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This article is a partial research report of a critical discourse analysis of the document “Estándares
básicos de competencias en lenguas extranjeras: inglés. Formar en lenguas extranjeras: ¡el reto!”
(Basic standards for competences in foreign languages: English. Teaching in foreign languages:
The challenge!). The analysis was informed by theory on critical discourse analysis (CDA) and
on symbolic power (particularly language as symbolic power). In an attempt to interpret what
it means to be bilingual in Colombia according to this document, the data show that 1) Being
bilingual means speaking English; and 2) Bilingualism is constructed as a packed, monolithic and
homogeneous concept.
Key words: Bilingual Colombia, bilingualism, critical discourse analysis (CDA), symbolic power
El presente artículo es un reporte parcial de un análisis crítico del discurso del documento
“Estándares básicos de competencias en lenguas extranjeras: inglés. Formar en lenguas extranjeras:
¡el reto!”. El análisis estuvo iluminado por teorías en análisis crítico del discurso (ACD) y la teoría
de poder simbólico, particularmente la lengua como poder simbólico. En el intento por interpretar
qué significa el bilingüismo en Colombia de acuerdo a este documento, los datos muestran lo
siguiente: 1) Ser bilingüe significa hablar inglés y, 2) El bilingüismo se presenta como un concepto
monolítico y homogéneo.
Palabras clave: Colombia Bilingüe, bilingüismo, ACD (análisis crítico del discurso), poder simbólico
* E-mail: helenaguerreron@gmail.com
Address: 555 E Limberlost Dr. Apt. 2073 Tucson, AZ 85705
This article was received on January 30, 2008 and accepted on September 3, 2008.
Critical discourse analysis is now an power, Bourdieu (1977b, p. 117) states the
established approach to discourse analysis following:
that has been around since 1980. Cameron Symbolic power, being the power to constitute
(2005) considers that the main task of CDA the given by stating it, to create appearances
is to uncover “hidden agendas” in discourse and belief, to confirm or transform the vision
in order to unveil power relationships. For of the world and thereby action in the world,
Van Dijk (2005, p. 352), “CDA is a type of and therefore the world itself, this quasi-magical
discourse analytical research that primarily power which makes it possible to obtain the
equivalent of what is obtained by force (physical
studies the way social problems abuse,
or economic) thanks to the specific mobilizing
dominance, and inequality are enacted, effect being only effective if it is recognized as
reproduced, and resisted by text and talk in legitimate (that is to say, if it is not recognized as
the social and political context”. Power is at arbitrary).
the core of CDA, which makes it different
from any other approach to discourse. According to this, Bourdieu (1989)
Fairclough (1995) states that CDA’s main concludes that “symbolic power is the power
objective is to denaturalize ideologies that to make things with words” (p. 23) and he
have become so naturalized that individuals explains it with the fact that a group, a class,
are not aware of them. As such, the purpose a region a nation, starts to exist when they
of CDA is to show how social structures are recognized as such by receiving a name,
shape the form of discourse and at the same by being differentiated from others.
time how discourse shapes social structures. The ideological perspectives of these
Symbolic power is the concept two theoretical frameworks indicate that
developed by the French sociologist Pierre no discourse is neutral; there is always a
Bourdieu. He defines it as “that invisible purpose to serve the interest of specific
power which can be exercised only with individual or groups presented in a hidden
the complicity of those who do not want or subtle way. As my findings will show, the
to know that they are subject to it or even aforementioned document intends to serve
that they themselves exercise it”. Symbolic the interest of a very few at the expense of
power, in order to be effective, rests on two the majority by constructing and spreading
conditions, to wit: 1) It is based on symbolic its own concept of bilingualism.
capital; this means that only the ones
who have recognition (accumulated from Research Methodology
previous struggles) can demand respect and,
consequently, can count on the other’s belief The research methodology was framed
that the view of the world presented by the in CDA, particularly the textual analysis
dominant groups is the legitimate one; 2) approach proposed by Fairclough (1995,
It depends on the validity of the view of 2001, 2003). Fairclough’s approach aims at
the world the dominant groups want to bridging a gap between discourse analysis
impose; this means their view of the world inspired by social theory on the one hand,
must be founded in reality (Bourdieu, 1989; and pure linguistic analysis on the other.
