Articles by Yecid Ortega
Whiteness and Education, 2021
This article uses a self-reflective autoethnography to critique colonisation and whiteness as sys... more This article uses a self-reflective autoethnography to critique colonisation and whiteness as systems of marginalisation and racialisation. I examine concepts grounded in post-colonial and anti-racist theories, and I interweave these with my experiences in white spaces in Colombia, the USA and Canada as an educator and researcher. I provide personal examples as data to explain how colonisation and whiteness have paved the road to my professional ‘success’, and I also illuminate how these have taken me away from understanding my cultural and linguistic roots. Contrary to conventional wisdom that formal education is empowering for racialised peoples, this article asserts that critical education has been fundamental to challenge inequality and power asymmetries. Finally, in reflecting on the depths to which whiteness has been entrenched in all aspects of my life and other racialised peoples, I seek determination and liberation by calling into question the normative historical raciolinguistic ideologies of whiteness.
Ikala, Jan 28, 2020
This paper describes how a collaborative action research project implemented in an underprivilege... more This paper describes how a collaborative action research project implemented in an underprivileged high school in Bogotá helped an English teacher and her students discuss issues of social justice with a special focus on bullying. It also discusses how the English teacher used her class to connect global and local issues to sensitize students to their own social inequalities. To do this, the teacher used social justice, critical peace education, and globalization as a framework that guided her research and practices. The students, the teacher, and I, as a researcher, collaborated to co-create lessons whereby students were conscientized about normalized aggression in the school. The findings of this research suggest the following (a) students became more sensitive to and aware of the violent culture that existed in the school, (b) the activities empowered them to become advocates for social change, and (c) the actions taken translated into the community becoming central as praxis. I conclude that the English classroom has the capacity for social transformation as it allows for alternative pedagogical approaches targetting the students’ needs.
PROFILE Journal, 2019
This article uses a classroom experience to exemplify ways in which students as social beings lea... more This article uses a classroom experience to exemplify ways in which students as social beings learn English as a foreign language in Colombia and how the teacher uses trans[cultura]linguación. This is a process of making meaning during English-learning tasks while comparing specific linguistic variations as students learn about both their own culture and other people’s cultures. Borrowing from plurilingualism and translanguaging, I describe how a teacher attempts to use a social-justice approach to teaching English by valuing her students’ linguistic and cultural repertoires. I conclude by outlining the implications this has for proposing a paradigm shift from monolithic frameworks of learning language(s) to more dynamic ones in which students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds are deployed as a platform for addressing issues that are relevant to their communities.
Argentinian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2018
The use of many languages has been around for many years; indigenous communities have used langua... more The use of many languages has been around for many years; indigenous communities have used languages, dialects and variations of their languages to make meaning and share culture. Plurilingualism as a theory and educational approach looks at people’s language(s) repertories and how they use them at any given moment to communicate. In this interview with Dr. Enrica Piccardo, we discussed the concepts of plurilingualism and multilingualism as well as the importance for education and the advancement of a more ecological and synergic shift in paradigms in English teaching worldwide, and specifically in the Latin American context.
In this interview, form-focused instruction, research methods, and future research questions in S... more In this interview, form-focused instruction, research methods, and future research questions in SLA are discussed with Professor Nina Spada. The interview took place in December 2016 with the help of Yecid Ortega. Together with form-focused instruction, Spada reflects on the following topics: teacher research, replication studies as instances of creative research, amount of instruction with young learners, and issues in content and language integrated learning among other crucial topics in language learning.
Book Chapters by Yecid Ortega
Research on Teaching and Learning English in Under-Resourced Contexts, 2021
An ethnographic case study illustrates the work of three English teachers engaging their students... more An ethnographic case study illustrates the work of three English teachers engaging their students in pedagogical activities towards social justice.
Social Justice and International Education, 2020
Colombia has lived more than 50 years od political unrest, extreme violence that has been mostly ... more Colombia has lived more than 50 years od political unrest, extreme violence that has been mostly translated to marginalized students in public schools in Colombia. This critical ethnographic case study looks at how a social justice and peacebuilding curriculum (SJPBC) has been used in the English classroom to potentialize students to learn English skills that allow them to discuss in/out of school violence and resolve social problems that are relevant for their communities. The fieldwork was carried out in a public high school, in Bogotá, Colombia with three English teachers and their young students. Preliminary findings reveal how the teachers counter neoliberal narratives of English teaching by negotiating the curriculum with the students to promote social cohesion that benefits language learning.
Plurilingual Pedagogies: Critical and Creative Endeavors for Equitable Language in Education, 2020
When the Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches (FREPA) was created by the Council of ... more When the Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches (FREPA) was created by the Council of Europe and the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML), new possibilities, methodologies and approaches to language learning emerged. Pluralistic approaches sustain the idea that many languages and cultures should be included in the teaching and learning process, regardless of the subject. They support that previous linguistic and cultural knowledge is welcome in any learning setting and in particular in the language classroom. Drawing on FREPA as our framework, we consider pluralistic approaches in early language education, particularly Awakening to Languages (AtL). Exploring the potentialities of this approach in early language education, we elaborate on two plurilingual projects carried out in different early childhood learning contexts and discuss the significance of including and recognizing AtL approaches in kindergarten and primary school curricula as an integrative didactic approach that promotes plurilingualism and pluriculturalism, global and transversal competences, respect for otherness, and the development of other languages. Given the recent trend toward a more inclusive, pluralistic and eclectic approach to learning languages, our chapter seeks to sensitize the educational community at large to the importance of fostering a learning environment that optimizes relations between languages while challenging linguistic silos.
