Ebook: From Transnational Language Policy Transfer to Local Appropriation: The Case of the National Bilingual Program in Medellin

Embracing a critical and sociocultural perspective for the study of policy,
this vertical case study investigates foreign language education policies
being adopted by the national government in Colombia, and how they are
reinterpreted and appropriated by local official and public school
teachers in the city of Medellín. Based on a systematic analysis of policy
documents, semi-structured interviews, participant observations and
field notes, the author elaborates on how English is being emphasized as
synonym of education quality and competitiveness in the country, how
these language and education reforms are being adopted for the whole
country, in which manner these models of reform are connected to
transnational policymaking, what role is being played by different
educational actors and organizations at the macro and micro level, and
how, according to the multiple contextual factors that interplay in the
continuous reinterpretation and final enactment of policy, teachers
reinterpret these discourses and agendas by adopting a nurturing or an
academic approach in their final appropriation of the initial policy texts.
Additionally, this study highlights the unpredictable nature of
policymaking processes, even when transnational organizations such as
the British Council act as policy lenders and guarantors of success and
credibility, and policy mandates are accompanied by standards, tests,
frameworks, and timelines that do not necessarily respond to the local
needs and expectations of local educational actors and communities.
Finally, the author illustrates the multiple difficulties experienced by
different schools communities across the city of Medellín, and how a
breach between public and private institutions is created and fed as a
consequence of the uneven conditions in which English as a foreign
language is taught in Colombia and Medellín, which ends up creating a
gap between the official discourse of innovation, competitiveness,
education and bilingualism, and actual reality. In this manner, the study
alerts about the multiple challenges faced by countries such as Colombia
and cities like Medellín adopting imported discourse around education
quality, competitiveness and bilingualism, and how these policy
discourses may become simple slogans as educational communities lack
the required conditions to successfully achieve the expected goals.