The purpose of this presentation is to argue that there is a critical situation of lack of linguistic planning and social inequality in the intention that the government of Bogota has in making the population of the region bilingual in Spanish and in English in ten years. The project includes four strategic areas: economic, educational, citizenship, means of communication. These strategic dimensions concentrate on developing the individuals? capabilities to do business with other countries in the world.
However, the linguistic capital of more than 300 Colombian ethnic groups is undermined and the identity of the citizens is affected. Spanish as the native language is one of our most precious sources for communicating with others and a means to show our cultural richness.
The presentation will be theoretically supported by the view of critical pedagogy, considering Spanish as a source for learning and communicating in Spanish and in other languages. I will focus my discussion on presenting relevant ideas from authors such as Freire, McLaren, Nieto, Shor, & Ruiz to later explain the social, cultural, educational and economic contexts of Colombia in the last five years.
I will also show the possible effects of the project of becoming bilingual Spanish-English in the ten years in the current situation of internal conflict which requires immediate solutions in terms of education, health, accommodation and security for more than 2 million Colombians who are living the situation of forced displacement in different regions of the country.
Finally, I will propose, on behalf of educators from public and private Colombian Universities, that public policies regarding bilingual education be thought of with representative groups of researchers, teachers, professors, students and the community to promote democratic decisions that foster equity for all Colombian citizens.