Proyección de la enseñanza del bilinguismo a través del método AICLE en Colombia

Abstract

Introduction. Bilingualism takes on an essentialrole in today's world in response to the ever growing socioeconomic demands in our country. Globalization, in general, has introduced new demands for our educational system that, in turn, propel renewed challenges for all agents of the educational system. Promoting bilingualism, as a tool to improve the profile of Colombian students, may be a way to respond to the present and future educational demands for competitiveness. Objective. Analyze the viability of adopting the AICLE (Aprendizaje integrado de contenido y lengua extranjera) in Spanish, or CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) in English in Colombia. AICLE/ CLIL is a language learning methodology, which is already widely used and accepted in Europeancountries, according to recognized studies, with excellent results in the teaching of foreign languages. Materials and Methods. A descriptive/exploratory study was carried out using a survey designed under the parameters of Coyle & Marsh (2010), to record the perceptions of 30 teachers, who at the time had already been using AICLE/ CLIL in bilingual schools in the country. Information was tabulated on an Excel spreadsheet and consolidated into graphs to better illustrate the findings. Results. Findings show that teachers have a positive perception of the AICLE/ CLIL methodology. They deem its implementation in the Colombian educational system feasible with a projection to improve competitiveness. Conclusions. The AICLE/ CLIL methodology has wide international implementation and acceptance. Its dynamics allow students to incorporate the learning of English while learning about other content. It facilitates the renovation of pedagogical models; its essence coincides with the national policies for competitiveness.