2003). In a further explanation of symbolic In a textual analysis approach these two
bilingualism means for the Ministry of handbooks in the series that will deal
Education (MEN) and the British Council with other foreign languages like French,
(BC), or put in other words, what they German, Italian, Chinese, or Hebrew
want it to mean in the Colombian context. which are the languages usually taught in
On the other hand, this same wide range Colombia (De Mejía, 2006). Notice that by
becomes a constraint because it is not saying “foreign languages” the possibility
possible, given the time, data, and objectives of “second languages” is excluded, which in
of this research report, to deal with all the Colombia could be any of the indigenous
aspects involved in this matter. Bearing this languages spoken3. This is the first hint
in mind, the analysis presented below is by that for the MEN indigenous languages
no means exhaustive; that is, I concentrated do not represent any sort of capital, in
only on some aspects of bilingualism and Bourdieu’s terms; henceforth, not worthy
the door is open to continue working on the of investment, incentives, promotion, etc.)
interpretation of further elements. Or 2) English encapsulates and represents
Regarding the question that leads this the ideal of foreign languages and it is more
study, three main categories emerged as than enough working on it and ignoring
follows: Bilingualism means speaking other languages (Vélez-Rendón, 2003). It
English; bilingualism is a packed, is the second meaning that has been more
monolithic and homogeneous concept; and pervasive. As documented by Vélez-Rendón
bilingualism is based on a set of myths. In (2003), despite the fact that Law 115 of
this paper I will deal only with the first two 1994 mandates the teaching of a foreign
categories due to space limitations. language, most people involved in education
assume that Law 115 states that it is English
Bilingualism Means Speaking English that is the foreign language by default. The
same discourse circulates in Japan, where
Starting from the title of the handbook foreign language teaching unambiguously
“Estándares”, the idea the authors want to means English language teaching (Kubota,
institutionalize is that the foreign language 2002; Liddicoat, 2007). Judging from the
to be taught, learned and therefore used by context in which this handbook is produced
Colombians is English: in Colombia, within the framework of the
1. Estándares básicos de competencias en Programa Nacional de Bilingüismo (PNB =
lenguas extranjeras: Inglés (MEN, 2006, National Plan of Bilingualism), more likely
Cover) the intended meaning is the second. Besides,
2. Basic standards for competences in foreign up to the publication of this article, there
languages: English are no handbooks in this series that deal
3. Formar en lenguas extranjeras: inglés ¡el with any other foreign language.
reto! (MEN, 2006, Cover)
4. Teach in foreign languages: English. The
3 Within the “Estándares” the authors state the difference
challenge!
between foreign and second language. The former is the L2
that is not spoken in the immediate context, usually only in the
Having “English” after the colon might classroom; the latter is the L2 used for every activity outside the
mean two things: 1) There are more classroom.
The concept that being bilingual means meanings ascribed to globalization like
speaking English is further emphasized as broader communication, economic power,
these following excerpts demonstrate: capitalism, multinational companies,
3) Ser bilingüe es esencial en el mundo foreign investors, better jobs, better living
globalizado (MEN, 2006, p. 5) conditions, no geographical boundaries and
Being bilingual is essential in the globalized world.
so forth (Tollefson, 2000; Valencia, n/d)
In excerpts 4) and 5), although the
4) En el contexto colombiano y para los alcances
connection between being bilingual
de esta propuesta, el inglés tiene carácter de
lengua extranjera. Dada su importancia como
and speaking English is made explicit,
lengua universal, el Ministerio de Educación ha the authors still rely on assumptions to
establecido como uno de los ejes de la política reinforce their point. Fairclough (2003)
educativa mejorar la calidad de la enseñanza del defines “assumptions” as how particulars
inglés…” (p. 5) come to be represented as universals.
