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…

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…

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 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…

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…

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…

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…

There is evidence that teachers' beliefs on teaching and learning exert an influence on the way they teach and assess learning, and on what students learn. Therefore, it is central that overt attention is devoted to the perceptions teachers have and how they influence teaching and learning. In this article we describe a study on teachers' beliefs…

In this article we aim at showing partial results of a study about the profiles of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in both public and private primary and secondary strata 1-4 schools in Cali, Colombia. Teachers' methodological approaches and practices are described and analyzed from a sample of 220 teachers. Information was gathered…

Various factors that are not easily observed have a strong impact on educational change. In this paper, I examine some of the issues that emerged from the data collected while exploring my informants' perceptions and attitudes towards their changing roles when confronted with curriculum innovation. This research demonstrates that the experience…

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…

This study was carried out with a group of three teachers who work for the foreign languages department of a private university in Colombia. It was aimed at unveiling and characterizing the narrative knowledge these teachers hold about language teaching and learning processes as well as the role this knowledge plays in the constant construction…