Dialogue around the territory conceptions: critical intercultural awareness through linguacultural repertories an approach to afro-colombian communities in the EFL classroom

Abstract

English teaching through the local culture of minoritized communities is a subject that has not been widely addressed. This study aimed to explore critical intercultural awareness through an English curriculum focused on minoritized Afro-Colombian communities. The study was conducted based on the perspectives of critical race theory and decolonial education approaches, which aimed to explore ways of integrating local culture into the English class. To achieve this exploration, the study focused on linguacultural repertoires. Then, a critical-qualitative research methodology was employed to develop the research, providing valuable insights. Data from six participants were collected while implementing a pedagogical intervention focused on making local Afro-Colombian culture visible, promoting intercultural dialogues, and generating a process of self-recognition of oneself and others. The information was collected through interviews, student artifacts, and videos resulting from the pedagogical intervention. Subsequently, the data were analyzed based on what was proposed by the grounded theory. The results showed that stereotypes, racialization, and segregation of the communities within the daily discourses cross the participants' perceptions regarding the Afro-Colombian communities. In this regard, students established a distance between their realities and Afro-Colombian communities, which were demarcated through their physical appearance and pointing out the differences related to skin color, hair, clothes, and even birthplace. They also impact how participants perceive themselves and highlight the importance of including elements of local culture within EFL teaching. In this context, when the participants felt a distance between their repertoires and what was presented as part of the Afro-Colombian communities, they expressed their thoughts about themselves freely. Conversely, when they noticed that their repertoires could be related with these communities, they were uncertain about their answers.