Reflecting on bilingualism policies in non-English speaking countries in Latin America: The case of Colombia and Argentina

Abstract

English has been considered the official language in many non-English speaking countries. In the case of Latin America, language policies have been included in most of the countries where English has been officialized as the foreign language and it is mandatory to teach it in educational contexts. Most countries are aiming for the formation of bilingual citizens and professionals with proficiency in English to meet the demands of globalization. This article presents a reflection on the case of two countries that have implemented bilingua-lism policies such as Colombia and Argentina. These two countries have similarities in terms of policies and social, economic, geographic, and cultural factors, however, evaluating the level of English that each country has. It shows a marked difference between the two. Argentina occupies the first place in the performance of communicative skills in English with a high level, while Colombia is in the last places and has been recognized as one of the countries with the lowest level. In addition, the qualitative approach, the constructivism paradigm and documentary research method will be considered to achieve this objective.