While governments in Latin America position English as "the" language to learn across educational systems, the authors elaborate on a series of projects that incorporate a decolonial approach to interculturality in language teaching and learning in Colombia and intend to promote respect for sociolinguistic diversity and work for more equitable learning spaces in higher education.
Responding to globalizing trends that position English as "the" international language to learn and be competitive across educational systems and in the job market, recent language education policies in Colombia have positioned English as "the" additional, mandatory language in higher education. These policies represent a barrier to indigenous and Afro-Colombian students coming to big cities to pursue their professional studies and are implemented at times when the country attempts to escape from decades of urban and rural war and when the construction of peace should be based on the recognition of diversity and the promotion of equity and intercultural dialogue.
Current challenges and risks associated with English language learning in higher education are accentuated as minoritized ancestral languages and knowledge continue to be undervalued in mainstream education. Students from different ethnic groups struggle to stay in universities and witness how their needs, traditions, cosmogonies, epistemologies, and languages are not recognized in the official curriculum or in the university structures.
In this session, presenters will introduce a series of projects guided by a decolonial view of interculturality and intending to counteract the effects of these policies and practices. These initiatives work for the construction of intercultural dialogue and for the promotion and strengthening of all identities, languages, and sociocultural practices of higher education students. The projects include a sociocultural diagnosis of indigenous students in a public university, a collaborative project to favor students´ transition to higher education, and a professional development course for university faculty. Presenters will elaborate on the advances and challenges identified along five years of work to advocate for a critical intercultural approach in foreign language teaching in a socially and linguistically diverse country like Colombia.
