Arbiters of a Language Policy in a Public University in Colombia: Resistance from Foreign Language Teachers

In this article, the interpretation and appropriation processes of an institutional language policy (Johnson, 2013a) by a group of English teachers at a public university in Medellín-Colombia is reported. This ethnography of language policy (McCarty, 2011, 2015) is based on the principles of qualitative research and the data collection methods included document analysis, direct non-participant observations, and individual semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that foreign language teachers show resistance to the institutional language policy and this leads them to carry out omissions, additions and modifications in their teaching practices, specifically in the assessment and in the proposed methodology. Furthermore, the type of labor entailment with the educational institution contributes to a differentiated relationship and a distinctive view of the language policy, especially in relation to the workload.

Keywords:
policy analysis; educational policy; foreign language teachers; ethnography