The training of language teachers from a critical intercultural perspective. Spanish second and foreign language workshops (ELSE) and immigration languages and cultures workshops

Abstract

This article is part of a university extension project. It presents the experience of Spanish as a Second and Foreign Language (ELSE for its Spanish acronyms) in the city of Rosario, Argentina. The main objective of this initiative is to promote the inclusion of migrant communities and promote conditions for coexistence free of attitudes of racial, linguistic and cultural discrimination assuming a decolonial and intercultural perspective (Castro-Gómez, 2007; Quijano, 1992; Walsh, 2010). As for the linguistic dimension, the project takes a glotopolitical perspective (Arnoux; Del Valle, 2010; Del Valle; Rodrigues; Celada, 2021). Firstly, we discuss the characteristics of the intercultural and decolonial perspective in teacher training (Kubota, 2004,) and highlight the need to address the ethnic-racial problem in Argentina (Loango, 2021). Secondly, we discuss the training experience of Argentine volunteers who develop the Spanish Workshop for migrant communities and the oscillation between linguistic pride – linguistic insecurity (López García, 2013) that manifests itself in the process of creating situated didactic material. Then, we systematize some sociolinguistic characteristics of Haitian Kreyòl to analyze the linguistic ideologies (Schieffelin; Doucet, 1994) in the Haitian diaspora in Argentina regarding Kreyòl and French and their teaching as a second language. Finally, we reflect on the different processes of intercultural understanding and language appropriation by Argentine and Haitian volunteers in their experiences of teaching their language. The conclusions show that it is necessary to incorporate a multilingual and intercultural perspective in teacher training and lay the foundations for future language teaching programs.