EFL Teachers’ Perspectives on the Role of English in Two Mexican Private Universities

Published

2019-01-01

Perspectivas de docentes de inglés como lengua extranjera sobre el papel del inglés en dos universidades privadas mexicanas

Keywords:

English as a foreign language, English language dominance, internationalization, linguistic ideologies, teaching English in Mexico (en)
dominación lingüística, enseñanza del inglés en México, ideologías lingüísticas, inglés como lengua extranjera, internacionalización (es)

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Authors

Colette Despagne https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9636-5685

Abstract (en)
Abstract (es)

In Mexican higher education, the spread of English has become a tool in the internationalization process of universities. However, language has been sidelined in the discourses of globalization and internationalization. Hence, this ethnographic case study aims to look at the spread of English in Mexican higher education through two private universities. It focuses on the universities’ internationalization process, and how English as a foreign language teachers perceive the role of English in this process. Findings show that while English as a foreign language teachers support linguistic ideologies that promote the spread of English as a natural and apolitical phenomenon, at the same time they also warn of ideological implications such as language hierarchies, cultural homogenization, and English linguistic discrimination.

La difusión del inglés en la educación superior mexicana se ha desarrollado como una herramienta para la internacionalización de las universidades. Este estudio de caso etnográfico busca analizar la difusión de esta lengua en dos universidades privadas. El estudio se enfoca, por una parte, en el proceso de internacionalización de ambas universidades, y por otra, en cómo los maestros de inglés de dichas instituciones perciben el papel que juega el inglés en este proceso. Los resultados muestran que, aunque los maestros apoyan ideologías lingüísticas que defienden la difusión del inglés como un fenómeno natural y apolítico, también advierten sobre las implicaciones ideológicas tales como las jerarquías lingüísticas, la homogenización cultural y la discriminación lingüística.

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