English Language Teaching (ELT) in Latin America and elsewhere in public schools and higher education and parts of the private sector has long been failing badly. The coronavirus pandemic should focus minds on changing that situation. Going back to Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) business as usual should not be an option. In this…

The National Bilingual Programme was launched in order to promote English learning in Colombia. The failure of this programme and subsequent iterations is well-documented, and research has also examined some of its negative effects for different societal groups. However, a comprehensive study of the social justice implications of Colombia's…

There has been a rapid global expansion of English instruction in the early grades in public school curricula. Particularly in so-called developing countries, the increase of and its shift from exclusively private to public education is linked to the idea that acquiring English promotes personal, social, and economic development. The author takes…

Following the trend of much of the Western, non-English speaking world, Colombia has tirelessly strived for spreading English education in an effort to augment economic benefits. This paper aims at providing a critical account of foreign language education policy in Colombia, with special attention to English. It outlines the impact of its…

This article reviews the background of the foreign language bilingualism in Colombia, as well as the Colombian bilingualism plans and the policy launched between 2004 and 2016. Then, these plans and policy are analyzed taking into account the most common criticisms from the academic community. In this sense, aspects such as the lack of continuity,…

The national English program in Mexico was formally launched in 2009. The new program supplanted various state programs, and aimed to create a coherent, uniform curriculum that extended English instruction to all public school students across the country. The article describes the development, evolution, and changes as the program was piloted and…

The English language is significant to the internationalisation of higher education worldwide. Countries in Asia are proactive in appropriating English for their national interests, while paying attention to associated national cultural identity issues. This article examines the ways in which the role of English is interpreted and justified in…

This article aims at contributing to the ongoing discussion about how bilingualism is understood in the current National Bilingualism Plan (PNB for its initials in Spanish). Based on previous research and discussions held at academic events, it is evident that the promoters of the PNB use the term "bilingualism" in a rather…

The significance of questioning in intercultural language learning was highlighted during Phase 1 of the project as project team members worked with teachers preparing units of work and long-term programs. This paper explores the types of questions asked by team members to elicit teachers' thinking regarding students' learning and teachers' roles…

The establishment of a Canadian national assessment center with the authority to develop, administer, and evaluate French second language teachers' competencies, and to issue a national certification over and above the provincial certification is proposed. It is argued that French second language teacher certification is now a national issue and…

This paper aims to reassess conclusions drawn in 1975 about the prospects for survival of the Navajo language. A study done at that time uncovered evidence that there was increasing knowledge of English among Navajo children, although knowledge of English was highly, positively correlated to the level of isolation from Navajo speakers. As a result…

A cooperative project to improve the French second-language curriculum in Egyptian schools is described, including the challenges and principles involved in designing a 13-year elementary-secondary curriculum, pilot testing in 2 schools, teacher workshops, networking among participants, results, and lessons learned. (MSE)

This paper describes responses to linguistic pluralism in Australian policy in relation to Australia's Asian language context, and the teaching and learning of Japanese within these two frameworks. Finally, the paper considers some ideas relating intercultural language learning to all second language study termed: the Third Place. There are three…

The basic task of the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) strategy has been to resource and promote the teaching and learning of Asian languages and studies of Asia in Australian schools. NALSAS focuses on four Asian languages: Chinese (Mandarin), Indonesian, Japanese, and Korean. The studies of Asia are broader,…

The means by which Sri Lanka and Belize--two former British colonies differing greatly in economic development and resources--implement a language planning policy are discussed. Attention is given to educational systems, materials development, teacher training, and student attitudes toward English--four major issues in language planning currently…