Social Class in English Language Education in Oaxaca, Mexico

López-Gopar, Mario E.; Sughrua, William M.

doi:10.1080/15348458.2014.901822

Cited by 36 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…More concretely, in the professional and academic field of ELT, "discourses of nativespeakerism" (Toohey, 2017, p. 13) and the native-speaker role-model habitually produced by the educational industries of Western, monolingual, English-speaking countries (López-Gopar & Sughrua, 2014;Phillipson, 2009), often prevent EFL educators from engaging their wide range of interests and identities in their classrooms. This engagement would not only make them more interesting teachers, but some of them would have greater resources to connect more with those of their own learners.…”

Section: Obstacles To the Resourceful Teacher Orientation In Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

Translating Teacher Funds of Identity into Curricular Proposals for the EFL Classroom: A Model for Student-Teacher Innovation and Professional Development

Castro

2019

Journal of Language, Identity & Education

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This article describes the progress and findings of a research project, organized in the context of a university Masters course in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), which aimed at translating the student-teachers' (STs) funds of identity into worthwhile curricular proposals for the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) subject. The first part of the research involved 38 STs in three workshops through which they became aware of their own funds of identity, expanded their own teacher identity, and finally designed curricular proposals that incorporated their funds of identity as valuable pedagogical resources. The second part of the research took place during the two-month practicum that the STs completed in regional high schools, during which period the professional development (if any) that the STs had undergone was collectively and qualitatively assessed in relation to their ability to put into practice their own innovative EFL proposals in real classroom settings.2 Keywords: funds of identity; teacher education; English as a foreign language education; professional development

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Section: Obstacles To the Resourceful Teacher Orientation In Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

Translating Teacher Funds of Identity into Curricular Proposals for the EFL Classroom: A Model for Student-Teacher Innovation and Professional Development

Castro

2019

Journal of Language, Identity & Education

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“…And once again, there is a correlation between middle- and upper-class positions in society and greater access to and success in learning English. This is as much the case with bilingual English-Spanish schools in Madrid (Martín Rojo, 2010) as it is with English-medium schools in Colombia (de Mejia, 2002) or English language instruction in mainstream schools in Mexico (López-Gopar & Sughrua, 2014). In countries with a postcolonial relationship with English, social class is likewise embedded in issues around access to and acquisition of English.…”

Section: Social Class Research In Applied Linguistics 2000–presentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Class in Applied Linguistics

Block¹

2015

Ann Rev Appl Linguist

103

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Social class is a curious construct. In the discipline where it has traditionally been most at home, sociology, there has been a constant flow of commentary on its demise and, indeed, its death over the years. In applied linguistics, the situation is somewhat different in that there has been a degree of social class denial, but more importantly, there has been social class erasure in that the construct has tended to receive little or no attention in publications that deal with language and identity and social life. Where social class is introduced into research, it is almost always done in a very cursory, partial, and superficial way. Still, there has been some research examining the interrelationship between social class and language over the years, and in this article, I provide a review of that research, focusing primarily on the period 2000–2014. First, however, I include a discussion of what social class means in 21st-century societies and a short review of class-based research carried out from the 1960s to the 1990s, the inclusion of the latter being necessary to an understanding of research after 2000. I conclude the article with some thoughts about future directions.

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“…This created a disparity between the public and private education systems. Many private primary schools market themselves as "bilingual," and the chance for their children to develop fluency in English is seen as one of the main reasons parents choose a private school (López-Gopar & Sughrua, 2014). The result has been a de facto policy of elite bilingualism: those who can afford private schooling had access to quality English instruction, could develop competence and, thereby, could get better-paying positions that required English.…”

Section: The English Program In Public Primary Schools In Mexicomentioning

confidence: 99%

“More & Earlier”: Neoliberalism and Primary English Education in Mexican Public Schools

Sayer

2015

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As global English expands, developing countries feel the pressure that, in order to remain globally competitive, they must increase the number of people with English proficiency. In response, many countries have significantly expanded English instruction in public schools by implementing primary English language teaching (PELT) programs. This is particularly true in countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America, where national Ministries of Education have taken a "more & earlier" approach, integrating English into the public primary curriculum. Children start learning English younger and study the language more during their basic education. The author argues that this language education policy shift toward expanding English in the public education curricula in developing countries is best understood as a shift from past models of elite English bilingualism to policies intended to support the macroacquisition, or general proficiency in English. The rationale for this policy change is framed in terms of the "modernization" and "internationalization" of a country's public education system, and hence should be understood as part of the response to align education curricula and programs with neoliberal policies. The author examines Mexico's recent national English program for public primary schools as a case study in the implementation of neoliberal language policy. Participation in global markets increasingly happens in and through English. As global English expands, developing countries feel the pressure that, in order to become globally competitive, they must increase the number of their citizens who are proficient in English. At the individual level, families equate their children learning English with better job prospects in the future. In response, many countries have significantly expanded English instruction in public schools (Enever & Moon, 2010). This is particularly true in countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America, where national Ministries of Education have taken a "more & earlier" approach (Hamid, 2010), integrating English into the primary school curriculum. The simple logic of these programs is that the earlier children start learning English and the more years they study English, the greater their L2 gains will be. These educational programs, then, are directly connected to expanding economic 41 countries and argue that the status and role of English in Mexico is both enhanced and complicated by the geographical proximity and historical and current cultural ties with the United States, as well as the importance of Spanish as a regional and global language. I make the case that the Mexican program represents a policy shift from past models of elite English bilingualism to policies intended to support macroacquisition, or general proficiency in English. Next, I locate Mexico's adoption of its new public school program as part of a global move towards primary English language teaching (PELT). The PELT phenomenon is clearly reflected in the language education policies of developing countries-seen as "...

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Social Class in English Language Education in Oaxaca, Mexico

Cited by 36 publications

References 4 publications

Translating Teacher Funds of Identity into Curricular Proposals for the EFL Classroom: A Model for Student-Teacher Innovation and Professional Development

Translating Teacher Funds of Identity into Curricular Proposals for the EFL Classroom: A Model for Student-Teacher Innovation and Professional Development

Social Class in Applied Linguistics

“More & Earlier”: Neoliberalism and Primary English Education in Mexican Public Schools

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