In the Colombian context and for the sake of this That means that while for some people
proposal, English is considered a foreign language. something might be true, for others it is not.
Given its importance as a universal language, English is portrayed here as the “universal”
the Ministry of Education has established, as one
language, but as stated by Barletta (2007),
of the core points of its educational policy, the
improvement of the quality of the teaching of
this is a naïve construction that ignores
English… the fact that in certain parts of the world
English is not the first choice as a second
5) El Programa Nacional de Bilingüismo se
orienta a “lograr ciudadanos y ciudadanas
or foreign language. In a similar way, the
capaces de comunicarse en inglés, de tal forma “universality” of English can be challenged
que puedan insertar al país en los procesos within the same Colombian context; a child
de comunicación universal, en la economía in a remote area in Colombia might not
global y en la apertura cultural con estándares consider English as the universal language
internacionalmente comparables” (p. 6). because his/her universe differs from
The National Bilingualism Program is oriented the universe in which English is the only
toward “having citizens able to communicate in language.
English in such a way that they move the country One important characteristic of
into universal communication processes, into the
assumptions is that the author/s of a text
global economy, and into a cultural openness with
establish/es relationships with “what has
internationally comparable standards.
been said or written somewhere else, with
In excerpt number 3) the collocation the ‘elsewhere’ left vague” (Fairclough,
of the phrases “being bilingual” and 2003, p.40). This is what the authors
“globalized world” trigger the idea of of the “Estándares” do when they draw
replacing the first phrase by “speaking on discourses that associate English
English”, because that is the way it is usually with “globalization”, “modern world”,
structured. The author/s are equating “technology”, and the like. The double
bilingualism with globalization, playing function of this assumption is that, on
with the assumption that being a speaker the one hand, it serves to strengthen this
of English carries with it the positive association as a “universal truth” and, on
the other, the wording in each one of the of “today’s world”. In the second sentence,
five excerpts presented above, which are they introduce the problem and, at the same
agentless, helps to liberate the authors from time, hint at the solution: We have to gain
the responsibility of being the creators of access to that world through a common
that association; it was already there, they language and that common language is
are just repeating what everybody knows. English. In the same page, third paragraph,
The same happens with the following the authors add force to this assertion
quote that starts with “the current world is by explicitly mentioning English as the
characterized”; by not having an agent the language that will give Colombians the
authors take for granted that the modern opportunity to enter the modern world.
world has its current state because it is In direct opposition to this association
natural and not because of the influence of English with the modern world, the other
of various power structures that have implication is that even though Spanish is
legitimized their views of the world. the third language with more speakers in
the world (outnumbered by English and
6) El mundo actual se caracteriza por la
Arabic) which makes it one of the languages
comunicación intercultural, por el creciente
ritmo de los avances científicos y tecnológicos of wider communication (Thomason, 1988;
y por los programas de internacionalización. Skutnabb-Kangas, 2001), it is not enough
Estas circunstancias plantean la necesidad de for Colombians to have access to the
un idioma común que le permita a la sociedad “current world”.
internacional acceder a este nuevo mundo This assumption made by the authors
globalizado” (MEN, 2006, p. 7). of the “Estándares” contributes to the
The current world is characterized by intercultural perpetuation of certain attitudes towards
communication, by the growing rhythm of languages; for example, that English is
scientific and technological advances and superior (and everything associated with
by programs of internationalization. These it) and other languages are inferior (and
circumstances pose the need for a common
everything associated with them). Grosjean
language that allows the international society to
access this new globalized world.
