The present article reports on a study that set out to investigate the effectiveness of strategies and decisions formulated in foreign language planning to ensure learners' language achievement in a higher education context which trains learners to become English or French teachers or translators. By drawing on data collected from simulated…

Drawing on the concept of policy appropriation, this study investigates how different education stakeholders in a rural region of Colombia perceive foreign language education policies, and how these perceptions shape the way they recreate these reforms at the ground level. Contributing to the field of language policy analysis in Colombia and…

This paper investigates the conceptions of research held by English as a foreign language teachers in Argentina. Quantitative data from 622 participants from an online questionnaire were followed by qualitative data from online interviews with 40 of those participants. Results show that the teachers conceptualised research through conventional…

The study aims to understand what factors may motivate and demotivate students with low emotional intelligence to participate in speaking activities during English class. Participants wrote an emotions journal to identify factors affecting student participation and were then interviewed at the end of the study period in order to elaborate on their…

This article reports the results of a study whose purpose was to trace the configuration of professional subjectivities by analyzing the narratives of four Colombian non-native English speaking teachers in the framework of language policies. In this qualitative-narrative study we used written narratives and narrative interviews as instruments to…

Colombian English as a foreign language student teachers' opportunities to grow as educators through international sojourns do not usually subsume the traditional study and residence abroad goal. This was the case for our participants who engaged mainly in working abroad with study being ancillary. Fifty student teachers from two public…

This article examines the intervention, through the design and pedagogical implementation of two rubrics based on theory from the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach, to assess the oral competences in English of a group of sophomores in a content subject. The data collection and subsequent analysis included both quantitative…

This study investigates novice non-native English teachers' opinions about the effectiveness of their teacher education programme and the challenges during their initial years of teaching. The results of a survey administered to fifty-five novice teachers and follow-up interviews identify strengths and weaknesses in their teacher education…

This research study examined how a group of ninth graders enhanced the speaking skill in an English as a foreign language classroom through project-based learning. Data about the experience were collected through field notes, transcripts of learners' oral performance, and one interview. Grounded theory was implemented for data analysis, out of…

The main objective of this study was to identify 6th to 11th grade students' beliefs about their English class in a public institution in Armenia, Colombia. By means of interviews, drawings, and focus groups with 30 students, four beliefs were established. It was found that students' beliefs are attached to the experiences they have lived in their…

Sociocultural theory argues that an individual's mental, social, and material activity is mediated by cultural tools. One such tool is the language or discourse teachers use during whole class interaction in the second language classroom. The purpose of this study was to examine how a Colombian second language teacher mediated her ninth-grade…

This article reports the results of an action-research project focused on improving students' communicative competence in English through the task-based learning approach. This study was conducted in a co-educational public school in Medellín (Colombia) with thirty-four tenth graders. Actions implemented include the development of a series of…

In the case of Mexico, until recently, many universities focused mainly on teaching, but recent changes have led to new appointments in research, administration, and community service. There now seems to be, however, a view of the predominance of research in the academic environment. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to examine and…

In this article we present an investigation that focused on the students' perception of using Blogs as a means to supplement in-class language learning activities. Blogs are easy to manage and enable students to publish their work in a chronological manner. They help students to engage in online exchanges and promote learner autonomy. This study…

This article reports on a study conducted at Universidad Nacional de Colombia in the foreign language extension courses. The author shows how young learners who study English in this program can develop their oral production by making and listening to music. The study took place in the first semester of 2009 and followed the qualitative and…