Explorando las literacidades locales con estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera a través de interacciones en un blog

Abstract

This action research study aims to understand the development of students’ literacies in EFL through carrying out inquiries about their local cultural resources. It took into account the teacher´s intention to relate students’ interests and their everyday lives to English class to engage them in explorations of their local knowledge. It used a sociocultural perspective of the teaching of English and the development of students’ local identities through the understanding of their literacies. A fourth-month pedagogical implementation was carried out with 11th grade students in a public school in Bogota to promote the exploration of locally relevant literacies and discourses about Colombia and Bogotá to analyze and discuss issues about local identity in a blog. A set of You Tube videos posted by foreign visitors to Colombia were presented to students and they, in turn, shared them with parents and family. Travelling blogs, which contained chronicles, interviews, and short stories were also read as input for writing their own productions. These pedagogical activities were aimed at promoting a more positive view of the Colombian culture, developing communicative skills and critical responses to the local literacies in english and discourses portrayed in their multiple texts. Besides, the implementation of local inquiries carried out by students revealed their interactions in english in their blog, their writing and classroom discussions in spanish or in english helped the students have their voices heard in the blog and develop multiple literacies.