Abstract

Chilean youth are currently demanding access to better-quality education for all: greater democracy and curricula that respect the country's indigenous cultural roots form part of their petitions. This article puts forward a twofold pedagogical proposal for English Language Teaching intended to foster intrinsic motivation and democratic empowerment through a combination of meaningful cultural content taken from the New English cultures and autonomous learning, including technology-supported student participation and self-reflection. Rather than alienating learners by presenting "traditional" English-speaking cultural content, emphasis is placed on cultural expressions originating from indigenous and postcolonial contexts, many of which parallel the Latin American experience. A case study based on a first-year course of an Initial English Teacher Education program at a Chilean university shows that learners participate actively, make immediate connections to their own country's reality and arrive at powerful conclusions for their own future as teachers.

Citation

Glas, K. & Cardenas-Claros, M.S. (2013). New English Cultures and Learner Autonomy for Intrinsic Motivation and Democratic Empowerment in the Chilean Context. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 12(3), 23-40. Retrieved March 26, 2023 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/156600/.

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Keywords

• case studies
• computer mediated communication
• Course Content
• Cultural Background
• Cultural Context
• Democratic Values
• educational technology
• Electronic Publishing
• Empowerment
• English (Second Language)
• Foreign Countries
• Futures (of Society)
• Indigenous Knowledge
• Indigenous Populations
• Language Teachers
• metacognition
• Personal Autonomy
• Qualitative Research
• Second Language Instruction
• second language learning
• Teacher Education Programs
• teaching methods