Perspectives on Teaching University-Level English in Colombia

A great deal has changed in four decades in terms of English language teaching (ELT) in Colombia, which puts this book, in many ways, at the interface of where ELT in Colombia was, where it is now, and where it could be headed in the immediate future. One of the current educational challenges facing Colombia is the fact that the 2013 report of the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA, showed that Colombia placed number 62 out of the 65 countries in which students took the PISA tests. Another challenge, as the authors explain that the university within which their language teaching organization operates is: "a private, non-profit institution that receives no governmental funding. Its resources derive from student tuition, research, and consulting projects, and all of its profits are reinvested into the infrastructure of the university and scholarships for students." This is an important point, as one of the goals of this English In Context series is to showcase some language teaching organizations that are nonprofit and that do not have the geographic, economic, and political advantages of being in the capital of the country.

The authors are professors at the graduate and undergraduate level at the Instituto de Idiomas at Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla Columbia, where they currently hold leadership positions. They are in charge of teacher selection and evaluation, curriculum and materials development, as well as administrative duties. They have also participated in projects supporting English language learning and teaching across Columbia. Additionally, the authors have presented at national and international academic event and have published on topics in their areas of research which include teacher development, business communication, discourse analysis, curriculum design, and foreign language pedagogy.