombia

Decolonizing multilingual practices: Lessons from Colombia

MARIO E. LÓPEZ-GOPAR

2. Preserving the Creole language of the Caribbean archipelago of San Andrés and Providence: An ecolinguistic approach to multilingualism in Colombia

RAQUEL SANMIGUEL ARDILA

3. Between chants, games and elders (Andi Kanto, jarocheria ku tata ri mae mi). Local strategies for the strengthening of the Palenquero language among young people in San Basilio de Palenque (Bolívar-Colombia)

LUIS RICARDO NAVARRO DÍAZ, SEBASTIÁN SALGADO REYES AND RODOLFO PALOMINO CASSIANI

4. Colombia on the path of linguistic revitalization. Some thoughts from Cauca

LILIA TRIVIÑO GARZÓN AND TULIO ROJAS CURIEUX

SECTION II

Language education policy: Discourses, ideologies and local practices

Marginalizing discourses and teacher resilience in Colombian language policy and education

DAVID CASSELS JOHNSON

5. English in education policy in Colombia: Two decades of policy discourse and appropriation

NORBELLA MIRANDA AND SILVIA VALENCIA GIRALDO

6. English language teaching in rural Colombia amidst the armed conflict: A case study of teacher positioning vis-à-vis policy, practice and the profession

FERNEY CRUZ ARCILA

7. Late capitalism and the commodification of English in Colombia: The shaping of language education policy and practice

YECID ORTEGA

8. Colombian teachers of English as agents in the implementation of English language policies in a multilingual country: Villains or heroes?

ADRIANA GONZÁLEZ

SECTION III

Interculturality and pedagogy

Interculturality in languages and cultures education

ANTHONY J. LIDDICOAT

9. Transemiotizing and re-sourcing resources in language education: Towards a multimodal social semiotic perspective on intercultural communication

JOSÉ ALDEMAR ÁLVAREZ VALENCIA

10. Building intercultural language education in Colombia: Insights from research with English language teachers

BEATRIZ PEÑA DIX

11. Focusing on dimensions of interculturality in the context of language teacher education: Insights from a case study in Colombia

ISABEL TEJADA-SÁNCHEZ AND ANNE MARIE DE MEJÍA

SECTION IV

Reimagining teacher education: Taking account of diversities and inequalities

Decolonizing and decentering language teacher education in Multilingual Colombia

JUDY SHARKEY

12. Nurturing language teacher education in Colombia from a multilingual perspective

FANNY HERNÁNDEZ GAVIRIA AND MARTHA BERDUGO-TORRES

13. Contesting the hegemony of English in a country declared to be multilingual: The outcome of research with English language teachers in an in-service program

CARMEN HELENA GUERRERO NIETO AND ÁLVARO QUINTERO-POLO

14. Crossing linguistic boundaries with community literacies: A collaborative, place-based ethnography in two urban localities in Bogotá

AMPARO CLAVIJO-OLARTE AND THERESA Y. AUSTIN

15. Views on writing and pedagogic practices: A systematic review of the research literature on bilingual (Spanish/English) teaching in Colombia

NEIRA LOAIZA VILLALBA AND CLAUDIA ORTIZ RUIZ

Afterword: Decolonizing Multilingual Colombia

NANCY H. HORNBERGER

Contributors

Editorial Reviews

"In bringing together previously diverse research traditions and consolidating a platform from which to discuss multilingualism and language education in a broad sense, this volume makes an important contribution both locally and globally...In the dialogue around language education and multilingualism, the volume should be read as a much overdue long-turn from Colombian scholars, and we would all do well to listen to what they have to tell us." - Peter Browning, University of Birmingham, UK, Journal of English as a Lingua Franca

From the Publisher