L2 as a Form of Wealth: Power and Agencies Within the Colombian Language Policy

• In Event: Ecologies and Identities in Second Language Learning

Abstract

The second language policy in Colombia has heated academic debates in the last decade. Two policies have been designed by the Colombian Ministry of Education and other agencies to foster English Learning at all educational levels. The first policy National Plan of Bilingualism (NPB) was created in collaboration with the British Council and launched in 2006. In July 2014, after acknowledging the insufficient results of the former policy, the Ministry of Education released a new policy National Plan of English (NPE): Colombia Very Well to improve the proficiency levels in the elementary and secondary schools. The manuscript presents an analysis of the most recent policy using Bourdieu’s conceptual and methodological tools.

Author

• Rosa Alejandra Medina, University of Massachusetts - Amherst