A social justice and peacebuilding curriculum (SJPBC) has been employed by English teachers in a ... more A social justice and peacebuilding curriculum (SJPBC) has been employed by English teachers in a Colombian highschool to draw attention to social local/global issues. This collaborative action research (CAR) explore the pedagogical possibilities to engage students in learning the English skills to become social agents of change.
English in the South, 2019
In its efforts to position the country as an economic leader in Latin America, the Colombian gove... more In its efforts to position the country as an economic leader in Latin America, the Colombian government has emphasized the role of English language learning in economic development. In this theoretical chapter, I use critical post-colonial perspectives to explore how global economic, political and cultural processes and power relations have shaped Colombia's current language policy. I posit that Colombia's current language policy-which prioritizes English and frames it as an "investment"-is a manifestation of economic, cultural and political processes. This foreign language framework perpetuates the problematic hegemony of the English language in Colombian educational policy and society and marginalises Spanish and indigenous languages. I conclude by suggesting that Colombia should examine how other Latin American countries have implemented language policies that recognize and incorporate pluricultural and plurilingual histories into educational planning so as to integrate social justice and global citizenship into their curricula.
Book Reviews by Yecid Ortega
For decades, many researchers and teachers in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) have a... more For decades, many researchers and teachers in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) have acknowledged the challenges of bridging the gap between research and practice (Belcher, 2007; Korthagen, 2007). These are challenges for both teachers (eg, technical language used in research) and researchers (eg, lack of pedagogical implications for teachers). Wilder Escobar, editor of the book Social Research Applied to English Language Teaching in Colombian Contexts: Theory and Methods, attempts to address…
Papers by Yecid Ortega
In this interview by Yecid Ortega, Global South (Colombia) senior lecturer and teacher educator, ... more In this interview by Yecid Ortega, Global South (Colombia) senior lecturer and teacher educator, Andrés Valencia, discusses some of the issues related to language policy in Colombia; how he became an EFL teacher; his understanding of English and of language teaching; and, lastly, he showcases some of the cultural and political projects he's developing with pre-service student teachers at Universidad del Valle (in Cali, Colombia).
Vol. 21 No. 2 (2019) by Yecid Ortega
Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 2019
This article uses a classroom experience to exemplify ways in which students as social beings lea... more This article uses a classroom experience to exemplify ways in which students as social beings learn English as a foreign language in Colombia and how the teacher uses trans[cultura]linguación. This is a process of making meaning during English-learning tasks while comparing specific linguistic variations as students learn about both their own culture and other people’s cultures. Borrowing from plurilingualism and translanguaging, I describe how a teacher attempts to use a social-justice approach to teaching English by valuing her students’ linguistic and cultural repertoires. I conclude by outlining the implications this has for proposing a paradigm shift from monolithic frameworks of learning language(s) to more dynamic ones in which students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds are deployed as a platform for addressing issues that are relevant to their communities.
Articles in Referreed Journals by Yecid Ortega
Ikala, 2020
This paper describes how a collaborative action research project implemented in an underprivilege... more This paper describes how a collaborative action research project implemented in an underprivileged high school in Bogotá helped an English teacher and her students discuss issues of social justice with a special focus on bullying. It also discusses how the English teacher used her class to connect global and local issues to sensitize students to their own social inequalities. To do this, the teacher used social justice, critical peace education, and globalization as a framework that guided her research and practices. The students, the teacher, and I, as a researcher, collaborated to cocreate lessons whereby students were conscientized about normalized aggression in the school. The findings of this research suggest the following (a) students became more sensitive to and aware of the violent culture that existed in the school, (b) the activities empowered them to become advocates for social change, and (c) the actions taken translated into the community becoming central as praxis. I conclude that the English classroom has the capacity for social transformation as it allows for alternative pedagogical approaches targetting the students’ needs.
Argentinian Journal of Applied Linguistics , 2018
The use of many languages has been around for many years; indigenous communities have used langua... more The use of many languages has been around for many years; indigenous communities have used languages, dialects and variations of their languages to make meaning and share culture. Plurilingualism as a theory and educational approach looks at people's language(s) repertories and how they use them at any given moment to communicate. In this interview with Dr. Enrica Piccardo, we discussed the concepts of plurilingualism and multilingualism as well as the importance for education and the advancement of a more ecological and synergic shift in paradigms in English teaching worldwide, and specifically in the Latin-American context. RESUMEN El uso de muchas lenguas ha estado en nuestros contextos por muchos años; las comunidades indígenas han usado sus dialectos y variaciones de sus lenguajes para hacerse entender y compartir su cultura. El plurilingüismo como teoría y enfoque educativo se orienta en el repertorio lingüístico que tienen las personas y como lo usan en un momento determinado para comunicarse. En esta entrevista con Enrica Piccardo abordamos el tema del plurilingüismo y su diferencia con el multilingüismo, así como su importancia en la educación y el avance sinérgico y ecológico para un cambio en el paradigma de la enseñanza del inglés a nivel mundial, pero específicamente en América Latina.
Teaching Documents by Yecid Ortega
REACH, 2021
Bogotá, Colombia, has become the home of many migrants from Venezuela in the past few years. I wa... more Bogotá, Colombia, has become the home of many migrants from Venezuela in the past few years. I was in Colombia in 2018 to conduct doctoral dissertation research on peacebuilding education in a marginalized high school. I continued my relationship with one of the teacher participants of the study who has been concerned about how to better respond to the needs of incoming immigrant youth from Venezuela.
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Articles by Yecid Ortega
Book Chapters by Yecid Ortega
Book Reviews by Yecid Ortega
Papers by Yecid Ortega
Vol. 21 No. 2 (2019) by Yecid Ortega
Articles in Referreed Journals by Yecid Ortega
Teaching Documents by Yecid Ortega