Alan Bedoya is an English teacher at Universidad Eafit, besides working at the University language

center, he works at San José de la Salle, a private institution in Medellin. He graduated from the
Foreign Languages Teaching BA from University of Antioquia. Additionally, he is a co-researcher
carrying on different research projects with GIAE, working mainly in areas such as: Assessment for
learning, assessment and justice inside the classroom, and developing a formative assessment
culture.

Select one of the articles from the issue and read it thoroughly. Once you have
read the article write a short text (300 - 450 words) describing the topic, the
main points the author (s) addressed in the article, and the structure that (in
your opinion) the authors followed to write the article. Write a brief comment at
the end of your text stating your personal opinion about the article and the
points that made you wonder upon the reading of the text. Please upload the
text, before our first meeting.

Comprehending Interculturality and its Future Directions in English Language

Teaching and Teacher Education in the Colombian Context
Bertha Ramos-Holguín

In the article, the author describes what Interculturality means and what kind of
practices we can expect when applying this process into our classrooms.
According to Ramos (2021) Interculturality refers to all the interactions we can
hold between different cultural groups. However, the author explains that
Interculturality as a concept can be divided into three smaller specific
approaches: Relational, functional, and critical. First, relational Interculturality
as the direct interaction between different cultures, in which they see each
other as the “others” or “strangers”. Secondly, functional interculturality as a
way to connect cultures based on respect and tolerance. And finally, the critical
interculturality that confronts a standardized knowledge and proposes the
coexistence of different realities, identities and Territories.

The author stresses the importance of taking into account the Territories when
the teachers try to read the context in which they work/live, since the concept
goes beyond land or a piece of soil. It involves symbolic, cultural, and economic
factors that serve as a platform for the people’s identity construction.

The author, in addition, elaborates more in some intercultural practices that can
be considered part of an intercultural process such as cultural manifestations,
the so-called listening act, particularity and relationships with territories, and
ecology of “knowledges”.

Finally, the author concludes that as teachers, we have to understand first our
students’ territory and identity, if we want to impact the students’ themselves.
A simple way to do this would be adapting materials to the specific culture that
involves the classroom.

As an English teacher, I have always considered myself a sort of “bridge”

between two cultures, more than a direct link between two languages.
Interculturality challenges the former conception and proposes a series of
activities to connect two or more different territories and identities. I love when
my students notice subtle differences and try to make connections, and this
paper makes me wonder how to apply these activities in my class. I will try for
sure.

This article aims to provide a comprehensive view of what interculturality means, as well as to
contribute to current and future trends in the field of English language teaching and teacher
education in Colombia. I present examples of intercultural practices as possibilities to
understand and explore interculturality in ELT, and I share a review of studies that have
undertaken this complex conception of interculturality.

Intro: In this sense, interculturality relates to any kind of interaction between

cultural groups.
This kind of functional interculturality promotes cultural encounters based on
tolerance.
The third perspective, critical interculturality, refers to “a critical construction of and
by people that have suffered a history of subjugation and subordination”
Critical interculturality problematizes the notion that unique knowledges and truths coexist and
are characterized by the power relationships they were built upon.

interculturality accounts for cultural differences that are shaped by historical

processes.
interculturality is a process where we have to read ourselves and our context from a critical
perspective

Territories encompass symbolic, cultural, and economic factors.

Intercultural practices are expressions in which interculturality can be perceived,
and they connect to a person’s academic and personal lived experiences.

interculturality takes place between two or more different people and not only between
two different languages.
1. Arts, crafts, and cultural manifestations.
2. Listening act: permanent dialogue implies the recognition of the other, as well as being
able to engage in dialogue and mutual learning.
3. Particularity relates to the need for a pedagogy that is both relevant, sensitive, and
negotiated with a particular group.
4. Relationships with Territories, Traditional Lands, and Nature
It is crucial for teachers to comprehend the students’ and community’s cultural expectations,
so that the students feel that the academic programs are pertinent to them.

5. Ecology of Knowledges
 As educators, we cannot deny that students have experiences that are
relevant to the learning process.

Conclusion
Perhaps the only way to understand the process students are going through is to have
gone through the process oneself.
Students need to be treated and acknowledged as subjects not as objects.
Materials need to be culture specific.
Some final questions to continue with the discussion