Challenges and accomplishments of ELT at primary level in Chile: Towards the aspiration of becoming a bilingual country

Abstract

This paper explores the policy development supporting the implementation of English language teaching (ELT) in Chile at primary level over the last two decades. This policy—which made English instruction compulsory for all Chilean students from fifth grade—has had to deal with a series of significant challenges since its introduction. One key impediment has been the lack of qualified teachers of English at primary school level. In addition, in a crowded curriculum, English teaching has been often allocated inadequate number of hours to facilitate successful language acquisition. Further, suitable learning resources and support materials—especially designed for young learners—have often been limited. Nevertheless, it can be argued that the broader offering of English, particularly at the primary level, has had an important democratising effect. It has been somewhat effective in allowing children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to access a global language and a potential world of opportunities previously only available to students attending wealthy private institutions. Data suggests that this policy has had some impact in establishing educational foundations for broader access to more advanced language learning for all students in Chile. However, equally it demonstrates further resources and support for teachers and teaching is essential to realise this potential.ation of English language teaching (ELT) at primary level has had to confront a series of challenges since its introduction. One key difficulty has been the lack of qualified teachers of English at primary school level. In a crowded curriculum, English teaching has been often allocated inadequate number of hours for successful language learning. In addition, suitable learning resources and support materials— especially designed for young learners—are often unavailable. At the same time, it is undoubtedly the case that English being taught at the primary level has had an important democratising effect, with children from lower socioeconomic levels being afforded access a global language and a potential world of opportunities. This has furnished significant foundations for broader social access to more advanced language learning for all students in Chile.

What Learning Can Do to Teaching: Assessing the Impact of Apprenticeship of Observation on Pre-service Teachers’ Beliefs

“…In these schools, an emphasis on the development of the four language skills is advocated, and English should be used as much as possible in the classrooms [25]. However, there are curricular factors-such as class size and number of hours allocated to EFL-that have been found to hinder EFL learning in such learning contexts [2].…”

A corpus linguistics application in the analysis of textbooks as national teaching instruments of English as a Second Language in Chile

“…During the 90's all Latin-American countries commenced educational reforms with the purpose of increasing the efficacy and quality of their educational processes in which educational approaches were rethought and redesigned (Barahona, 2016).…”

“…Precisely and in relation to the teaching of the English language in Chile, the majority of the teachers used the grammar-translation method or even audio-lingualism techniques in their pedagogical practices before moving into more contextual approaches (McKay, 2003). Hence, when constructivism came onto the scene, this structuralist view was changed into the communicative language teaching approach (Barton, 1994) and it is still in process (Barahona, 2016).…”

“…In particular and among the initiatives of the Ministry of Education of Chile to improve the teaching of the English language in the country, there is one that is particularly relevant for English Teaching as a foreign language: "The English Open Doors Program" (Barahona, 2016). And more specifically, one of the most important policies of this department was the provision of free English textbooks.…”

Los libros de texto para la enseñanza del inglés en las primarias públicas mexicanas y su congruencia con el enfoque oficial

“…En lo que respecta a los docentes de inglés, una de sus principales herramientas, y con frecuencia la única disponible, es el libro de texto. Desafortunadamente, en el caso mexicano, al igual que parece suceder en otros países de América Latina (véanse, por ejemplo, las críticas formuladas por Almeida, 2016;Barahona, 2016;y Correa y González, 2016), los libros de texto, en particular los empleados en las escuelas públicas para la enseñanza del inglés, presentan múltiples problemas, entre los cuales destacan la baja calidad, la distribución desigual, la inadecuación a las características y los niveles de los niños, y la insuficiente coherencia con el currículo oficial o con el enfoque teórico en que se deben o dicen sustentarse.…”