(1982) reports a study about language
attitudes conducted by Lambert and
The assumption here is fortified by a colleagues in 1960 in Montreal, in which
semantic relationship of the “problem- a group of English-speaking students
solution” type (Hoey, 1983; Fairclough, and a group of French-speaking students
2003) in which the authors of the text evaluated a recording made by balanced
start by describing “today’s world” from bilinguals. The results showed that both
a very partial angle, where the current groups evaluated the English speakers more
world responds to only one characteristic: favorably than the French speakers. As
scientific and technological progress. Other the nature of the experiment shows, these
characteristics of the modern world like evaluations do not respond to any inherent
war, famine, extreme poverty, new forms characteristic of either language but are the
of slavery produced by savage capitalism, result of socially constructed ideas about
and others are not included in this account the speakers of each language. Ideas like
these have been around for centuries and and large, if indigenous languages were not
have influenced or shaped people’s opinions promoted during those times where their
(Pennycook, 1998a, 2000; Phillipson, 1992, main competition was Spanish, within this
2000). new project, their possibilities are even less.
Besides the strategies discussed above, The second group that has been
the authors of the “Estándares” reinforce the excluded from this project, and which
idea that being bilingual equates speaking strengthens the concept of “bilingualism
English by excluding other languages equals speaking English”, is formed by
from their bilingual project. The first big the other foreign languages that have
absentees are our indigenous languages. been taught in Colombian schools and
Starting from the title (example number 1), universities; those are French, German,
the challenge is to teach “foreign languages”. Italian and Hebrew (De Mejía, 2005) and
No mention is made of the potentiality and a growing interest in Mandarin. These
profitability of teaching any of the more languages seem to be included in the title,
than sixty indigenous languages spoken in but very soon in the “Estándares”, the
Colombia at this moment (except on the authors make it clear that the language
first page where they are briefly referred chosen is English:
to). This type of enrichment bilingualism 7) En el contexto colombiano y para los alcances
(Fishman, 1976a, 1977; Hornberger, 1991) de esta propuesta, el inglés tiene el carácter de
is neither considered nor promoted within lengua extranjera. Dada su importancia como
this project, which is not new if we take lengua universal, el Ministerio de Educación ha
into account the fact that since the Spanish establecido como uno de los ejes de la política
colonization of the Americas, the policy has educativa mejorar la calidad de la enseñanza
del inglés, permitiendo mejores niveles de
been to make natives speak Spanish; the
desempeño en este idioma. (MEN, 2006, p. 1)
same policy prevailed after independence
when the new republics felt the strong In the Colombian context and for the sake of this
proposal, English is considered a foreign language.
need to construct their national identity,
Given its importance as a universal language,
and since the independence leaders were the Ministry of Education has established, as one
monolingual in Spanish, they adopted of the core points of its educational policy, the
the philosophy spread by von Humboldt improvement of the quality of the teaching of
in 1820s of one nation/one language, and English, leading to better performance levels in this
Spanish was promoted as a national identity language.
marker (Escobar, 2004; Mar-Molinero,
Some pages further down, the authors
2000). Finally, despite the fact that as recent
state the following:
as 1991 in the new National Constitution
indigenous communities and minority 8) Teniendo en cuenta esta reglamentación y
haciendo uso de su autonomía, las instituciones
groups were recognized as legitimate
educativas colombianas han optado por ofrecer
Colombian citizens and their languages a sus estudiantes la oportunidad de aprender
recognized as official in the indigenous el inglés como lengua extranjera. Con ello
territories, there is no stimulus for Spanish pretenden brindar una herramienta útil que
speakers to learn indigenous languages. By permita a niños, niñas, y jóvenes mayor acceso
homogenous goal in mainly two areas: who sistema escolar, finalizar Undécimo Grado,
this project is addressed to (and whom it Educación Básica y Media), triggers two
is not) and what is expected to be achieved main assumptions. First, that in Colombia
with it. Due to space constraints, in what every child between five and seventeen or
follows I will deal only with the former area. eighteen years old is a student; and second,
that every student has access to a good
Students as a monolithic population quality education (in the form of time,
material and human resources, location,
In relation to the question of who this conditions, environment, and the like) and,
project is addressed to, on the surface it therefore, every child must be able to attain
seems that it is for all Colombian school level B1 at the end of their high school
aged children, as can be seen in the excerpts studies.
below: The first assumption is far from the
9) Así pues, se pretende que los estudiantes al truth; the promoters of the PNB fail to
egresar del sistema escolar, logren un nivel de acknowledge that not all children enjoy the
competencia en ingles B1. (MEN, 2006, p. 6)
same opportunities or access to education,
Therefore, it is intended that students, at the time especially in a society like the Colombian
of finishing school, attain a B1 competence level in one afflicted by so many social and
English.
economic problems. Giving an account of
10) Los estándares presentados se articulan con all the situations that keep children out of
esas metas, estableciendo lo que los estudiantes
the school system would make a long list,
deben saber y poder hacer para demostrar un
dominio B1, al finalizar el Undecimo Grado.
but here I will just mention a few examples.
