Linguistic policy and planning of English in Universidad de Chile Informe

Abstract

The present research aims to characterize the design and implementation of English language policy in Universidad de Chile (UCH), an aspect seemingly unexplored. The analysis of the institution’s context and projections, along with the detailed revision of the available official documents related to English Language Policy and Planning, make of this work a case study. The corpus was analyzed through thematic and intertextual analysis, in order to identify salient patterns and help the characterization. Quantitative descriptions; such as tables illustrating the number of compulsory English courses, were used to support the research’s claims, resulting in a mixed method research. The texts analyzed represent the institutional voice regarding English teaching in UCH, these documents are: Plan de Desarrollo Institucional (2006); MECESUP (2008) proposal regarding curriculum modifications and English promotion; and the latest version of Plan de Desarrollo Institucional 2017-2026. Some relevant findings are the tendency to explicit mentions of action regarding English promotion with little description of how, why and when they will be implemented; constant presence of ideologies that elevate English across the texts, the role of them in the creation of moral images concerning the language; and how the institution has perpetuated beliefs along the privileged place of it compared with others. Lastly, since this research is a first approach to the subject, the descriptive analysis could be complemented with future research. These can involve actual practices of implementation through ethnographic observation of classroom activity, analysis concerning how Universidad de Chile presents English to the community through its news portal or even a study contrasting beliefs of different actors, such as students, academic, entities with influence or groups that resist to English as the main foreign language.