The National Bilingual Program facing the future

1. The National Bilingual Program facing the future Ricardo Romero Medina Andean Region

2. Plan • NBP: Is English a threat for minority languages? • A global context for languages and language policy • A national context: What is happening now • Trends in the world • Considerations for the future of “bilingual” programs

3. NBP: Is English a threat for minority languages? • What is language death • Why do languages die • What needs to be done

4. What is language death. • 6796 languages* • Year 2100 less than 2000 • 5% of the languages are spoken by 95% if the world’s population • 5% of the population speaks 95% of the languages of the world. *Crystal, Language Death, 2000.

5. Is it a problem of numbers? • When is a language endangered? • When is a language dead? • How many speakers are needed? • Where is the language spoken?

6. Why do languages die? • Factors that put the people in physical danger • Natural disasters • Destruction of habitat (Desertification) • Imported diseases • Political problems

7. Political problems • The disappearance of several languages in Colombia has been attributed to a mixture of aggressive circumstances… Some thirty languages have become extinct since the arrival of Spanish”. Crystal, David. 2000.

8. Factors which change the people’s culture (assimilation) • Language submersion • Population size • Domination by smaller group Dominant language Dominated language

9. Dominant – dominated languages in Colombia Questions to keep in mind: • What is the status of English as a dominant language? What does it represent? • What is the status of Spanish in Colombia? • What is the status of aborigine languages in Colombia?

10. What is happening in the world?A global context for languages and language policy

11. The rise and fall of learners D.Graddol • A massive increase in the number of people learning English has already begun, and is likely to reach a peak of around 2 billion in the next 10-15 years. Numbers of learners will then decline.

12. Widening of student age and need • Over the next decade there will be a complex and changing mix of learner needs. More children will register to learn English

14. Irreversible trend in international students • The recent decline in international students studying in the main English speaking countries is unlikely to reverse.

15. Irrelevance of native speakers • Native-speaker norms are becoming less relevant as English becomes a component of basic education in many countries.

16. The doom of monolingualism • Monolingual English speakers face a bleak economic future and the barriers preventing them from learning other languages are rising rapidly.

17. Growth of languages on the internet • The dominance of English on the internet is declining. Other languages, including lesser-used languages, are now proliferating.

18. Retraining needed for English specialists • Specialist English teachers will need to acquire additional skills as English is less often taught as a subject on its own. • CLIL • Global issues • Psychology • other

19. The end of English as a Foreign Language

20. Colombia.What is happening now?

21. The National Bilingual Program • Is there a “program”? • The role of the Ministry of Education • Defining policy • Adopting/creating standards • Assessing • Evaluating quality

22. The “actual” execution • Local Educational Authorities (Secretarías) • Universities • Language Institutes • Schools • Teachers • DO WE NEED TO REGISTER TO PARTICIPATE?

23. Tareas de las Secretarías de Educación • Control de procesos de calidad • Convocantes en procesos de bilingüismo • Administradores de recursos • Evaluadores de impacto • Promotores de foros de socialización • Apertura al nuevo talento!!!

24. Universidades • Revisión y registro calificado de sus programas de licenciatura • Vinculación de egresados con su Alma Mater • Generador de líneas de investigación • Extensión académica en áreas de metodología y docencia

25. Institutos de idiomas • Registro de programas de calidad (Dec. 3870) • Promoción de la enseñanza del inglés en todos los niveles • Coordinación con Secretarías y Universidades

26. Escuelas y colegios • Diagnóstico del estado actual • Nivel de inglés de los docentes • Nivel de inglés de los estudiantes • Metodologías utilizadas • Materiales • Administración de pruebas validadas internacionalmente • CUIDADO con la implementación de planes de “bilingüismo”

27. Mi escuela = escuela bilingüe? • Proyecto Educativo Institucional • Necesidades del entorno • Capacidad real instalada • Talento humano necesario • Recursos disponibles

28. Inglés – Español – Lenguas nativas • Trabajo interdisciplinario para catalogar, determinar nivel y factores de riesgo • Trabajo interinstitucional (Ministerios) para incidir en aspectos de calidad de vida de los hablantes • Trabajo de sensibilización nacional para mejorar la actitud frente a las lenguas aborígenes • Asignación de recursos para investigación

29. El proceso histórico…

30. Lo que debemos promover

31. Es esto posible?

32. Objetivo… • Convivencia saludable • NO confrontación • Promoción de identidad • Promoción de la comunicación internacional • Inglés para minorías lingüísticas = perspectiva del derecho a aprender otras lenguas

33. Finalmente, las tareas… • El docente como el centro de todo proceso de bilingüismo • Dominio del idioma • Desarrollo pedagógico • Uso adecuado de recursos públicos y privados • Sostenibilidad (el proyecto sigue, las personas cambian…)

34. El centro del proceso

35. Muchas graciasThanks a lot Ricardo.Romero@oup.com