(p. 6) The disparity between living conditions in
rural and urban areas is huge (some schools
The standards presented are stated with these
goals, establishing what students must know and do not have electric power or water supply);
must be able to do to demonstrate the mastery of a therefore, the possibility of attending school
B1 level, alter finishing eleventh grade. and the quality of education available there
11) Como ya se explicó en la página 6, el vary enormously. In rural areas children
Marco Común Europeo propone seis niveles de are more exposed to the abuse of guerrilla
desempeño. En la Educación Básica y Media, and paramilitia who recruit them for
nos concentraremos en llevar a los estudiantes a their armies. Human Rights Watch (2005)
alcanzar el nivel B1. (p. 10) reports that there are more than 11,000
As explained on page 6, the Common European children fighting in these groups, with at
Framework proposes six levels of performance. For least one out of four being minors, and a
elementary and middle school, we will concentrate
huge number of children are under fifteen;
on helping students attain level B1.
these figures are among the highest in the
The lexical choices in these paragraphs world according to the same report. In some
deserve attention. The use of the word circumstances children can attend school,
“student”, within the context of elementary but usually rural schools (particularly the
and secondary education (egresar del ones in remote areas) have only one teacher.
Another situation that affects both people are women, 42% are children under
rural and urban areas the same is child eighteen years old, and 90% are from rural
labor (Cortina, 2000; Sarmiento, 2006). or semi rural areas. According to the same
According to a report from the Programa report, the most vulnerable members of the
Internacional de Erradicacion del trabajo population are women, children, indigenous
infantil (IPEC), in Colombia one out of peoples, and afro-descendents4 (Forero, 2003;
five children between the ages of five and MEN, 2001).
seventeen work or are looking for a job The second assumption, that all students
(BBCMundo.com, 2005); as a consequence, who attend public schools have access to
13% out of the total population of children the same kind and quality of material and
between these ages can not attend school human resources, is misleading. There are
and the figures keep increasing each year deep differences between public schools in
(Procuraduria General de la Nación, 2005). the big cities and those in the small cities;
The latest report produced by Fabio Arias, also, just comparing schools in a city like
president of CUT (Central Unitaria de Bogotá, the dissimilarity is enormous (Ayala
Trabajadores), is that 25% of children work & Alvarez, 2005). In this sense, it is not the
in Colombia; the most usual forms of work same to learn English in a privileged area
are as maids, street vendors, agriculture, and in Bogotá where children are surrounded
sexual workers; one million four hundred by information in English (stores’ names,
children can not attend school (Caracol parents who speak English, cable TV,
Radio, 2008). movies, etc.) and enjoy better school
An additional group of school aged buildings and better resources than learning
children excluded from the PNB is the English in a deprived area in Bogotá, where
boys, girls and adolescents displaced streets are not even paved, and the family
from their hometowns due to violence. income does not afford proper food, much
Forced displacement in Colombia is a less any type of entertainment.
