English has had an impact in our city during the last ten years. Formal and not formal institutions decided to open programs that promote the learning of another language. Formal institutions are establishments which have been approved by the law and keeps a level and grade system structured by the General Education law. The not formal institutions aim to complement, update, and supply knowledge in academic or industrial areas. They are not ubmitted to the level and grades system( General Education law 1994, art.36 chapter II).
Most of these institutions have chosen English, because it is considered as one of the most spoken language of the world. Besides, Some of the most important Universities of the city opened language centers to promote the learning of other languages such as English, French, Italian, German, etc. They also have established to attend certain amount of English courses as one of the requirements to graduate. A lot of schools run after this wave and incorporated English classes and adopted Intensive English programs.
San Bonifacio de Las Lanzas School started an English program ten years ago. Its main goal was to become bilingual in a near future. The school hired native English speakers, purchased an American designed material and other resources. The expectations were high, students learning and being able to communicate in English; good results in any proficiency test and a strong influence of the program in the academic life of the School. Unfortunately, these expectations have not been fulfilled. A general concern about results have been manifested. In addition, questions about bilingualism increase day by day. Do we really understand the implications of being a bilingual school, do we really know what bilingualism is?
There is a strong need to clarify this concept and get in agreement on the parameters the school will follow. The whole community needs to keep moving in order to construct an understanding of bilingualism within the context of the school, the city and the community. This research emerges as an answer and attempts to set the beginning of a project that will orient the school towards bilingualism.
This proposal describes the context of the school, its population and the process of the English program. It states also the research question and other questions that will be answered throughout this research. Then it describes the methodology to be used in order to gather the information and do the process of construction of the concept of bilingualism for the School's community.