Teaching English in Times of the National Bilingual Program in some State Schools: Linguistic and pedagogical factors.

Abstract

This mixed-interdisciplinary study was conducted in four state schools in Medellin-Colombia with the participation of 12 teachers and 111students from 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. Data gathering techniques used were a semi structured interview administered to the 12 teachers anda battery of six psycholinguistic tests administered to the students. This paper addresses qualitative data from the interview and discusses,from a reflective and interpretative perspective, linguistic and pedagogical factors that affect the English teaching and learning processes for a12-primary-teacher group. These factors emerged essential for the establishment of pedagogical relationships amongst teachers, students andthe English language; likewise, the necessity of informed and continuous teacher professional development programmes as part of linguisticpolicies becomes manifest