Many higher education (HE) systems in the Global South have prioritised English language education (ELE), including in Colombia where English has become the dominant foreign language of HE. However, little is known about its effects on the lives of HE students from low-income backgrounds. Addressing this knowledge gap is critical to ensure that…

Learning a foreign language incorporates cognitive, communicative, emotional, and social aspects. Some of these aspects have to do with the structure of the language being studied; some others deal with social and psychological issues that influence the environment where the learning process takes place. This reflection paper addresses various…

English is core to HE (higher education) globally, with both HE and English seen as pathways to success for students. Yet, access to English is unequal and colonial ideologies associate English with Anglophone settings. Much of the research on English in HE has focused on elite institutions and students, while the majority of the world's HE…

Linguistic and anthropological research has demonstrated that language ideologies play a complex role in contexts of language endangerment, as well as in revitalization initiatives. In this paper, we articulate some central ways in which these beliefs and interests can translate into significant barriers to successful language revitalization.…

This multimodal/multimedia discourse analysis explored institutional practices regarding native and non-native English speaker teachers in five language centers in Medellín, Colombia, as reflected in interviews with coordinators and teachers, language centers' websites, social media, and recruitment materials. Data were analyzed using content and…

This exploratory case study analyzes Colombian university students' experiences as English users during international mobility. Data collected through surveys and interviews were examined based on content analysis and principles of grounded theory. The students' self-perceived English proficiency and communicative performance before and during…

Over the past decade, different scholars in ELT have raised questions about the notion of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and the growing issues related to inequity that such a framework has raised. Our field in Colombia needs to interrogate the very frameworks and concepts we use to define the language and how those definitions will include…

This article critically analyses the extent to which research in the field of English and development in the global South supports the claim that English can contribute to development. Particular reference is made to the Colombian context, which, along with several other countries in Latin America, has prioritised English language teaching in…

"Vos" is regularly used in "paisa" (of Antioquia) Spanish, although written "vos" is considered non- normative. Recent research shows an augmented presence of written "vos" in public domains (Weyers 2016a, 2016b), which is viewed favorably by a majority of "paisas" (Weyers, forthcoming). So, what…

In the context of an undergraduate program in modern languages that includes the learning of French, Italian, Portuguese, and German in addition to English, this paper problematizes anglonormativity; that is, the dominant discourses of English as the taken-for-granted language of development. From the particular context of Colombia, where the…

This phenomenological study explores students' perceptions about the relationship between foreign language learning and culture when using telecollaboration. Three main concerns underlie this work: the lack of studies that explore how students perceive the relationship between foreign language learning and culture in the local context, the need to…

Background: In recent years, scholars and educators have criticized exclusionary language ideologies and policies within international schools. International schools often emphasize proficiency in English as a language of power instead of valuing students' and teachers' dynamic multilingual practices. Focus of Study: Although oppressive language…

This action research study sought to foster dialogic action through the expansion of English language learners' communicative repertoires in a 6th-grade class at a public school in a Colombian town. During the first action research cycle, the restricted concept of communication of the grammar based syllabus and the competitive and violent…

The personal experiences of three of the authors of this document as Au Pairs in the United States exposed some issues related to social justice and discrimination that made the participants reflect on their identity as speakers and future teachers of English. This article shares, analyzes and interprets these reflections collaboratively in search…

This study aims to understand the local and updated epistemological perceptions of the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Colombia from the voices of English language university teachers. This qualitative research emerges as part of a hermeneutical perspective which allowed the authors to analyze experiences,…