DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14483/22487085.22464Published:
2025-09-09Issue:
Vol. 27 No. 2 (2025): CALJ: july-decemberSection:
Research ArticlesEducation Policies for Bilingualism and Stakeholders’ Views and Practices
A Multicase Study in West-Center Colombia Language Education
Políticas educativas para el bilingüismo y visiones y prácticas de actores interesados
Keywords:
agencia, bilingüismo, educación en lenguas, política lingüística (es).Keywords:
agency, bilingualism, language education, language policy (en).Downloads
Abstract (en)
Bilingualism has become a major theme in language policies over the last decades, reflecting language ideologies and guidelines for practice. Yet, stakeholders have responded to these policies in diverse ways. This multi-case study explores the language and education ideologies of language policies and Colombian policy stakeholders. Specifically, it examines how stakeholders exercise their agency in the formulation and application of the policies was also explored. The data analyzed includes interviews with stakeholders (see Appendix 1)—such as policy makers, scholars, test designers, administrators of second-language teacher preparation programs and language centers, and teachers from various cities of West-Center Colombia and recent national policy documents. The study shows an emerging shift in stakeholder’s ideologies, discourses, and practices towards alternative, heteroglossic bilingual oriented views. Additionally, the study evidences the active and relevant role of stakeholders in the enactment and appropriation of policies and points to the influence stakeholders have exerted on written policies and official discourses. These findings suggest the need for more participatory and context-sensitive policies focusing on learner’s necessities, expand language curricula, and foster heteroglossic teaching and assessment practices.
Abstract (es)
El bilingüismo se ha vuelto un tema protagónico en las políticas lingüísticas durante las últimas décadas, representando ideologías lingüísticas y pautas para la práctica. Sin embargo, las partes interesadas han respondido a estas políticas de diversas maneras. Este estudio de casos múltiples explora las ideologías tanto lingüísticas como educativas de las políticas lingüísticas y de los actores políticos colombianos, y cómo los actores ejercen su autonomía en la formulación y aplicación de estas políticas. Los datos recolectados incluyen entrevistas con actores involucrados, tales como responsables de políticas, académicos, diseñadores de exámenes, coordinadores de programas de licenciatura en segunda lengua y centros de idiomas, y profesores pertenecientes a diferentes ciudades del centro-occidente de Colombia y políticas lingüísticas nacionales recientes. La investigación muestra una transformación emergente en las ideologías, discursos y prácticas de los actores involucrados hacia enfoques alternativos, heteroglósicos y bilingües. También resalta el papel propositivo e importante de los actores en los procesos de apropiación de las políticas y propone, también, la influencia que estos actores han ejercido tanto en las políticas escritas como en los discursos oficiales. Estos hallazgos sugieren la necesidad de generar políticas más participativas y sensibles al contexto que prioricen los requerimientos de los estudiantes, amplíen los planes de estudio de idiomas y promuevan prácticas heteroglósicas de enseñanza y evaluación.
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