What are the implications of a socio-cultural and

an instrumental vision of Bilingual Education in

the Colombian context?
Christian Alonso Prieto
Juan Camilo Montañez
Edwin Joan Pérez Benítez
Colombia Very Well! (2015 - 2025)
● Colombian government wants the English language to be available for
everyone.
● Learners will be able to express their ideas through English language.
● University learners shall develop a mastering in English language.
● Colombian people will handle different events that take place in their
work area.
Colombia Very Well! (2015 - 2025)
● To understand texts in English language.
● To write simple texts in English language.
● To make easier for young people to access better jobs.
● To increase the number of workers who speak English language.
Colombia Very Well!
How to implement this program?

● Supporting current English language teachers.

● Hiring 3000 new English language teachers.
● Working alongside universities to help them to improve their Bachelor's
Degree Careers.
● Distributing 6 million free books.
● Taking advantage of ICT.
● Promoting English language in universities.
● Making Colombian people aware of the important role of English Language to
perform at their best in their jobs and for their daily lives.
Concerns about Colombia Very Well!
● This program focuses on companies’ requirements.
● This program does not promote integrative motivations to learn the
language.
● It does not take into account that the language learning process goes
beyond linguistic.
● This program talks about help Colombian people to become bilingual, but with
bilingual, they only make reference to Spanish and English languages.
 Bilingualism in the Colombian Context

● Nowadays, MEN (Ministerio Educacion Nacional) has established the

development of our mother tongue language and the process learning of a
foreign language to search a "bilingual country".
● National Bilingualism Program - according to parameters of the common
European Framework.
● “Basic Standards in Foreign Language Competence” - bilingual students.
● MEN has created “Atención Pertinente a la Poblacion Indigena en edad
escolar”.
 Bilingualism in the Colombian Context

● De Mejía (2004), Be careful and do not forget the little languages not
recognized in the national and international context.
● Intercultural Pedagogy - Best way to improve language and our culture.
● Hard Work + Pedagogic + Environment + Culture = Equality and Equity.
● Respect language and identities.
● Teacher training in a theoretical and practical.
● Be Researchers.
 How does bilingualism affect our intelligence?

Language is the foundation of education,

because our intelligence is structurally
linguistic: we think with words, we transmit
knowledge through words and we organize
our action through them.
 How does bilingualism affect our intelligence?

Language is also the foundation of our social

life, but, if that were not enough, it also helps
us to communicate with ourselves.

But in the past century, the educational debate

became confusing because language-a good
communicative tool-became an identity factor.
What was a secondary function became the
protagonist.
 How does bilingualism affect our intelligence?

In a globalized world, knowing how to speak in

several languages ​is going to be a great
passport for the future.

Therefore, since the end of the last century,

both UNESCO and the European Union have
opted for trilingual education, which can have
two modalities: two national and one foreign
language, or a national language and two
foreign languages.