complex phenomenon whose causes The following excerpt supports the
and consequences are multiple so it is assumption that the PNB is addressed to
almost impossible to generalize them. an elite group of students that exists in the
Nevertheless, some of the most overt causes minds of the proponents of this project and
are dispossession of lands; terrorist attacks; who could achieve the standards proposed
and control by paramilitia, guerrilla, or and, thus, profit from “the opportunity to
drug dealers in conducting illegal activities. learn English” as stated in example number
These three causes are interwoven to create 8 and reinforced by the following one:
several modalities of forced displacement in (12) [El inglés] Es la lengua que se usa con mas
Colombia. The official figures do not show frecuencia en los medios de comunicación y, por
the totality of the displaced population ello, permite acceder a la internet, la televisión,
and the estimate is two million people;
that is, four hundred families. The Red de
4 While the official figure is two million, ACNUR (Oficina
Solidaridad Social de la Presidencia de la del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados)
República, RSS, reports that 50% of displaced states that the figure is three million people. (Caracol Radio, 2008)
arranged, discrete items” (p. 303). The learner can use it; the fact that the verb is in
following descriptors help to illustrate this first person puts the learner in control and
point: gives him/her complete agency not only of
(13) Demuestro conocimiento de las estructuras his/her learning but also of his/her use of
básicas del inglés (MEN, 2006, p. 19) the language. Since the verb is in present
I demonstrate knowledge of the Basic structures of
and indicative mode (Demuestro, describo,
English. uso, interactúo, participo, escribo), the
speaker is situated in a statement that shows
(14) Describo algunas características de mi
mismo, de otras personas, de animales, de
that the action is doable; the subject of the
lugares y del clima. (p. 19) sentence indicates or supposes he/she can
achieve the action. What it implies in the
I describe some characteristics of myself, of other
people, animals, places and weather.
standards is that the master of the L2 is a
fact and that the learner is naturally entitled
(15) Uso adecuadamente estructuras y patrones
to use the language anytime and with
gramaticales de uso frecuente (p. 21)
anybody. This is a very simplistic view even
I appropriately use structures and grammatical for native speakers of a language. Pennycook
patterns of frequent use.
(1998) provides the example of a woman
(16) Interactuó con mis compañeros y profesor in a business meeting who cannot get her
para tomar decisiones sobre temas específicos point across because she does not speak
que conozco (25)
the men’s variety of language. Interpreting
I interact with my classmates and teacher to make this situation from Bourdieu’s perspective,
decisions about specific topics that I know. it could be said that despite the fact that all
(17) Participo espontáneamente en are native speakers of the same language,
conversaciones sobre temas de mi interés these men do not recognize the woman as
utilizando un lenguaje claro y sencillo. (p. 25)
a legitimate speaker because she does not
I participate spontaneously in conversations have the right sort of linguistic capital. In
about topics of my interest using clear and addition, gender discrimination enters
straightforward language.
into play as another element that makes
(18) Escribo diferentes tipos de textos de linguistic interaction complex and not as
mediana longitud y con una estructura sencilla simple as implied in the “Estándares”.
(cartas, notas, mensajes, correos electrónicos,
Although in the standards proposed
etc.) (p. 27)
by the MEN all students are assumed to be
I write different types of texts of medium length legitimate speakers, the truth is that they
and with a straightforward structure (letters,
are not because their legitimacy is not only
notes, messages, emails, etc.).
acquired by speaking the “right” variety of
These descriptors, as well as all the the language, that is, the variety sanctioned
others used in the standards, are written in and evaluated by the dominant groups as
present tense, first-person singular; possible the valuable one and transmitted through
implications of this grammatical choice the education system (Bourdieu, 2003), but
are the immediateness of the mastery of by the persons they talk to. The linguistic
the language. It is here and now when the form chosen to write the standards
context, socio-economic situation, and/or The same pattern is used for the other
motivation of students. skills where goals are presented as wholes
The standards are set in five groups and students are supposed to achieve them.
(or skills): listening, reading, writing, The assumption of the authors is that all
monologues, and conversation. In each students will be equipped with exactly the
group there are between seven and eleven same tools and therefore will reach the same
descriptors; looking at them in a vertical way, proficiency7. Once again the conception of
it can be observed that each one is per se a learning a language is reduced to learning
categorical objective, that is, the descriptors and applying a set of rules.
