Public schools, social class, and English education: Does English a language of opening opportunity?

Abstract

Most Latin American countries are enhancing English language lessons in public schools by starting the program earlier and increasing the number of hours of L2 instruction.The popular phrase "English opens doors" captures the cause for this fast spread. It acknowledges worldwide English's apparent ability to improve people's economic and social prospects. Columbia, for instance, doubled the duration of English education in public institutions from three to thirteen years.At first glance, the new initiative seems to be a massive acquisition planning effort intended to level the playing field for working-class Colombians by greatly increasing access to English education and opening new economic opportunities. The author investigates how English teaching varies by social class in schools and considers if English alters the equation for pupils, building on crucial theorists' explorations of schooling and social reproduction.The researcher analyzes how program implementation reality meets and falls short of program aims by using the data in-classroom observation from a research report of the Colombian program's pilot phase in elementary grades and data from interviews with various stakeholders.