Rurality and Conflict : English Teachers’ Narratives on the Appropriation of Language Education Policies in Colombia

Abstract

ABSTRACT: the implementation of different language policies in Colombia, it seems that these policies are useless since their goals remain as a utopia for the diverse contexts in our country. Drawing on a sociocultural approach, this study explores the way teachers appropriate language policies in rural areas affected by armed conflict through a narrative perspective. Teaching English in areas controlled by guerrilla or paramilitary groups implies suffering violence and living challenging experiences. Indeed, participants’ narratives unveil the harsh conditions teachers find in those rural areas when first arriving to the schools, and then teaching English. The discussion of this study debates the lack of proper strategies to guarantee a positive impact of the language policy in those rural areas, the decisions teachers make when teaching a decontextualized language policy, and their desire of working in a different place. Hence, this study could serve as a point of departure to design a language policy that takes into account the diversity of contexts in our country, as well as teachers’ voices as they are the ones who execute such policy.