The Ongoing Interculturality of French as a Foreign Language in Colombia: Reality or Challenge?

The aim of this work is to make a diagnosis of the presence of interculturality in the teaching of foreign languages, particularly French as a Foreign Language (FLE), in Colombia. The 1994 Education Law provides for only one compulsory foreign language in secondary education; recent language policies, since 2004, and the linguistic ideology present in the country only favor English to the detriment of any other foreign languages. However, French remains present at university for historical reasons that make it, unofficially, the second foreign language taught. Yet, when students choose to study languages for these same ideological reasons, they do so for English; French does not really arouse their interest and often benefits from negative representations. In this difficult context, interculturality seems to be one of the main tools for working on these representations and positively modifying students' motivation. Nevertheless, is the use of interculturality really present in FLE courses in Colombia or does it represent a challenge in terms of its introduction? To answer this question, a case study was carried out at the University of Caldas through semi-directive interviews with students and FLE teachers, and with Colombians living in France. The analysis of these interviews revealed a certain absence of interculturality in FLE courses, particularly in terms of working on representations and stereotypes, culture and otherness. These results are in line with and deepen the more general observation made in recent years concerning the infrequent use of interculturality in language courses, and the need to remedy this in order to revitalize not only French but also any foreign language other than English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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