Interculturality and language teaching in Colombia

Abstract

Research on interculturality and initial foreign language (FL) teacher education has focused mainly on the development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and few studies address said topic from a critical standpoint that might allow us to think about other ways of teaching and learning (T&L) a language. This article describes a research that sought to understand what intercultural perspective is included in three initial FL teacher education programs in the city of Bogota, Colombia. The study is framed within a qualitative research logic, with a mixed focus and a multilevel concurrent nested design, which is characterized by the simultaneous gathering and analysis of qualitative and quantitative information. From the study, it is evident that the three undergraduate programs promote a reflexive and functional model, which establishes teacher education objectives, knowledge, and specific strategies, but also challenges to be undertaken.