BILINGUALISM AS PART OF A GLOBAL EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION
Natalia Urrego Herrera
The transformation and progress of the world
depends on the globalization. It does not
matter what country you belong; today’s core
point is to move on and to be to the forefront
of the most relevant facts that move the
world, the changes in the education, the
economy, politics, and environmental
problem among other.
The term globalization is never far from the
front pages of newspapers these days. It
evokes strong positive or negative feelings
depending on whether it is being praised by
the business community for opening world
markets to more extensive trade or
condemned by those who associate the term
with the dramatically widening gap between
rich and poor nations and people. Cummis.J.
(2001).
For this reason,
education has
been one of the
main themes for
the change and
transformation of
the world. Within
these advances
and changes that
globalization brings, we can mention a very
important point in terms of communication.
Bilingualism is a fundamental part of this
process of progress and change and is born
as a need for communication, to negotiate, to
make a cultural exchange, even to have a
status which allows access to educational
opportunities outside the country of origin
and for of course better job opportunities. But
how can we define the concept of
bilingualism. “Bilingualism can be defined as
psychological and social states of individuals
or groups of people that result from
interactions via language in which two or
more linguistic codes (including dialects) are
used for communication.” Gómez.L (2020)
In a country like Colombia, being a bilingual
speaker is synonymous with prestige,
education, economic stability, and cultural
knowledge. Being bilingual in Colombia
opens doors in the world of work and
education. It is even having the illusion of
traveling and exploring new directions.
In this way, many schools both in the public
and private sectors a few years ago were
forced to change their curricula to start a path
towards bilingualism. However, the desire to
be at the forefront and acquire new skills in
the language has caused the real concept of
bilingualism to be transgressed and
transformed into the simple fact of speaking
and trying to understand a language like
English, even considering it already in our
country as our second language.
From the educational
policies of the
country, it is required
that students who
finish their school
year, a minimum
level of language
classified as B1
according to the Common European
Framework. Quite a challenge for public
education in the country, not having the basic
and sufficient tools to achieve their goals.
Well, in the public sector there is hardly any
didactic material for classes, students do not
have textbooks and although the duty of
extending technological tools to some
schools has been done, coverage and
connectivity are not sufficient, at least in the
city schools. In rural areas of the country, it
is more than a challenge, it is a very long-
term goal to be able to achieve these results
in a second language such as English.
However, we also face another reality totally
opposite to that of public education. Private
education, which has many more benefits
and facilities to achieve this goal. There are
even international schools that exceed this
objective and achieve a level of proficiency
much higher than that required by the
educational policies of the country. But what
should private school students do to achieve
these results?
First, being part of the middle or upper class
of the country, you study from the first years
of school life in a school with a bilingual focus
and thus build and strengthen your process
in the acquisition of a second language.
In some places, an American culture is fully
adopted, speaking directly from English as a
second language. The dates of that country
are celebrated as part of the bilingual
environment and it is forced in some way to
go even over the mother tongue, leaving it
aside or only for Spanish classes. The
second language is the one that prevails, it is
the one that carries the flag of these
educational centers, it is the plus to get
followers, it is the hallmark of belonging even
to an elite class, where it is marked by the
results in international tests.
From my point of view and as a language
teacher, the challenges we face are not
easy, but they are not impossible either.
There are many responsibilities to face, on
the one hand, to support the public and
private educational policies of each
institution, showing bilingualism as an
opportunity for progress, cultural enrichment,
and an opportunity for intellectual, political
and economic development mainly.
Allow an environment of trust and tranquility
in the classroom for those who begin a
process of acquiring a second language. But
above all, allow the student to build the
language from their first language, making a
Trans-language process which is a bridge
between their mother tongue and what they
have acquired from a second language.
Lewis et al. (2012) defines trans-language as
the usage of a language to strengthen
another to grow the understanding and
increase the use of both languages. This
definition sees
languages as dynamic
and interrelated as they
support each other in
their augmentation and
practice.
In accordance with the above, it is important
to think about how to strengthen the learning
of a second language and give a true
meaning to what a conscious learning
environment is, where the only thing that
matters is the student.
Thus, and in accordance with (Bosch, 2018)
we have been born with the need to learn
and develop ourselves, and that's the idea,
be flexible and respect the ideas and
individuality in each student. Letting them
build their knowledge from the reality
surrounding them. For this same reason, it is
important to mention some principles that
must be considered for the construction of
these environments and to facilitate bilingual
learning.
First, the student as its core participants; it
means that the relation, the engagement
they have not only with the surrounding is
important, but the interaction with others, the
socio-affective and cooperative relations
strengthen the process of learning and make
it more meaningful. (Araque, 2021).
The use of different tools for diversifying
learning is recommended, these should be
the use of technological participation such as
the contribution in forums, blogs, chat rooms,
among others.
Guarantee different learning scenarios
outside the classroom, not only learning in a
room that allow concentration and real
learning.
Also, it is important to guarantee an not only where languages are spoken, but
evaluation and feedback process where the also where technology is also considered
student understands that he is doing well or another form of language.
that he should improve within his learning
process. According to the
OECD Report on
Considering that the world moves quickly the future of
and that after a pandemic we must rethink education and
what the future of education will be like, it is skills 2030
important to consider what education will be (2019), this is the
like in the future. Although, we are a country right moment to
that needs to support itself in others to be raise questions
able to make political, economic, and cultural and reflect upon
exchanges as described at the beginning, for the kind of
this reason it is important to think about competencies
strategies that allow the advancement of this (knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values)
society. It is essential to think about required for the future, also contemplate how
developing and implementing improvement the design of learning environments can
strategies in the curricula to train and foster such competencies and facilitate
educate students capable of facing a world learning.

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Bosch, R. (2018). Designing for a better world starts at school. Rosann Bosch Studio.
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