Significant Pedagogical Practices for Learning English as a Foreign Language in Secondary Education

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to analyze significant experiences of teaching and learning English in official secondary education institutions, located in a school context in Colombia, in order to identify pedagogical practices that can become pedagogical structuring factors. The problem addressed focuses on the demotivation, apathy and low performance of students in learning English, a persistent situation in school environments. Under a qualitative approach, from the socio-critical paradigm and through an ethnographic design with a phenomenological method, a process of inquiry structured around participant observation, interviews and documentary review was developed. Six English teachers and 45 tenth and eleventh grade students from three public institutions participated.

The findings revealed that the most effective pedagogical practices are linked to contextualized, motivating and communicative strategies, based on the active participation of the student and the use of didactic resources close to their reality. In addition, structural and didactic barriers that hinder language learning were identified, including limited teacher training in communicative approaches, scarce technological resources, and a reductionist view of English teaching as a simple repetition of grammatical structures.

In conclusion, the design of pedagogical strategies coherent with the sociocultural context of the students is proposed, which promote the significant learning of English as a second language in inclusive and participatory school environments. This research provides conceptual and practical elements for the strengthening of the teaching-learning processes of English in official institutions, with a view to improving the quality of education and compliance with public policies on bilingualism.