Carla Gissel Coot Cen

ID: 1924672

English language teaching in Mexico

We know that English in recent times is important to be able to have a better job and have
various job opportunities, but have you ever wondered about the quality of English language
teaching in primary schools, if it is really being taught in an adequate way, which ensures that
Mexican children have a better quality of life than their parents. Today we will talk about the
teaching of English in Mexico, its quality, the challenges faced by teachers, as Gómez et al.(2017)
tells us that "English language teaching has been compulsory at the basic level since 2009".

Let's start with an important question: How is English language teaching in Mexico?
Analyzing in the words of Gómez et al. (2017) "English First (EF) English Proficiency Index,
which establishes a world ranking of English proficiency in which integrates the results of 72
countries. In this study it can be seen that Mexico is in 43rd place with a low level on a scale of 5
levels ranging from "Very high", "High", "Medium", "Low" and "Very low". "We can see the
decline of English in Mexico, some people blame the education system, others blame the teachers,
others blame the parents, we fall into this vicious circle of blaming everyone, but we are less
focused on finding a solution to this problem.

In order to analyse all this, let us start with the first point, which is to analyse the quality of
English in Mexico. In the words of García et al.(2020) "Studies that have been carried out in Latin
American countries, where they mention the deficiency of the teaching-learning process and the
educational policies that govern each region according to the educational organisations; such as
the SEP in Mexico in its English language guidelines, where deficiencies in the quality of teaching
are perceived". It is critical that the teaching of the English language is lacking, it is necessary to
look for ways in which the quality can be improved, in recent times English is very important, if
one of the students of primary school, continue their studies, when they reach university they will
need to read articles in English, and if they can't understand it, education in Mexico will continue
to decline, so it would not only harm the student personally, but also the whole country, since
students are not receiving quality English teaching, here we ask ourselves, whose fault is it?What
is preventing the teaching of English in primary schools?

Teachers mention some of the reasons that could trigger the lack of quality of English
language teaching, in the words of Ramírez (2013) "Attrition and high turnover, interview
excerpts: (Parent: C1)11 ...sometimes we have problems to keep English teachers as they look for
other jobs. (Principal: B1C)".

It is alarming to see how teachers in their desperation of not prospering here in Mexico, opt
for better jobs and better paid, when they should be paid even more, since we are talking about the
public education of all Mexico.Ramirez (2013) tells us another one

"Teacher shortages in some states are being remedied by lowering hiring standards or hiring
inadequately trained staff".

By having high standards for teachers, they opt for better opportunities and prefer not to
teach, generating this chain of situations that lead us to the second point according to Ramirez
(2013), which is

"Insufficient training and experience

are not initial English teachers but professionals from other fields who entered teaching because
they have some knowledge of English, as can be seen from the following
excerpts from interviews:

Q: I personally have a degree in business administration and I have done some English studies...
(Teacher DS1).

I: What training do you have?

Q: I am a Biochemical engineer (Professor D.20)

I: What training do you have as a teacher?

Q: I have a degree in business administration (Professor D.21)".

So really those who teach the students are not teachers, but graduates of other careers with
a notion of the English language, since, in their branch, there is not so much employment, how do
we want to get to have a quality teaching, if not even teachers are really teachers, a teacher is the
one who had to prepare in the pedagogical field, to give a good teaching, who was forged and have
strategies to teach, not only knows English, but knows how to teach.

We could go on naming more and getting overwhelmed, but we can look for pertinent and
necessary solutions, such as an increase in teachers' salaries, as well as opportunities for
improvement, it would not be good to lower the standard, but to support future teachers with
quality training and scholarships.

In conclusion, we cannot blame each other for the quality and the way in which English is
taught in Mexico, but we must find a solution to all these problems. Of course, it is only recently
implemented in Mexico that English is taught in primary schools, but we must support each other
in order to provide quality teaching, so that we can have a prepared Mexico and not settle for being
third-worlders, but first-worlders, We are adapting to implement teaching methods, but we must
take advantage of all the resources we have at hand and not fall into the conformism that if the
government does not support, we should not support, on the contrary it is to pressure the
government and ourselves so that our students can prosper in the future and not have frustrated
professionals.
 Ramírez,J.(2013). La enseñanza del inglés en las primarias públicas de México: las
problemáticas de los sujetos. Mextesol Journal, 37(3), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.35362/rie6021321

García, K. M., de la Cruz Villegas, V., & Ovando, J. C. A. (2019). El idioma inglés en el
contexto de la educación. Formación profesional en un mundo globalizado. Perspectivas
Docentes, 30(71), 55-64. https://doi.org/10.19136/pd.a30n71.3924

Ramírez, L., Pérez, C., & Lara, R. (2017). Panorama del sistema educativo mexicano en la
enseñanza del idioma inglés como segunda lengua. Revista de cooperación, 15-21.