La percepción instrumentalizada del inglés para la competitividad: un caso de estudio

Abstract

Language policies in Colombia have promoted English as a language for competitiveness. This instrumentalized notion of the language disregards the cultural and cognitive benefits of the process of language learning. Furthermore, little is known about how this utilitarian perception permeates the way in which pre-service teachers develop their practices. This study intends to reflect on how this perception of language relates to the development of the pre-service teachers’ practice. The qualitative approach was used to carried out this research under the perspectives of the interpretive paradigm. The study participants were three pre-service teachers and two students. To collect the information, the semi-structured interview and the focus group were used as techniques. The study leads to identify that the instrumentalized vision of English promoted by language policies becomes an obstacle to its learning. In addition, it was found that pre-service teachers struggled to exert their role as policy makers, that is, to appropriate policies according to the need of the context. The study concludes that the failure to obtain the goals set by language policies, are not attained, perhaps due to this unfortunate conception that only promotes a structural and utilitarian vision of language.