Publishing in local ELT journals: A way to decolonialize knowledge Publicar en revistas locales de enseñanza del Inglés: Una forma de descolonizar el conocimiento

Abstract

Abstract Educational institutions, particularly those for higher education, seek to ensure their visibility and valid indicators for institutional accreditation processes through the publications of their teachers. Their projection is intimately associated with the circulation of their production in accredited publications whose reputations depend on their positions in prestigious rankings, databases, and indexing systems. That is why Colombia, in recent years, has experienced an increase in the number of scientific journals published in the country. This phenomenon was a reaction by academics to the obstacles for publishing in renowned journals, generally edited in hegemonic or central contexts, where it is presumed that knowledge is disseminated for the whole world. In this article, the author analyzes the role played by locally edited journals in the decolonialization of knowledge. She bases her analysis on studies carried out in the fields of the English teacher as researcher and writer, academic writings, and the publication of scientific journals. She identifies the contributions, suggestions, and challenges for publications in the English language teaching area. She also stresses the importance of strengthening professional communities, encouraging greater participation by teachers in the dissemination of their work, and the need to value knowledge generated in peripheral contexts, without ignoring links with the global world.