Looking at the standards in a horizontal
are not flexible and are not written in a
way to see what learners are expected to
continuum where teachers could draw on
achieve for each group of skills, one sees
according to the particularities of their
that the concept of proficiency as something
contexts. For example, the following are
that can be attained equally in all language
some of the goals to be achieved in the skill skills is apparent, to wit:
“Conversación” for tenth and eleven grades:
24) Identifico la idea principal de un texto oral
19) Participo espontáneamente en cuando tengo conocimiento previo del tema.
conversaciones sobre temas de mi interés (Escucha, p. 26)
utilizando un lenguaje claro y sencillo. (MEN, I identify the main idea in an oral text when I
2006, p. 27) have previous knowledge of the topic.
I participate spontaneously in conversations 25) Identifico palabras clave dentro del texto que
about topics of my interest using clear and me permiten comprender su sentido general.
straightforward language. (Lectura, p. 26)
20) Respondo preguntas teniendo e cuenta a I identify key words within a text that allow me to
understand their general meaning.
mi interlocutor y el contexto. (p. 27)
26) Estructuro mis textos teniendo en cuenta
I answer questions taking into account my
elementos formales del lenguaje como la
interlocutor and the context. puntuación, la ortografía, la sintaxis, la
21) Utilizo una pronunciación inteligible para coherencia y la cohesión. (Escritura, p. 27)
lograr una comunicación efectiva. (p. 27) I structure my texts taking into account formal
I use an intelligible pronunciation to achieve elements of the language like punctuation,
effective Communication. orthography, syntax, coherence and cohesion.
22) Uso mis conocimientos previos para participar 27) Narro en forma detallada experiencias,
en una conversación. (p. 27) hechos o historias de mi interés y del interés
de mi audiencia. (Monólogos, p. 27)
I use my previous knowledge to participate in a
conversation. I narrate in detail experiences, facts or stories of
my interest and of my audience’s interest.
23) Describo en forma oral mis ambiciones,
sueños y esperanzas utilizando un lenguaje claro
y sencillo. (p. 27)
7 The metaphorical use of “equipped” and “tools” is
I describe orally my ambitions, dreams, and hopes deliberate to match an instrumental and neutral view of language
using clear and straightforward language. portrayed along the document.
28) Participo espontáneamente en …the standards present topics and relations with
conversaciones sobre temas de mi interés which students are already familiar in their first
utilizando un lenguaje claro y sencillo. language.
(Conversación, p. 27)
In the same line of thought, between the
I participate spontaneously in conversations
ideal speaker constructed in the “estándares”
about topics of my interest using clear and
straightforward language.
and the real learner who faces society
with all its imperfections, there is a huge
According to these descriptors gap because the latter might have trouble
students have to develop the same level of interacting in real life with real people.
proficiency in each one of the skills and this The monolithic concept of language as
idea is reinforced by the use, once again, of one fixed system leaves out all the shades
the indicative mood. Proficiency, then, is language takes on in different speech acts.
misunderstood because people, in general, In the school setting students are exposed
do not have the same level in each of the mainly to the academic variety of the L2,
language skills, and if this is not true for because the school, in general terms, is an
the L1, it is even less true for the L2. Some academic setting. In a large monolingual
people might need a high command of and monocultural context like Colombia,
listening and speaking skills but very little where the majority of students are native
writing or reading skills; some might be speakers of Spanish and are exposed to only
able to explain a complicated scientific issue the cultural practices of Colombian society,
in the L2 but have trouble explaining their there is very little (or none) opportunity
symptoms to the doctor during a medical to acquire pragmatic and sociolinguistic
appointment. competence in the L2 to perform as
Furthermore it seems that the PNB expected by the PNB.
expects students to develop a proficiency By and large, the standards described
that mirrors that of their L1 because there in the “Estándares” are envisaged for an
is no specialization of the functions fulfilled imagined and ideal group of students who
by each language. Both are intended to be differ greatly from the real students who
used for academic activities and for everyday attend schools. The project is offering
activities but, in fact, bilinguals do not use “tangible benefits of a few but only
their languages in the same way for the symbolic ones for the many” (Edelsky,
same purposes. If this were the case, people 2006, p. 6).
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